{"id":209345,"date":"2025-09-08T04:44:10","date_gmt":"2025-09-08T04:44:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/209345\/"},"modified":"2025-09-08T04:44:10","modified_gmt":"2025-09-08T04:44:10","slug":"russell-crowe-learned-german-for-wwii-thriller","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/209345\/","title":{"rendered":"Russell Crowe Learned German for WWII Thriller"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tJames Vanderbilt\u2019s \u201cNuremberg<\/a>\u201d may be set nearly 80 years ago, but the filmmakers and cast believe its message resonates as much today as it did in the aftermath of World War II. The courtroom thriller dramatizes the first international tribunal against surviving Nazi leaders, probing not only their crimes but also the nature of evil itself.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe ensemble features Oscar winner Rami Malek as Army psychiatrist Douglas Kelley, tasked with evaluating Nazi war criminals; Russell Crowe<\/a> as Hermann G\u00f6ring, Hitler\u2019s second-in-command; John Slattery as a U.S. officer; Richard E. Grant as one of the tribunal judges; and Michael Shannon<\/a> as Supreme Court Justice Robert H. Jackson, the chief U.S. prosecutor.<\/p>\n

\n\tVanderbilt, who both wrote and directed the film, said he first came across the story more than a decade ago and was struck by its immediacy. \u201cIt was the fastest I\u2019d said yes to anything,\u201d he recalls. \u201cI thought it was such a fascinating way into a story like this and an exploration of what is the nature of evil.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThough Russell Crowe and co-star Leo Woodall play pivotal figures who spoke German, neither actor knew the language beforehand. \u201cWe cast Leo as a translator, and he didn\u2019t speak German,\u201d Vanderbilt shares. \u201cBut both of them worked incredibly hard to be able to pull that off. Russell dove into the research and wanted to bring that charisma G\u00f6ring historically had. It was about creating someone who could seduce you even as you\u2019re repulsed by what he stood for.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tMalek praised his colleagues\u2019 commitment, recalling how intense those claustrophobic cell scenes became: \u201cWhen you go toe to toe with Russell in that environment, you leave nothing on the table. There were moments where we were inches away from each other, yelling, destroying one another, and yet still finding something human. It was magnificent to play off him.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tSlattery sees the relevance of telling the story now, especially as the world contends with new threats to democracy. \u201cIt\u2019s relevant certainly now, but it isn\u2019t a history lesson,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s a thriller. The first international tribunal ever organized, the first time film footage was used as evidence to show the world what this regime perpetrated. And the challenge was to put your personal feelings aside and try these men impartially, to allow the world to see what they had done.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tOscar nominee Grant (\u201cCan You Ever Forgive Me?\u201d) pointed to the authenticity of the production. \u201cJamie Vanderbilt\u2019s extraordinary script and the recreation of the sets down to the last millimeter were remarkable,\u201d he says. \u201cMany of the Hungarian extras had firsthand family experience with Nazi or communist occupation, so when they watched a character found guilty and made accountable, you felt it in the room. It was electrifying.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tShannon, who brings his trademark intensity to Robert Jackson, said acting gave him a chance to study history in ways he never did in school. \u201cI was a really lousy student,\u201d he says with his signature dry humor. \u201cBut one of the perks of acting is that you actually learn so much more about history and the world than you did sitting in some stupid classroom. To get inside this history and live it is a tremendous gift.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tHe also pointed to the film\u2019s deeper message: \u201cJackson understood that in order to deal with evil, you have to investigate it. You have to dissect why it exists and why it manifests through people. That\u2019s a critically important skill for human beings to have.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tStill, Shannon couldn\u2019t resist some levity when asked about future collaborations with frequent partner Jeff Nichols, whose films such as \u201cTake Shelter\u201d and \u201cThe Bikeriders\u201d have defined his career. \u201cJeff has a hard time getting money to make a film,\u201d he jokes, but with a hint of sincerity. \u201cHe\u2019s made six magnificent movies and still can\u2019t get the funding he deserves. So I guess if you\u2019d like to see another Jeff Nichols-Michael Shannon movie, please visit our GoFundMe page.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tFor Malek, who won an Oscar for \u201cBohemian Rhapsody,\u201d \u201cNuremberg\u201d felt like another opportunity to dig into a defining chapter of history. \u201cThis is one of those stories that, if we got it right, we could all look back and say, not only did we make a film, but we told a story that had to be told in a way that was nuanced and surprising,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\n\tVanderbilt hopes audiences see it as more than a history lesson. \u201cWe built it as a thriller,\u201d he explained. \u201cIt\u2019s about exploring evil, but it\u2019s also emotional, riveting and entertaining. Like the historical thrillers I grew up with \u2014 \u2018JFK,\u2019 \u2018Apollo 13,\u2019 \u2018Glory\u2019 \u2014 it\u2019s about something serious, but it should also move you. Once the film is out in the world, it belongs to the audience.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"James Vanderbilt\u2019s \u201cNuremberg\u201d may be set nearly 80 years ago, but the filmmakers and cast believe its message…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":209346,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[171,114956,53,101718,26342,77123,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-209345","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-movies","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-michael-shannon","10":"tag-movies","11":"tag-nuremberg","12":"tag-russell-crowe","13":"tag-toronto-film-festival","14":"tag-united-states","15":"tag-unitedstates","16":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209345","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=209345"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209345\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/209346"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=209345"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=209345"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=209345"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}