The People Vs. Fritz Bauer

"The People vs. Fritz Bauer" (2015 release from Germany; 105 min., original title "Der Staat gegen Fritz Bauer") brings the dramatic retelling of the circumstances within which Hesse Attorney General Bauer prosecuted former Nazis in post- WWII Germany. As the movie opens, we are reminded it is "Frankfurt in the late 1950s", and we get to know Fritz Bauer. In the opening scene he almost drowns in his bath tub (an accidental overdose of sleeping pills, it turns out). But the incident has caused concern with others. One of Bauer's State Attorneys (i.e. more junior prosecutor) invites Bauer to the country side. "Do you like to hunt?" he asks, to which Bauer replies "Yes, but not animals", ha! Indeed Bauer is working feverishly to track down Adolf Eichmann. At this point we're 15 min. into the movie but to tell you more of the plot would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.

Couple of comments: first, this is NOT a bio-pic of Fritz Bauer. Indeed, we get little to no background information as to his life prior to 1957 or after 1960 (starting and closing points of the movie). In a way, this is unfortunate, as an unsuspecting viewer may not fully realize the importance of this man in German politics. Second, the movie's central theme that "the people" or "the state" (as the original German title reads) is against Bauer is somewhat misleading. It's really the German political establishment, which was riddled at the time with former Nazis, which tries to stifle Bauer's efforts. This theme was something of a taboo in Germany for decades following WWII. Just last year there was another German movie, also involving Bauer, called "Labyrinth of Lies", which also addressed this. Thirdly, strictly from a film viewing perspective, the production is rather "dry" and at times it feels like watching a European TV drama. But I nevertheless enjoyed it quite a bit. Last, the movie also spends quite a bit of time looking at one of Bauer's closest aides, State Attorney Angermann. At the end of the movie, there are some announcements about what became of Bauer. But inexplicably nothing is said about what became of Angermann. Not sure how that could've happened (and leading me to deduct one further star from my overall rating).

"The People vs. Fritz Bauer" opened this weekend without any pre-release advertising or hype at my local art-house theatre here in Cincinnati. The Tuesday early evening screening where I saw this at was not attended well (1 person besides myself), which is a shame. Hopefully this is the type of movie that will find a larger audience once it gets exposure on Amazon Instant Video, and eventually is released on DVD/Blu-ray. If you are in the mood for a true historical drama about an important episode of German politics post -WWII, I can readily recommend that you check this out.

In general, the story of Eichmann is a seminal story to understanding the 20th century, and the depth of evil in the Nazi state. AS ardent noted the banality of Eichmann's evil, especially the cold bureaucratic elements the machine he helped create to murders of innocents by the millions is a truly instructive warning.

In addition to Ardent, faithful films in German and in English of the Wannsee conference, as well as Wiesenthal relentless and heroic should be read or seen by all.

This film however, just can't help but throw in Washington and the CIA on several occasions. The filmmakers just have to deploy the time worn European crutch of raising an Americans bogeyman and it ruins the film's claim to veracity. In fact, the Us with all its flaws had nothing to do with the creation and enabling of Eichmann, and in fact Eichmann was a very German and European creation.

In 2006 stories started to come out that the W. German intelligence and the CIA had known he was in Argentina. In fact subsequent to that in 2011 that claim was shown false. The claim they know he was there is like the claim FDR knew an attack would be at pearl harbor. Pearl was listed, but so were many other places. Same with Eichmann and his location., there was intelligence he was in a dozen places. In fact Guy Walters blows away this tin foil hat conspiracy theory repeated in the film back in 2001.:

blogs. telegraph.co.uk/ news/ guywalters/ 100071101/ the-west- Germans -and-the- Americans -really-did- not -know-where- eichmann-was/

(remove spaces in the URL as IMDb was rejecting it as too long)

The idea that the CIA or the US in anyway blocked the W. Germans or Israeli on Eichmann is also simply bogus. What the now largely released documentation of the period shows is the US was more focused and concerned with reducing the international isolation of Israel, and while Eichmann's abduction was utterly just, it was illegal under international law, and in fact Israel was excoriated for the abduction in the Security council. In fact the abduction of Eichmann had realty increased the influence of the nationalist, anti Semite and deeply anti American Tacuara Nationalist Movement. Raising concerns about that is not some smoking gun of US or CIA complicity.

It is a shame to see an otherwise good film touching an important part of the history of a European and German created holocaust and aftermath flawed by worn and bogus misrepresentation and blame shifting.

"The People vs. Fritz Bauer" is the story of one man's determination to bring Adolf Eichmann to Germany for trial, and the opposition to it that he faced.

Fritz Bauer was a district attorney in Hessen, Germany, and the story begins really toward the end of his life. He is shown drowning in his bathtub at the beginning, but he is saved. In reality, that is how he died in 1968.

Bauer was a man who did what he had to do in order to achieve his ends, and the movie makes no bones about it. He keeps quiet about the fact that he is Jewish because of his determination to enter politics. And he commits treason in order to bring Eichmann to justice. His part in that capture was not made public until 10 years after his death.

Unfortunately for Bauer, in 1957, the government was filled with ex- Nazis and SS officers who didn't want these monsters tried and naming names. There was a lot of resistance and anti-Semitism. When Bauer learns that Eichmann is living in Argentina, he has to appeal to Massad for help - a treasonous offense if anyone found out.

There is a subplot concerning his young associate, State Attorney Angermann, a fictional character.

Very good movie, with wonderful acting by Burghart Klaußner as Bauer and Ronald Zehrfeld as Angermann.

That's metaphorically and literally speaking of course. One might also add that it can be a pun too. But while my summary line is definitely on the light side, the movie is not. And it couldn't be with the story it wants to tell. Germany has an obvious history with Nazis and the subsequent hunt for them. Or sometimes neglect in hunting them down for various reasons.

This movie shows one of many cases and one man who was determined to bring as many to justice as possible. Despite and through all obstacles that were before him. So this is a story (thriller) that has quite a bit going for it. It's really well made and well acted too and the suspense is there, from the start until the end. There's also a lot of award talking going on about this, if that is something you're interested in

The People vs. Fritz Bauer presents the story of Attorney General Fritz Bauer, a Jew on a quest to prosecute the crimes of the Third Reich, as he was also briefly in a concentration camp, at one point. The action is set in motion when he learns that Adolf Eichmann, a lieutenant colonel responsible for mass deportations, is not only alive but living in Buenos Aires, Argentina. To be sure, Eichmann is one of the worst Nazi officials, and in today's political climate it would be hard to imagine that his prosecution would be riddled with difficulties, yet as this film shows, even in the late 1950s the political climate in Germany was not as progressive as it is today. Read the rest of my review here: https://indieethos.com/2016/09/16/the- people-vs-fritz-bauer/