Conspiracy

Conspiracy is a 2001 BBC/HBO straight-to-TV dramatisation of the Wannsee Conference, the ninety minute meeting where the Nazis decided the fate of the Jews in 1942. The film is based on the sole surviving record of this highly secretive meeting. A big topic for any film to tackle, I think we can all agree. It's a good job, then, that this film deals with the topic at hand in facinating manner and produces a fantastic result.

Starring an ensemble cast, including Kenneth Brannagh, Stanley Tucci and Colin Firth, Conspiracy is filled with superb performances. Every single member of the cast is all too believable in their role as the men who planned the deaths of every Jew in mainland Europe. Kenneth Brannagh is superb, as the charismatic, but not-quite-latently dangerous Reinhard Heydrich. Tucci is impeccable as Adolf Eichmann, his keen organisational and efficient mind is eminently visible throughout, as is his cold demeanour. Threatening to steal the show is Colin Firth as Dr. Wilhelm Stuckart, co-author of the Nurembourg Laws. What we initially think is a softness on Stuckart's part for the Jews, or at least for those who are only part Jewish, is revealed to be quite the opposite in what is possibly the film's most memorable scene. And these are only the highlights. Every performance exudes believability and depth of a kind that is fantastically rare.

There are so many scenes in this largely unknown film that are so powerful that they really must be seen to be believed. The closed-room nature of the film draws comparison from films such as 12 Angry Men, but in my opinion, this film far surpasses even that classic. It may be that the subject matter imbues the scenes with an additional significance, but even so, the performances, direction and script are all flawless.

This one is recommended to anyone who loves film. You will not be disappointed. A+.