It is the late 1950s. Flourishing under the economic miracle, Germany grows increasingly apathetic about confronting the horrors of its recent past. Nevertheless, Fritz Bauer doggedly devotes his energies to bringing the Third Reich to justice. One day Bauer receives a letter from Argentina, written by a man who is certain that his daughter is dating the son of Adolph Eichmann. Excited by the promising lead, and mistrustful of a corrupt judiciary system where Nazis still lurk, Bauer journeys to Jerusalem to seek alliance with Mossad, the Israeli secret service. To do so is treason — yet committing treason is the only way Bauer can serve his country.
Though relatively conservative in its approach, Lars Kraume's teleplay-style treatment of a still-touchy subject has the nerve to name names, implicating everyone from chancellor Konrad Adenauer to Mercedes-Benz.
– Peter Debruge,
Variety,
26 Jul 2016
rotten:
By focusing on his subject's unwavering moral certainty, Kraume denies his ethical complexity and diminishes the difficulties of his challenging stance to educate the society that wanted him dead.
– Serena Donadoni,
Village Voice,
17 Aug 2016
fresh:
From start to finish, it's absorbing.
– Ken Jaworowski,
New York Times,
18 Aug 2016
fresh:
Director Lars Kraume's mounting of this tale, while capable enough, is also rather staid and conventional.
– Godfrey Cheshire,
RogerEbert.com,
19 Aug 2016
fresh:
What "The People vs. Fritz Bauer" does so well is distill large, complicated political issues into an intimate, personal story about one man's desire to bring not only justice, but catharsis to post-war Germany, mired in a fog of complacency.