star-studded drama is certainly ambitious

Rating: 6/10 (29 November 2010)

The horror of Nazi Germany is put into human perspective through the testimony of several civilians at the tail end of the war crime trials, long after the more spectacular persecution of the military high command. Maximilian Schell won an Oscar for his portrayal of a young German defense attorney, and the rest of the cast is no less impressive, in particular Montgomery Clift in his brief appearance as an unbalanced mental patient, and Judy Garland as a conscience-stricken witness. The film's three-hour length (consisting almost entirely of courtroom dialogue) can be daunting, but the difficult subject is handled with care, rejecting sensationalism in favor of intelligent (if sometimes long-winded) drama.