Sony Pictures Classics has indeed an awards contender in hand with James Vanderbilt’s Nuremberg as the Russell Crowe, Rami Malek, Michael Shannon,
Sony Pictures Classics has indeed an awards contender in hand with James Vanderbilt’s Nuremberg as the Russell Crowe, Rami Malek, Michael Shannon, Leo Woodall, Richard E. Grant movie received a four-minute standing ovation at its world TIFF world premiere at Roy Thomson Hall.
While four-minutes might seem like nothing next to the standing ovations at the Venice Film Festival this year, i.e. The Voice of Hind Rajab, understanding standing ovations at the Toronto International Film Festival are quite uncommon. Even a quick one minute up-and-down is a huge deal (among previous standing ovation titles at TIFF, Taika Waititi’s 2019 Jojo Rabbit comes to mind, that movie ultimately winning the fest’s top prize, the Grolsch People’s Choice Award.
The pic follows a WWII psychiatrist (Oscar winner Malek) who evaluates Nazi leaders before the Nuremberg trials, growing increasingly obsessed with understanding evil as he forms a disturbing bond with Hermann Göring, played by A Beautiful Mind Oscar winner Crowe.
Vanderbilt told the crowd during the Q&A, “For me, the films I grew up with, that I love, that dealt with historical drama and thriller, like JFK and Apollo 13, and Glory, they were about very serious things that happened, but were also great emotional stories. It’s the stories that stay with us. You can hear fact and figures and be told information, but it’s the emotional journey that you get taken on, which makes you remember things and feel things.”
Malek said about his psychiatrist protag, “a classic obsessive. As I dove into the research, delving into who this human being was, and how complicated he was, you could see that the two were morphing. There was an appreciation for Göring. He was someone who people described as one who you would invite to a dinner party. And so, I thought imagine being in the same room as that person. Also, the disparate aspect of them being a Nazi. At one point there’s an appreciation of what you have to do, and there’s this man who is charming and smart and witty. And Russell, is that in spades.”
“Acting, I was acting,” deadpanned Crowe who interrupted the Bohemian Rhapsody thespian.
‘Nuremberg’ author Jack El-Hai
Antonia Blyth
Crowe spoke about his craft and the job on Nuremberg, “It’s like walking into a wild west saloon and every single person in the room is a gunfighter, and everyone is willing to do on their day to make sure that they get through. That was an exciting energy to be around.”
Talking about Vanderbilt, who he hadn’t worked before, Crowe said, “Jamie, I didn’t know. I took it purely off the script, the writing was magnificent. People say, ‘But how do you know? The money dropped out three times. How did you stay with it?’ I’ve been around long enough to know that when something is written really well, it’s good f**king stuff. So you hang on to that shit.”
In his review, Deadline Chief Film Critic Pete Hammond exclaims that the movie “also turns out to be incredibly relevant for now, as parts of the globe (including America) are once again embracing Nazism, despicable war crimes are still being perpetrated, and the lessons of World War II fade increasingly into the background and history books despite warnings that it has all happened before — and it may be happening again. I can think of a few world leaders who should screen this movie as soon as possible.”
Security at Roy Thompson Hall in advance of the Sept. 10 world premiere of Barry Avrich’s Oct. 7 documentary, The Road Between Us, is quite firm. This year, the venue is enforcing an oversized bag policy by which those even with a mere knapsack may not get in. Attendees, be prepared or be turned away.
Nuremberg opens on Nov. 7.
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