In the Shadows of Nuremberg review – trial-adjacent thriller aims to be Russian answer to Saving Private Ryan
The Guardian's review of In the Shadows of Nuremberg criticises director Nikolay Lebedev's attempt to dramatise the Soviet perspective on the Nuremberg trials, arguing that a clumsy personal subplot and an undercurrent of sentimental patriotism undermine what could have been a compelling companion piece to films such as last year's Russell Crowe-led Nuremberg. The reviewer finds the film's ambition to become a Russian equivalent of Saving Private Ryan largely unrealised, faulting Lebedev for prioritising a shaky missing-soldier storyline over the weightier legal and historical material unfolding in the courtroom.
The plot follows Red Army intelligence officer Igor Volgin, who takes a translating post with the Soviet delegation at Nuremberg while searching for his missing brother, aided by a woman secretly informing for a Nazi resistance figure seeking to keep Göring under German rather than international jurisdiction. The review notes the subplot is only loosely connected to the wider judicial narrative, with key threads left unresolved, while restless camerawork favours sweeping cityscape shots over character focus. Though not overtly propagandist despite Russian state backing, the film is said to lean into a maudlin nationalism that jars with its stated theme of universal justice overriding national interest. The film, first released in 2023, becomes available on digital platforms from 14 September.
In short
- Guardian review pans Soviet-perspective Nuremberg trial thriller as unconvincing
- Weak missing-soldier subplot undermines serious courtroom drama ambitions
- Film criticised for maudlin patriotism; out digitally from 14 September
Steelman: both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
The film can be seen as a worthwhile attempt to bring the Soviet delegation’s perspective and wartime experience into a story often told through other national viewpoints. Its personal search plot and patriotic tone may make the history more accessible to a broad audience, while its theme of justice across national lines gives the drama a serious ambition.
The case against
The review’s strongest case is that the personal thriller plot distracts from the Nuremberg proceedings, leaving both the legal history and the characters underdeveloped. The unresolved threads, restless camerawork and sentimental nationalism may also weaken the film’s own argument for universal justice, making its ambition feel less fully realised.
Explained simply
The Nuremberg trials were a series of international court cases held after the Second World War, in which senior Nazi leaders were prosecuted for crimes committed by the regime. The Soviet Union was one of the Allied powers that took part in the trials, alongside the United States, Britain and France.
In this film, Red Army officer Igor Volgin works as a translator for the Soviet delegation while trying to find his missing brother. The story places that search alongside the trials and a German effort to keep Hermann Göring, a leading Nazi, out of international custody.
The trials raised questions about how responsibility for wartime crimes should be judged across national borders. The film’s Russian perspective centres on the Soviet delegation’s role in that process.
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