Okay, I said I didn't want to watch "Valkyrie"...
but yeah, I did today. But I didn't spend any money on it (and yes, that's everything I'll say about this). Here's my collection of unconnected ramblings review:
Okay, first of all: It wasn't as bad as I thought, but I will never accept totalitarian sect member Tom Cruise as one of my teenage years' heroes Claus Graf Schenk von Stauffenberg, even though the physical resemblance is so close that it's uncanny. That said: As far as I can tell, they were historically accurate (although... wasn't it Schlabrendorff who tried to kill Hitler on the plane? Why isn't there a Schlabrendorff in the credits, huh?), but that's more because I need to brush up on this topic again (damn, I used to be so good at this) than because I know what I'm talking about.
Overall, the dramatization was solid. I liked the idea of starting with the oath every German soldier had to take, swearing by the person Adolf Hitler rather than the Reich, because that was one of the central issues that lead to the prolonged amount of time they waited for the final assassination attempt. Most of the involved officers were members of very old, very traditional families, mostly nobility and military dynasties and for them the conflict between serving their nation (i.e. ending the war, ending the Holocaust, ending the dictatorship) and fulfilling their oath was a very substantial problem that posed reason for countless sleepless nights. So yes, there was a reason why there was the oath at the beginning.
Acting was okay, and most of the chosen actors (ye-es, Cruise as well) did well in their respective roles, not only in looks but in skills as well. I would have liked it, though, if they had concentrated just a little less on Stauffenberg, since he came comparatively late into the plan. Von Tresckow, Beck, Goerdeler and countless other politicians, officers and state executives (von Schlabrendorff, von dem Bussche, von Boeselager, von Moltke...) had been working a lot longer on it and had been in way deeper. In the movie they made it look a lot like the whole conspiration was mostly military which simply wasn't the case. In fact, there was a comparatively large civilian counterpart to the circle around von Tresckow and Beck which called itself "Kreisauer Kreis" (after the manor where they usually met - Kreisau in Lower Silesia) and belonged to the family von Moltke. I'll just chalk up the nearly complete omission of this to artistic license *sigh
Another trivial matter that still vexed me a little: Why is it that most German actors have to play nazis, nazis and... oh right, nazis in Hollywood movies? Christian Berkel did a great job as Mertz von Quirnheim (yes, one of the good guys), but the rest... nazis (Thomas "our guy in Hollywood" Kretschmann as bad-ass nazi Remer, for example) or faceless minions. Matthias Schweighöfer (who, curiously enough, played Manfred von Richthofen in "The Red Baron" last year) as Fromm's aide and Wotan Wilke Möhring as the Sergeant that didn't want to let Stauffenberg through the gate after the assassination attempt are two other examples... both of them are actually well-known actors in Germany, BTW.
All in all... Singer gave his best to direct a thrilling movie with the right timing and pacing and convincing actors. The core events were accurately displayed (as far as I can tell) and it's good to see that Hollywood finally discovered the "other Germany". However, for someone who is really interested in German resistance during the Third Reich, it should be a mere introduction (if that someone didn't do any reading on it before watching the movie, that is). I recommend watching also "Sophie Scholl: The Final Days" on resistance at the university in Munich and "Rosenstraße" (although I don't know if they ever did an English version of that - it's not quite historically accurate, but the event portrayed there is a very moving example of courage and determination born out of very personal reasons instead of political or military reasons). If anyone wants me to, I could look up amazon if there are English versions of some of the books I read on the topic of German resistance.
Oh, last interesting tidbit: Today, the German DOD (BMVg - Bundesministerium der Verteidigung) is residing next to the original setting of the War Department (Kriegsministerium), the so-called Bendlerblock, which houses a museum for German resistance (quite a vast collection - showing what the movie didn't quite show: That it was not a "small clique of officers without a conscience" that wanted another Germany) and the DOD put up a lot of resistance against letting Cruise and Singer film there (one of the reasons filming "Valkyrie" took so long). In the end they gave their permission (I did recognize the Bendlerblock), but to be honest: I understood the unwillingness of the DOD to let them film there (see my reason why I didn't want Cruise to be Stauffenberg above).
