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Director: Bryan Singer
Release Date: December 25, 2008
Rating: PG-13 for violence and brief strong language.
 I dragged some people with me to see Valkyrie, Friday night. Amazingly, it's easier to convince someone to see a "Nazi flick" than to see a "Tom Cruise film". It's a shame, because Cruise is a spitting image of Colonel Stauffenberg, the man who planted the bomb which almost killed Hitler.
This movie is unlike any historical movie I've seen released in recent years. It lacked everything we've grown accustomed to seeing in Hollywood pictures about the past. There were no Braveheart speeches for the troops, there was no intricate love-triangle like in Pearl Harbor, there was no poetic narration, and there were no over-the-top fight scenes found in movies like Flyboys (a stain on historical cinema). Instead, Valkyrie was a straightforward film put together with Hollywood quality and budget, but without the added flare to somehow sell the story to the viewers. The story sells itself. It just needed to be told.
Operation Valkyrie was not the actual plot to kill Hitler; it was the plan put in place to secure the German government in the event of Hitler's death. Those who plotted to take the Fuhrer's life were not simply out to hit and run; they planned to completely take over Germany and her new territory in order to negotiate an armistice with the Allies. In order to accomplish this feat, Operation Valkyrie had to be drastically modified. The movie explains this and more in layman's terms as it walks through the story. The movie explains how the bombs worked and why some early attempts failed. One famous failed attempt on Hitler's life is shown at the beginning which leads to the plotters expanded the intricacy and participants of their plans.
The movie is genius as it gives plenty of detail on the development of the story and the key players. These are details that need to be told. However, it shows great restraint by not turning the film into a mere history lesson. One scene shows Hitler along with all his major players: Goebbels, Himmler, and Goring. The movie doesn't explain who is who, but the film makers were careful in their selection of the actors to choose people with striking resemblances. If you knew the faces, then you knew who they were. If you didn't know the faces, then you at least got the sense that Hitler was with some very important men. It was a perfect scene regardless of the viewer's knowledge of Nazi Germany's leadership.
The ability to make the story enjoyable for all viewers is what made Valkyrie great. I know the story fairly well, yet the movie generated enough suspense that I was intrigued the entire time. My friends who didn't know anything other than was Hitler almost killed by a bomb were also entertained.
Another bonus for English-speaking moviegoers is the film's language. It starts off with German, but transfers to unaccented English after a minute or two. Not filming the movie entirely in German will remove it from the Foreign Films category, but the movie will be viewed by more Americans.
Valkyrie should be the template for future historical films. Directors and producers should simply tell the viewer the story in the most accurate way possible without added fluff that is soon forgotten. Granted, there are some liberties taken in this movie (e.g. personal conversations between the main characters and their family members), but these liberties are perfectly acceptable.
Learn from this movie, Hollywood. Don't anger history buffs with added nonsense that they'll waste their time explaining away. Don't insult everyone else with a History Channel documentary. Instead, just tell the story. |
