ScoobyMint Disappointment for a huge fan!

Tayloriona Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

Orla Zuniga It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

Aneesa Wardle The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Horst in Translation (filmreviews@web.de) "Nichts als die Wahrheit" (not to be mistaken for the more recent Kate Beckinsale film) is a German movie from 1999, so two more years until this one will have its 20th anniversary. It is based on the novel by Johannes W. Betz and he is also one of the people who worked on the script here. The director is Roland Suso Richter, one of Germany's most known small screen directors and here we have a contender for what is perhaps his most known big screen work. It is a very fictitious work. Yes Dr. Mengele obviously really did exist, but that's all. We get the story of what would have been had he returned to Germany. So half of the film is basically court proceedings. The cast includes Kai Wiesinger in the lead role and Götz George as the cruel Nazi doctor. Huge German film buffs will perhaps recognize more names from the cast. I personally think that they did a good job with depicting Mengele as a cruel know-it-all very intelligent guy and the man who defends him as quite an inexperienced rookie as this also somehow justifies the difference in talent when it comes to George, one of Germany's greatest of all time, and Wiesinger, not one of Germany's greatest of all time. I am still a bit baffled by how he was considered actually a rising star in Germany back then in his early 30s. George was around the age of 60 when he made this film and again received a solid deal of awards attention. And even if I did not like George in here as in many other films, I am still somewhat okay with it.I am not okay with the awards attention for the film though. It is pretty generic with moments like the main character and his family being in physical danger because of him defending the Nazi doc or with a couple other aspects that really did not feel convincing and just for the sake of cheap thrills. There were two of these especially that were eventually negative deal-breakers and both of these come from the last half hour of this 2-hour film. The first would be the central character's mother suddenly ending up in the witness chair in a somewhat desperate attempt by the filmmakers to add a more personal note. And the second would be the final statement by Wiesinger's character where he basically joins the prosecution. Well.. what can you say about that? Sure he was having moral doubts about what he did, but still I personally felt that it made a really cringeworthy impression in being an attempt to finish the film on a most controversial note and also in making Wiesinger's character more likable. But he loses all professional credibility to me in that scene and I also believe that it went so strongly against a whole lot we saw earlier from this character. It just did not make any sense whatsoever. And eventually George also could not make up for these two crucial flaws that finally force me to give this one a thumbs-down. You can maybe call it a poor man's version of the truly excellent "Totmacher", another German movie from the 1990s, 4 years before this one. But back to "After the Truth": It's such a shame they sacrificed realism and authenticity here for controversial unrealistic developments. The general plot idea is a good one and with the cast at their disposal this should have been a way better film than it eventually turned out to be. Watch something else instead.

Bob Taylor Nichts als die Wahrheit is a very entertaining thriller that I caught on TFO. Dr. Mengele, the evil doctor of Auschwitz, did not die in 1979 but instead returns to Germany of his own free will to face trial for his crimes. The man he chooses as his lawyer is not sure he wants to defend such a brutal man, but says that every man deserves a fair trial. There are the usual types of people on one side or another: neo-Nazis, leftwingers, media people. It gets rough--a man is blown up by a car bomb. The courtroom scenes are usually effective; they show us how Mengele's trial would have been an embarrassment for many people in the new Germany had it actually taken place.One actor stands out: Gotz George, who I have never seen before, is terrific and terrifying as Mengele. He uses a soft, breathy voice to sinister effect as he plays cat and mouse with everybody, but especially with Rohm, his lawyer. George is made up to look a little like one of the Hellraiser demons.

libertyvalance When I saw AFTER THE TRUTH I was absolutely spellbound. Such a monstrous, though in fact, quite simple idea could actually be turned into a film? In Germany? Never! The fact stands that this is a brave and well crafted study of a man's choice between professional opportunity and his personal ethics. Forced to defend The Angel Of Death - Dr. Josef Mengele - his personal life is, understandably, completely turned upside down. The script by Johannes W. Betz manages to alternate convincingly between scenes portraying his inner turmoil and the fascinating encounters with Dr. Mengele. Götz George as Mengele is excellent and it is largely through his brilliant performance that the story is so fascinating and believable. The ending of the film felt a bit like a copout to me but the clever editing and the accomplished direction by Roland Suso Richter never falter. After living in fear that the German cinema was dead and buried, there appears to be new blood to bring it back to life.

hng *No spoilers, all infos included in advertisings to the movie*This movie is a very brave attempt to ask difficult questions in an unfashionable way. Dr. med. Josef Mengele, the name alone may cause shiver in ones mind. The 'Deathangel of Auschwitz', the beast, a monster, a man!? Richter story actually starts with the doctor arriving in Germany, admitting all he has done... pleading NOT guilty due to the circumstances of his time.Hardly to believe you might think... so did I, 'till I saw the movie, 'till I heard the argumentation... The movie is no accusation of a political system, a period of time itself, or a single person, it's not even actually a typical 'what-if'. It, too, is no justification for either side. It simple asks the question whether a murder of thousands can be judged or if this is just a little bit out of scale for current laws and minds. If one man was guilty in the past, aren't we all in the present?The international affect of the topic is too little present. The thriller elements are (IMHO) superfluous and the REAL interesting questions could be more deeply evolved. But nevertheless this movie is worth a ticket or to. Gets a 9/10! I took deep impacts in my conscious... got me troubled."If you put aside all answers as lies, still the question remains."