Screened Out – The People vs. Fritz Bauer

[four-star-rating]Burghart Klaussner, Michael Schenk, Christopher Buchholtz, Dani Levy[/four-star-rating]

The People vs. Fritz Bauer is a very earnest, very straightforward historical film about a 1950s German investigator trying to capture WWII criminals. It’s sturdily constructed, impeccably decorated, and well edited – meaning: it could come off as a little stultifying. There aren’t a lot of surprises in this barely fictionalized German-language biopic. Instead, what TPvFB does possess is a brilliant, subtle, illuminating performance at its core.

Fritz Bauer (Klaussner) was a German-Jewish Attorney General who almost ended in a concentration camp. He instead exiled to Denmark and then Sweden during the war. Afterward, he came back to his divided country – to the West German side. Consequently, he fought to find the war criminals who killed millions of Jewish people. His main target was Adolph Eichmann (Schenck), who’d fled to Brazil

“If I had succeeded at killing all 10.7 million Jews in Europe, I’d have been proud. I’d have accomplished what I was meant to do,” Eichmann told a reporter in Buenos Aires.

Getting to Eichmann was difficult. Extradition was impossible. Obviously, the German government thwarted Bauer at every turn; they just wanted to put this ugly part of their history behind them. Bauer wouldn’t have it; he contacted the newly formed Israeli Mossad to help. This was an act of treason.

We know what drove Bauer. He lost friends and family. Even in the ‘50s, he’d get frequent notes that said “Die, Jew.”

Why should Watermark readers be interested, beyond the obvious? Because the real Fritz Bauer was frequently rumored to be gay. This is a point of history still bantered about today. To that end, the film shows a bit of it, and it even makes a few choices based on the rumors.

Because of his fascinating history, there is no question that the real Fritz Bauer deserves a film.

So, it’s slightly disappointing that Lars Kraume directs with a steadfast German efficiency. Working from a script he and newcomer Oliver Guez wrote, Lars shows a firm, workmanlike tendency that sublimates much of the art this story could’ve had. Therefore, the movie plays much like a dramatization of a high school history lesson.

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In short, what makes Bauer worthwhile is Klaussner as Fritz Bauer. From the first shot to the last, he maps so many conflicting emotions and quiet subtexts. Most noteworthy, the actor leaks complexity in every glance, every twitch, every stilted conversation, and every heaving sigh. This is the sort of foreign performance – like Marion Cotillard’s in Ma Vie en Rose – that American audiences should absolutely catch. It is especially revelatory for American actors. Because it shows the same sort of silent skill that raises people like Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks above lesser actors. (See Florence Foster Jenkins and Sully for currently running examples.)

In conclusion, the script and direction may be predictable. Klaussner’s performance is anything but.