The People vs. Fritz Bauer

Name: The People vs. Fritz Bauer
Genre: Biography, Drama, Thriller
Released: August 19, 2016
Duration: 105 min
Rating: 61

2016

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Generally favorable reviews based on 14 Critic Reviews

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Generally favorable reviews based on 5 Ratings

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The People Vs. Fritz Bauer

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Movie Details & Credits

Cohen Media Group | Release Date: August 19, 2016 | R

Summary: Germany, 1957. Attorney General Fritz Bauer receives crucial evidence on the whereabouts of SS-Obersturmbannführer Adolf Eichmann. The lieutenant colonel, responsible for the mass deportation of the Jews, is allegedly hiding in Buenos Aires. Bauer, himself Jewish, has been trying to take crimes from the Third Reich to court ever since hisGermany, 1957. Attorney General Fritz Bauer receives crucial evidence on the whereabouts of SS-Obersturmbannführer Adolf Eichmann. The lieutenant colonel, responsible for the mass deportation of the Jews, is allegedly hiding in Buenos Aires. Bauer, himself Jewish, has been trying to take crimes from the Third Reich to court ever since his return from Danish exile. However, with no success so far due to the fierce German determination to repress its sinister past. Because of his distrust in the German justice system, Fritz Bauer contacts the Israeli secret service Mossad, and, by doing so, commits treason. Bauer is not seeking revenge for the Holocaust -- he is concerned with the German future.… Expand

Director: Lars Kraume

Genre(s): Biography, Drama, Thriller

Rating: R

Runtime: 105 min

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Critic Reviews

The Playlist Oktay Ege Kozak

Aug 18, 2016

The People vs Fritz Bauer successfully uses the moral importance of its themes and the strength of its performances in order to build a riveting procedural that efficiently covers for its lack of visual pizzazz. Read full review

Ken Jaworowski

Aug 18, 2016

Mr. Kraume captures the glances and motions that lay bare a character’s thoughts. He’s fond of the gruff and curmudgeonly Bauer, yet sentimentality is scarce while the double-crossings are surprising and the dry humor is welcome. Read full review

Tom Keogh

Sep 1, 2016

Co-writer and director Lars Kraume brings muted colors and a claustrophobic, urgent energy to the procedural part of this story, while reminding us that not every moral hero looks like Captain America — in fact, like Bauer, they can be a rumpled, misanthropic mess. Read full review

Wendy Ide

Jul 13, 2016

A solid, persuasively-acted account of the real-life mission to bring a Nazi war criminal to justice. Read full review

Peter Keough

Sep 8, 2016

Because of the film’s earnest awkwardness, these excursions into the demimonde come off as campy. Read full review

Peter Debruge

Aug 18, 2016

Though relatively conservative in its approach, Lars Kraume’s teleplay-style treatment of a still-touchy subject has the nerve to name names. Read full review

Clayton Dillard

Aug 15, 2016

Lars Kraume's tinkering with the historical record would be more welcome were he also shifting away from the standard biopic template. Read full review

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netflic

Aug 23, 2016

This is a captivating historical drama based on real events and focused on a real person.

Fritz Bauer in this movie is a General Prosecutor in post-war Western Germany. He is committed to bringing Nazis to justice, namely, Adolph Eichmann, one of the architect of the Final Solution.This is a captivating historical drama based on real events and focused on a real person.

Fritz Bauer in this movie is a General Prosecutor in post-war Western Germany. He is committed to bringing Nazis to justice, namely, Adolph Eichmann, one of the architect of the Final Solution.

Bauer found that the government at that time was filled with Nazi sympathizers, and that made achieving his goal impossible. Being a patriot of the new democratic Germany, he sees the only way of catching Eichmann is through Israel's Mossad. But that would constitute treason.

The movie is not a documentary and does not claim to be historically flawless. Excellent acting, especially on the part of protagonist played by Burghart Klaussner. Overall, a very well-done movie, highly recommend to see it.… Expand

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Broyax

May 30, 2018

Tout le monde connaît le procès Eichmann mais on connaît moins l'origine de ce procès, à savoir l'opiniâtreté d'un procureur allemand nommé Fritz Bauer par qui tout est arrivé ou presque, car lui aussi était un chasseur de nazis... en Allemagne fédérale.

Bien entendu, on ne doit pasTout le monde connaît le procès Eichmann mais on connaît moins l'origine de ce procès, à savoir l'opiniâtreté d'un procureur allemand nommé Fritz Bauer par qui tout est arrivé ou presque, car lui aussi était un chasseur de nazis... en Allemagne fédérale.

Bien entendu, on ne doit pas minimiser l'audacieux enlèvement de l'ancien SS par le Mossad en Argentine mais il faut rendre à César ce qui appartient à César et au fameux procureur en l'occurrence. Ce film à la réalisation certes un peu rèche (non, pas reich, rèche...) rend hommage au personnage et explique les tenants et aboutissants d'une affaire qui n'a jamais été simple, loin s'en faut.

Le film démêle cet écheveau comme une enquête policière et s'avère passionnant à suivre avec des acteurs fort convaincants. On peut regretter du coup qu'il n'ait pas bénéficié d'un doublage français, bien que natürlich la langue de Goethe soit belle comme une ouverture wagnérienne... mais tout de même.

On peut regretter aussi ce développement trop appuyé de certaines relations intimes, encore condamnables à l'époque en RFA (et comme partout ailleurs) qui n'ont que peu de rapport avec le sujet principal, voire aucun ou anecdotique : ces vélléités de justice sociale sont assez mal venues.

En tout cas, on a là un film très instructif et souvent édifiant sur un héros allemand qui méritait assurément cette mise en lumière pour que l'on oublie pas son combat méritoire contre les démons du passé.… Expand

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