And the result is gripping. This is a film that had me on the edge of the seat. In a sense it could hardly have been otherwise, as the historical events are pretty bloody cinematic in the first place. But the whole thing is well executed. Yes, Tom Cruise is pretty wooden, but there’s a magnificent cast of mainly British character actors, with Bill Nighy standing out in particular, but we also get Kenneth Branagh, Terence Stamp, Eddie Izzard in a straight role, Danny Webb, Ian McNiece, Tom Hollander and more. As a Hollywood war film with loads of suspense the film certainly succeeds.
And yet... does the film not whitewash Von Stauffenberg, Beck and the other members of the plot? Historians seem to disagree on Von Stauffenberg’s views- was he an anti-Semite but one who felt that the Holocsust was going too far? He was certainly no liberal, or democrat; he believed in German dominance over Poland; and he wanted a Germany with its 1914 borders plus Germany and the Sudetenland. This is, perhaps, the best we could have expected given where the Overton window was in Nazi Germany, but it’s a shame these shades of grey were washed over and the plotters were portrayed simply as heroes. They deserve respect and remembrance for what they did, but they fought for Nazi Germany. I think I shall let Roger Bartlett from The Great Escape have the last word here:
“Look, sir, you talk about the High Command and the Luftwaffe, and then you talk about the Gestapo and the SS. To me, they're the same! We're fighting the bloody lot! There's only one way to put it, sir: they are the common enemies of everyone who believes in freedom. If the High Command didn't approve of Hitler, then why didn't they throw him out?”
The July 1944 plot was too little, too late.
I think in terms of films about the 20 July plot, this one (at least for now) is certainly the one to recommend. I know Cruise gets a lot of flak but I actually thought he did a good job playing the Colonel.
ReplyDeleteHave you ever seen the films “The Plot to Kill Hitler” (1990, Brad Davis) and “Stauffenberg” (2004, Sebastian Koch)? As the titles imply, they also focus on Valkyrie and Stauffenberg himself. I’m not saying they don’t have their own problems, if you’ve seen them you’ll know of what I speak. Just that they make an interesting comparison to this film as they focus on the same story, especially as the Davis version actually tries to explore Stauffenberg in a more complex and perhaps realistic light, such as that he may have still held mixed views on Hitler the man (still feeling a hesitant sort of respect for him but clearly and knowingly appalled at the way he is leading Germany to ruin) but ultimately made the attempt on his life.