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critics consensus

The People vs. Fritz Bauer draws on real-life events to fuel a propulsive post-WWII thriller whose tension rarely flags despite the story's well-known outcome. Read critic reviews

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Movie Info

In 1957 Germany, Attorney General Fritz Bauer (Burghart Klaußner) works with the Israeli intelligence agency to find and prosecute Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann (Michael Schenk).
  • Rating:
    R (Some Sexual Content)
  • Genre:
    drama, history, mystery and thriller
  • Original Language:
    German
  • Director:
    Lars Kraume
  • Producer:
    Thomas Kufus
  • Writer:
    Lars Kraume, Olivier Guez
  • Release Date (Theaters):
     limited
  • Release Date (Streaming):
  • Box Office (Gross USA):
    $277.6K
  • Runtime:
  • Production Co:
    Zero One Film, Westdeutscher Rundfunk, Terz Film

Cast & Crew

Burghart Klaußner
General Attorney
Ronald Zehrfeld
Karl Angermann
Sebastian Blomberg
Ulrich Kreidler
Jörg Schüttauf
Paul Gebhardt
Lilith Stangenberg
Victoria
Laura Tonke
Fräulein Schütt
Götz Schubert
Georg August Zinn
Cornelia Gröschel
Charlotte Angermann
Robert Atzorn
Hans Jasper
Matthias Weidenhöfer
Zvi Aharoni
Lars Kraume
Director
Lars Kraume
Screenwriter
Olivier Guez
Screenwriter
Thomas Kufus
Producer
Jens Harant
Cinematographer
Barbara Gies
Film Editor
Cora Pratz
Production Design
Esther Walz
Costume Designer
Nessie Nesslauer
Casting
Nicole Schmied
Casting
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News & Interviews for The People vs. Fritz Bauer

Kubo and the Two Strings Is Certified Fresh
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Critic Reviews for The People vs. Fritz Bauer

All Critics (40) | Top Critics (14) | Fresh (34) | Rotten (6)

  • The result may not be highbrow experimental art cinema, but ... its explicit mission to tell Bauer's story to as many people as it can shouldn't be underrated in the current global political climate.

    August 25, 2018 | Full Review…

    Alexandra Heller-Nicholas

    The Blue Lenses

  • A more-or-less successful thriller that can rely for tension on the shadowy setting of a society trying to hide from itself.

    October 21, 2016 | Rating: 2.5/4 | Full Review…

    Kate Taylor

    Globe and Mail

  • Klaussner's powerful performance as Bauer ... snaps the picture back into focus.

    September 8, 2016 | Rating: 2.5/4 | Full Review…

    Peter Keough

    Boston Globe

  • It's a compelling portrait both of Bauer and of a fraught moment in German history.

    September 1, 2016 | Rating: 3.5/5 | Full Review…

    Kerry Lengel

    Arizona Republic

  • Kraume brings muted colors and a claustrophobic, urgent energy to the procedural part of this story, while reminding us that not every moral hero looks like Captain America - in fact, like Bauer, they can be a rumpled, misanthropic mess.

    September 1, 2016 | Rating: 3/4 | Full Review…

    Tom Keogh

    Seattle Times

  • Klaussner's fine performance keeps us on edge through most of the film, even though we know the result.

    August 24, 2016 | Rating: 3/4 | Full Review…

    Leba Hertz

    San Francisco Chronicle
View All Critic Reviews (40)

Audience Reviews for The People vs. Fritz Bauer

  • May 08, 2018
    Bauer's engagement in hunting down Nazis in the 1950s makes for a pretty interesting plot. Unfortunately, the delivery, especially by camerawork and music is sometimes closer to a TV movie than a motion picture. Same goes for some minor actors. The sleazy journalist or genderbending hooker feel entirely out of place in this story, even though they're probably based on true events. Still, a pretty interesting look at Germany at a time when the country wanted to move on but still had some leftover Nazis in their midst.
    Jens S Super Reviewer
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