Anyway... like I said: not as bad as I expected, but I don't think I'll ever spend money on it. I'll rather keep to my books and do a little brushing up on the whole topic ;)
Okay, first of all: It wasn't as bad as I thought, but I will never accept totalitarian sect member Tom Cruise as one of my teenage years' heroes Claus Graf Schenk von Stauffenberg, even though the physical resemblance is so close that it's uncanny. That said: As far as I can tell, they were historically accurate (although... wasn't it Schlabrendorff who tried to kill Hitler on the plane? Why isn't there a Schlabrendorff in the credits, huh?), but that's more because I need to brush up on this topic again (damn, I used to be so good at this) than because I know what I'm talking about.
Overall, the dramatization was solid. I liked the idea of starting with the oath every German soldier had to take, swearing by the person Adolf Hitler rather than the Reich, because that was one of the central issues that lead to the prolonged amount of time they waited for the final assassination attempt. Most of the involved officers were members of very old, very traditional families, mostly nobility and military dynasties and for them the conflict between serving their nation (i.e. ending the war, ending the Holocaust, ending the dictatorship) and fulfilling their oath was a very substantial problem that posed reason for countless sleepless nights. So yes, there was a reason why there was the oath at the beginning.
Acting was okay, and most of the chosen actors (ye-es, Cruise as well) did well in their respective roles, not only in looks but in skills as well. I would have liked it, though, if they had concentrated just a little less on Stauffenberg, since he came comparatively late into the plan. Von Tresckow, Beck, Goerdeler and countless other politicians, officers and state executives (von Schlabrendorff, von dem Bussche, von Boeselager, von Moltke...) had been working a lot longer on it and had been in way deeper. In the movie they made it look a lot like the whole conspiration was mostly military which simply wasn't the case. In fact, there was a comparatively large civilian counterpart to the circle around von Tresckow and Beck which called itself "Kreisauer Kreis" (after the manor where they usually met - Kreisau in Lower Silesia) and belonged to the family von Moltke. I'll just chalk up the nearly complete omission of this to artistic license *sigh
Another trivial matter that still vexed me a little: Why is it that most German actors have to play nazis, nazis and... oh right, nazis in Hollywood movies? Christian Berkel did a great job as Mertz von Quirnheim (yes, one of the good guys), but the rest... nazis (Thomas "our guy in Hollywood" Kretschmann as bad-ass nazi Remer, for example) or faceless minions. Matthias Schweighöfer (who, curiously enough, played Manfred von Richthofen in "The Red Baron" last year) as Fromm's aide and Wotan Wilke Möhring as the Sergeant that didn't want to let Stauffenberg through the gate after the assassination attempt are two other examples... both of them are actually well-known actors in Germany, BTW.
All in all... Singer gave his best to direct a thrilling movie with the right timing and pacing and convincing actors. The core events were accurately displayed (as far as I can tell) and it's good to see that Hollywood finally discovered the "other Germany". However, for someone who is really interested in German resistance during the Third Reich, it should be a mere introduction (if that someone didn't do any reading on it before watching the movie, that is). I recommend watching also "Sophie Scholl: The Final Days" on resistance at the university in Munich and "Rosenstraße" (although I don't know if they ever did an English version of that - it's not quite historically accurate, but the event portrayed there is a very moving example of courage and determination born out of very personal reasons instead of political or military reasons). If anyone wants me to, I could look up amazon if there are English versions of some of the books I read on the topic of German resistance.
Oh, last interesting tidbit: Today, the German DOD (BMVg - Bundesministerium der Verteidigung) is residing next to the original setting of the War Department (Kriegsministerium), the so-called Bendlerblock, which houses a museum for German resistance (quite a vast collection - showing what the movie didn't quite show: That it was not a "small clique of officers without a conscience" that wanted another Germany) and the DOD put up a lot of resistance against letting Cruise and Singer film there (one of the reasons filming "Valkyrie" took so long). In the end they gave their permission (I did recognize the Bendlerblock), but to be honest: I understood the unwillingness of the DOD to let them film there (see my reason why I didn't want Cruise to be Stauffenberg above).
Anyway... like I said: not as bad as I expected, but I don't think I'll ever spend money on it. I'll rather keep to my books and do a little brushing up on the whole topic ;)