LABYRINTH OF LIES

Movie Review #2865 LABYRINTH OF LIES.

Avoiding my usual fare of no-thought-required Friday night movies at Palmy's Downtown Cinema, I took in this German film based on the Frankfurt Auschwitz trials in the 60s. Faced with a hierarchy full of hiding Nazis, a young public prosecutor embarks upon the task of building a case against former personnel from the Auschwitz concentration camp.

Finding a Germany that would rather forget than deliver justice coupled with the aforementioned hierarchy, he has to negotiate his way through the mire of intrigue & with the help of a local journalist amongst others, finds the Auschwitz Angel of Death Josef Mengele in his sights.


Narrowly missing his target on a return visit home, the pursuit turns to obsession & threatens everything he holds dear; fiancée, mother, friends & associates, culminating in his driving himself to brink of despair. However somewhat predictably, he does regroup & the movie comes to a conclusion at the outset of the trials.

Well crafted & acted, L of L hones in on Nazi atrocities but avoids the shock factor of graphic representation & instead satisfies itself with the human reactions to such events. It also throws in a dollop of vulnerability around the main character as he has to face the secrets emanating from his own family & circle of friends.


Nicely done overall & like many European productions, plays out rather matter of factly & without too much over-dramatisation. 7.5/10