The Conference (2022)
I always appreciate German films about WW2 as they remove any sort of emotional or moral manipulation and instead aim for brutal honesty. This is a made for TV docudrama and thus rather mundane in looks and execution, and it basically only consist of Nazis talking in a meeting for one and a half hour. What this achieves is like with The Zone of Interest an understanding of how the Holocaust could take place. How those in power distanced themselves from the mass murderer with political effectiveness and thorough planning like it was industrial processes. A single murder is tragic, genocide becomes statistics and this meeting is in some ways more grueling than other movies depiction concentration camps. Genocide is much more complicated than simply being evil and wanting to kill everyone. There are logistical problems and considerations to society and the mental impact on those soldiers having to carry out the orders. All of this discussed in a calm, civilized and professional manner underlining the complete normalization of the dehumanization of Jews that made the Holocaust possible. This movie serves mostly as a history lesson and a good candidate for something to watch in school, but worth watching for everyone who appreciate German movies on the subject.
Rating: 3.5