Awaiting their fate in a sombre blockhouse in Auschwitz, a group of men – including a physicist, a glove-maker, two rabbis, a professor of law and at least one criminal – struggle desperately not only to survive, but to make sense of their existence. As they wait to discover whether they have been selected for the gas chambers, these prisoners, driven to the limit by the cruelty of the Nazis, demand to know the answer to the question: What is the nature of a God that can allow so much suffering? From award-winning writer Frank Cottrell Boyce and starring a stellar international cast, God On Trial is the extraordinary tale of how these men attempt to settle their dispute by putting God in the dock, charged with breaking his covenant to protect his people.
Directed by
Andy DeEmmony
Written by
Frank Cottrell Boyce
Starring
Josef Altin (Isaac); Ashley Artus (Ricard); Dominic Cooper (Moche); David de Keyser (Hugo); Stephen Dillane (Schmidt); Rupert Graves (Mordechai); François Guétary (Jacques); Louise Mardenborough (Emily); Eddie Marsan (Lieble); André Oumansky (Jacob); Blake Ritson (Idek); Jack Shepherd (Kuhn); Antony Sher (Akiba); Stellan Skarsgård (Baumgarten); René Zagger (Ezra). Please contact SFC to add other cast members and characters.
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A fine performance all around
Mark Banks (United Kingdom)
Opinion: Recommended
How I wish all of the BBC's content would be up to this standard. God on Trial is a courageous, well-written and generally well-acted production that the BBC, Frank Cottrell Boyce and Andy DeEmmony should be congratulated for. The all-star cast turn in commendable performances, if a little distracted from by the fact that they almost all looked far too over-nourished, and the intelligently-written script keeps a good pace throughout. If I have one criticism it is that most of the performances, though solid, didn't quite manage to convey the heart of the Jewish people that I am familiar with. From my point of view I was expecting a little more emotion and a little more expression from a group of men who would already have undergone much persecution in the ghettos, in transportation and in camp. That said, this is still a fine production worthy of watching and worthy of its conclusion; it would make for good watching in a Religious Education class. Other production companies should take note.
