Cinema is no stranger to the horrors of Nazism; Schindler's List, The Pianist and more have shown the true extent of the Holocaust in unflinching detail. But BBC/HBO co-production Conspiracy is, if anything, even more chilling for showing just how anti-Semitism in Europe under the Third Reich reached its sickening conclusion: by having gluttonous, cackling government officials sit around a conference room and systematically weigh up the numbers. It's there, in a secret meeting, that Kenneth Branagh's Reinhard Heydrich, Stanley Tucci's Adolf Eichmann and others discuss the "final solution" to the "Jewish problem", formulating the best plan to eradicate the new German empire of the Jewish race. The script, by playwright Loring Mandel, depicts an epoch-defining power struggle confined to a board room, as hard-line Nazis talk down the more sensible voices in the room and push to exterminate an entire race over lunch. It helps to shed some light on and partially give an explanation for the madness of the Holocaust, by making the meeting appear mundane and by having the few dissenters seem like helpless drones, themselves at the mercy of a single-thought state. It goes without saying that Branagh, Tucci and their character actor counterparts do a stand-up job, turning a simple dialogue piece into a high-pressure play.
Lover of film, writer of words, pretentious beyond belief. Thinks Scorsese and Kubrick are the kings of cinema, but PT Anderson and David Fincher are the dashing young princes. Follow Brogan on twitter if you can take shameless self-promotion: @BroganMorris1
