Subtle

The notorious 1942 conference at which senior Nazi Party officials met to decide on the fate of the 11 million Jewish citizens living in their German and ...

After playing earlier this year on German television, the film was made available free for viewing in Germany. There's no way to make these proceedings or any their participants sympathetic. The understated discussion around the disposal of so many Jewish citizens of Kiev, in so dispassionate a manner, is so unfortunately contemporary, it breaks through that banality and emotion is unavoidable for us, the audience. One character is trying not to be seen stealing a glance at his watch, and the banality of that moment we all understand, of wishing a work meeting would hurry up, highlights for us the audience that concept of the banality of evil. Where they succeed are the nuances of performance, the small movements, the exchanges between characters signified in a small eyebrow twitch or even the turning of observation away from characters, that capture what attending such a discussion is like, in this instance, and for these people. What a challenge filmmaker Geschonneck and his production team have here set for themselves - but that a new generation of German artists work to unpack these moments in their history is important.