On January 20th, 1942, high-ranking officials of the German government assemble at the Berlin suburb of Wannsee. Presiding is SS leader Reinhard Heydrich (Kenneth Branagh), Heinrich Himmler's right-hand man with a clear program for the extermination of European Jewry. His associates represent different sectors of government: the SS, military, economic divisions and Nazi Party officials all gather to provide input. But it becomes clear that Heydrich's acting for Adolf Hitler himself, merely desiring a rubber stamp for genocide.
Smoothly directed by Frank Pierson, Conspiracy shows the Holocaust in its amorphous implementation. Despite the Nuremberg Laws, ghettoization and occasional pogroms, genocide was hardly inevitable. An early euthanasia program known as T4 met with widespread public opposition; many Nazi leaders favored deportation over extermination. The Germans exported genocide more successfully: Operation Barbarossa introduced the SS Einsatzgruppen, who slaughtered over a million Soviet Jews in the first six months of occupation. This proved impractical for both military and morale reasons: whole divisions were tied down, bullets wasted, soldiers traumatized. How to make mass murder impersonal and efficient?
Conspiracy shows Wannsee as a bureaucratic turf feud. Heydrich finds different individuals and government factions at each others' throats over responsibility. An economic official (Jonathan Coy) resists, pointing out need of Jewish labor. SS leader Rudolf Lange (Barnaby Kay) muses over the impracticality of mass killing. The most vociferous opponent is Wilhelm Stuckhart (Colin Firth), a legal expert who crafted the original Nuremberg Laws. His complaints seem driven by vanity more than even legal concerns. Friederich Kritzinger (David Threlfall), the Chancellery official with the only moral objections, is cowed by accusations of loving Jews.
Many Nazi analysts still rely on Hannah Arend's "banality of evil" canard, that the Nazis were ordinary people doing monstrous things. Whether it applies to ordinary Germans, it's not relevant to Conspiracy. True, we see them eating pastry and making crude jokes: they're human beings. But they're also committed ideologues who consider Jewish lives all but worthless, far from being button-pushing bureaucrats. That anyone could calmly debate mundane euphemisms for killing proves them far removed from conventional morality. Even tactical concerns prove secondary, as Heydrich browbeats everyone into consensus.
Kenneth Branagh dominates the show with a chilling turn. He makes Heydrich a subdued monster, a physically ideal Aryan seemingly without human feeling. His forced humor, rehearsed apologies and affectless speech seem like a robot imitating human behavior. There's no "banality of evil" here, not even ideological commitment: Heydrich's a bullying sociopath who views 6,000,000 human lives as trivial compared to self-advancement.
Stanley Tucci plays Eichmann as a low-key bureaucrat, professional yet no less committed than his boss. Colin Firth is a preening pedant, who'd gladly go along with genocide if only it adhered to his laws! David Threlfall plays the only official with genuine misgivings. Lesser-known, but recognizable supporting actors include Ian McNeice (Valkyrie), Kevin McNally (Pirates of the Caribbean) and Barnaby Kay (Cracker).
Conspiracy proves successful through simplicity. No murders occur on screen, no actual violence beyond characters' heated rhetoric. That a dozen or so men could sit down and calmly debate the extermination of an entire race provides the most disturbing commentary imaginable.
For the record, there's a German 1984 film, entitled The Wannsee Conference, which is similarly meticulous and equally worthwhile. Conspiracy alters little aside from the language difference.
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