Consistency_Check This is not a movie you need popcorn for, neither doubly surround nor a big screen. But it is the movie I chose to make an IMDb account for. Indeed, "movie" is somewhat the wrong term, "play" is more accurate. Facing their death in Nazi gas chambers, a group of Jews put God on trial. The charge: violating the covenant. The story portrays differing characters, from the fearful believer, to the scholar, from the scientist to the simple man - everyone with differing views and arguments. The lively debate with strong arguments on all sides in front of this horrible setting is what makes this film so great. To get the most out of the play one probably should have a (little) knowledge about the Jewish faith or the Old Testament and allow oneself to enjoy a religious-philosophical debate.

Petri Pelkonen It's WWII and the place is Auschwitz aka Hell on Earth.A group of prisoners, who were sent there for no other reason than that they were Jews, put God on trial.He seems to have abandoned the Jewish people.The question is: Why does God let this happen? God on Trial (2008) is a television play written by Frank Cottrell Boyce and directed by Andy de Emmony.The play is based on an event described by Elie Wiesel in his book The Trial of God.I haven't read that, but I am reading Dawn by Wiesel.This movie has got just the right actors to play their parts.Joseph Muir plays Kapo.Joseph Altin is Isaac.Ashley Artus plays Ricard.Alexi Kaye Campbell portrays Doctor.Dominic Cooper plays Moche.Rupert Graves plays Mordechai.Lorcan Cranitch is Blockaltester.Francois Guétary plays Jacques.David de Keyser plays the part of Hugo.Eddie Marsan is Lieble.Blake Ritson is Idek.Jack Shepherd plays Kuhn.Stellan Skarsgård portrays Baumgarten.This is a very intelligent drama about people in a situation not they all anyone else for that matter can understand.It's almost haunting to listen to Baumgarten telling his story.He tells how he was an anti-Semite, until he became a Jew because of his Jewish father he didn't know.And the ending is sad and haunting.The prisoners sent to their death say a Jewish prayer, and we see them among the people of our day, who are visiting Auschwitz as tourists.If you want to watch something that will make you think, you should watch this.

Mick Gold Films set in Nazi extermination camps are always confronted by certain production problems. Will the Jews look thin enough? Will they look like they're eaten by lice and other vermin? How to convey their interaction in such a wretched and desperate place? A place that most of us cannot begin to imagine. This drama succeeded (against my expectations) because it doesn't feel naturalistic. Of course Anthony Sher and Stellan Skarsgård and the others look like well-fed actors. But this does not detract from their performances because the emphasis in this film is on the arguments. How can anyone affirm a belief in God in Auschwitz? It's a good question, and many approaches and interpretations of God's actions are offered. The production could be criticised for feeling a little like a stage play. A bit wordy with many monologues. But the acting, the direction, and, above all, the writing are first class.

drew-campbell In a freezing, filthy, overcrowded hut in Auschwitz a group of emaciated Jewish prisoners await their fate. Around half of them will be selected for the gas chamber within a couple of hours and most seem paralysed by fear, hunger and despair - but one angry inmate rails against God. His anger provokes reactions and soon the men - they are all men - agree to put God on trial, quickly organising a kind of tribunal in the traditions of their religion.This drama confronts one of the central issues of human existence - the basis of faith - and sets it in a time and place that has become a by-word for inhumanity. With writing that is emotive, intelligent and unflinching throughout complimented by a series of utterly convincing and moving performances from all the principals, this was one of the most absorbing and challenging pieces of TV drama I have witnessed in years. In fact I would go further: This ranks as one of the finest TV productions I have ever seen.For me the almost real time context lifted this play beyond another testimony to the Holocaust. The characters all know the past - indeed, they acknowledge several hideous near genocidal atrocities by their Jewish ancestors - but they don't know the future.I won't spoil the outcome but, please, seek this out. If it doesn't make you think and doesn't touch your heart, you may not be alive.