God On Trial: a new 90-minute drama for Â鶹ÉçÌýTwo
Eddie Marsan plays Lieble
Lieble is a quiet man who keeps to himself on his top bunk until near the end of the trial. He isn’t keen at first to share his story.
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But it transpires he is a traumatised and battered young father, bewildered by what is going on. He questions the notion of free will and has a sudden eruption of simple emotion.
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Eddie explains: "Lieble comes from a town call Hoegen, close to the Dutch-German border. His town was targeted by the German authorities who smashed the local synagogue and herded all the Jews inside. The children, including Lieble's three sons, were taken away in a truck. Lieble pleaded with an SS officer for his sons' lives and he was given the choice of choosing just one to stay with him."
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The quality of the script immediately drew in Eddie: "Its conclusion completely surprised me and Frank's writing took me to the same place as the characters in the story, to the same terrifying state of confusion.
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"I was on a psychological knife-edge between nihilism and redemption.
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"I also wanted to work with actors such a Stephen Dillane, Stellan Skarsgard, Jack Shepherd and Antony Sher. To work on something so unique and special with such a tremendous cast was a once-in-a-lifetime experience."
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He concludes: "People should watch God On Trial because it is fantastic drama. It's riveting. What happened to these people could happen to you.
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"Imagine if you were at home, enjoying a family celebration with your children or grandchildren running around the garden and then, suddenly, uniformed men burst in and took the children away and you never see them again, and there is nothing you can do about it. For what reason? Because you are different from them.
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"Watching this drama you suddenly realise how precarious life is, how precious, and from this understanding comes the questions that are at the heart of the film.
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"It took courage to commission this film, it took courage to make it and it will take courage to watch it."
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