Critic Reviews

Superb documentary.

The cumulative evidence that genocide could not have occurred without the cooperation of the German army is overwhelming.

The reckoning with the past, which has occupied West German society since the 1960s, has been painful and divisive, which makes the calm, empirical spirit of this film all the more impressive.

Where Verhoeven loses his way is when he allows himself to sink into a seemingly endless recounting of atrocities, getting away from the main moral and philosophical questions his film brings up so provocatively.

The film eventually becomes one long therapy session for the German nation as it struggles to understand how its brave and good soldiers could have done such bad, bad things. We, the viewers, are forced to take on the uncomfortable role of therapist.

It is a painful but important subject, to be certain, but the film dilutes its own effectiveness by devolving into a collection of talking heads who often seem to be repeating each other.