Le procès d'Adolf Eichmann

Note: to not be confused with the 1997 PBS documentary "The Trial of Adolf Eichmann", as they end up being released with the same title on many websites and platforms, and sometimes the cast listing and technical info of one gets mixed up with the other.

This French special broadcast on "Infrarouge" chronicles the mahunt on Nazi bureaucrat official Adolf Eichmann in Argentina and his subsequent trial in Israel for crimes against humanity during World War II. Insiders who were part of all that are the main talking heads of this piece, sharing their accounts on one of the most controversial figures of all time, who claimed that he was only following Hitler's and the high command's orders while taking part of planning and executing the "final solution" on the Jewish problem in Europe, in what Hannah Arendt described as the banality of evil. Eichmann's trial is covered in bits and pieces where we can all witness his contemptous faces and expressions while hearing Holocaust survivors testimonies and reports.

It's a good and reflective documentary but it pales in comparison with the one made by PBS. It gets a little weary and confusing due to an awkward presentation of facts, the jumpy timeline goes back and forth without an actual need (the other film was very linear and interesting to follow, plus the voice reenactments by Hollywood actors translating the trial were really good); the highlights from the trial were exactly the same as used in other films, but there were key moments missing here and there or they were half explained. The global debate on Israel's commanding the trial and the public perception on what to do with Eichmann does not appear in this doc and it should, as it offers a wider view on how the trial was closely followed around the world - with a massive TV coverage, unlike the Nuremberg trial.

Even with some problems, it's a devastating, informative piece that deserves a view with its painful observation on how apparently common types like Eichmann were responsible for the most horrific acts of barbarity yet weren't regretful, or weren't perceived as men of pure hatred or sadism. They could go above suspicion as simple bureaucrats who never questioned their leaders but went along with cruel acts. The painful lessons from History. 8/10.