This powerful film celebrates individual acts of conscience in barbarous times.
The Ninth Day (2005)
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work ![]()
Reviews Counted:34
Fresh:28
Rotten:6
Average Rating:7.1/10
Consensus: Fueled by tension-filled performances and dialogue, this Holocaust film brings up morally ambiguous, thought-provoking issues.
Theatrical Release:May 27, 2005 Limited
Synopsis: Noted German director Volker Schlondorff's (THE TIN DRUM) highly compelling THE NINTH DAY provides a unique examination of historical events that took place during the Holocaust. Interned at the... Noted German director Volker Schlondorff's (THE TIN DRUM) highly compelling THE NINTH DAY provides a unique examination of historical events that took place during the Holocaust. Interned at the Dachau concentration camp near Munich in 1942 for anti-Nazi activities, Henri Kremer (Ulrich Matthes), an influential Luxembourg priest, endures terrible hardships along with thousands of his clergymen. Mysteriously, Kremer is released and sent back home to his family in Luxembourg for nine days. Upon his return, the local up-and-coming SS chief, Gebhardt (August Diehl) charges Kremer with a difficult assignment: convince the Bishop of Luxembourg to sign an agreement with the Nazis, thereby providing an integral link between Hitler in Berlin and the Pope in the Vatican. These scenes between the young, eager Gebhardt and the older, stoic Kremer simmer with friction and meaningful import. The great challenge is that the Bishop, like Kremer, opposes Nazi racial doctrine. Failure to execute within nine days means a return to Dachau for Kremer and the endangerment of the lives of his family and fellow clergyman at the camp. However, while success provides assured safety for all those people, it also would represent the ultimate corruption of his own faith. Based loosely on the memoirs of Jean Bernard, a real Catholic priest, THE NINTH DAY is a complex and thought-provoking film. [More]
Starring: Ulrich Matthes, August Diehl, Hilmar Thate, Bibiana Beglau
Starring: Ulrich Matthes, August Diehl, Hilmar Thate, Bibiana Beglau
Director: Volker Schlöndorff
Director: Volker Schlöndorff
Screenwriter: Volker Schlondorff, Eberhard Gorner, Andreas Pfluger
Producer: Juergen Haase
Studio: Kino International
Get This Movie
Reviews for The Ninth Day
Plays best as a dry exercise in historical doublespeak and rationalization.
The Ninth Day is far from perfect, but is still thought-provoking and intriguing, a film that can begin its own kind of debate.
Schlondorff's greatest tools in forging this character study is taste, balance, and a pro's inherent sense of dramatic construction.
The film's star ... is Diehl, who perfectly captures the banality of evil inherent in Nazism. Villains are great characters, and Diehl's Gebhardt is terrific.
Schlondorff draws a telling picture of the ravished moral landscape that kept the wheels of the Holocaust turning.
A thoughtfully written drama of ideas with vivid performances by August Diehl and Ulrich Matthes.
A grim meditation on faith and betrayal that focuses on a relatively obscure corner of Holocaust history: the fate of the Catholic clergy under the Third Reich.
Digs beyond rote charges of ecclesiastical complicity and counter-arguments to explore various levels of resistance and protest and their consequences.
An absorbing Holocaust drama that suggests the forces that drive us toward good or evil are constantly warring within all of us.
A taut, dialogue-driven play that should be required viewing in college ethics classes.
Dark and depressing as the film is, it is thrilling to watch Henri work through his moral qualms as he battles the smooth tongue of evil.
The film’s effectiveness hinges almost entirely on the performance of Matthes.
In the face of the Holocaust, a wrestling match over which man is the likelier Judas strikes me as a trivial pursuit.
This low-key, talky Holocaust drama doesn't try to pummel viewers with visuals of the Nazis' atrocities, but what is described in dialogue is tough enough.
Impressively tackles the enduring dilemma inherent in dramatically depicting the enormous horror of the Nazi death camps, and meeting that challenge, oddly enough, in tacit admission of the very impossibility of that task.
Credit a literate script and excellent performances by Ulrich Matthes -- tall and gaunt and wearing a wide-brimmed friar's hat -- as Kremer, and August Diehl as the Nazi bureaucrat and failed seminarian assigned to watch over the priest in Luxembourg.
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 78% 78% | The Hangover |
| 88% 88% | Inglourious Basterds |
| 66% 66% | Public Enemies |
| 24% 24% | G-Force |
| 44% 44% | Night at the Museum: B… |
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 90% 90% | District 9 |
| 86% 86% | 500 Days of Summer |
| 63% 63% | Extract |
| 06% 06% | All About Steve |
| 78% 78% | It Might Get Loud |
RT On Current TV
DIRECTV 358 | Comcast 107 | DISH Network 196 | More...
What’s Hot On RT
Other News
CloseSponsored Links
Around The Network
- The Ninth Day at Rotten Tomatoes
- The Ninth Day at AskMen
Fresh Links
Featured

Last week, MSN gave us their top 09 films. Now see what their favorites of the decade are!

Here's a list of the 50 best movies of 2009, according to the good people over at Moviefone.

Hollywood.com takes a stab at determining who in movies will be on Santa's naughty list in 2009.

TIME chimes in with their own list of the best films released this year.

Click through to see which movies BuzzSugar placed in their Best-of-Decade list!
Promos

Get the latest Tomatometer updates on upcoming movies!



Top Critic



