Valkyrie | Eastern North Carolina Now

   Publisher's note: It nearly kills me to admit this, but Wyatt is probably our most read writer. Last night, May 12, 2012, I was perusing our sister publication, Better Angels Now, and I noticed that so many of Wyatt's reviews, of the many fine films that occupy the public's interest, have not been availed to our readers through our Beaufort County Now publication.

   Consequently, over the next few weeks, we will endeavor to remedy this mild injustice by publishing these reviews, in our current improved format, for your edification. Here below is our first in a series of these older articles of interest by our good friend, Wyatt Sanderman Day.

    
No Hero's Welcome in Germany's Darkest Days

    These were the worst of times in the national nightmare of Germany. It appeared to many patriots of Deutschland that if the madman Adolf Hitler were allowed to continue his maddening reign over Germans, up until the devastating conclusion of the Second World War, its people would suffer immeasurably by the hands of its captors. The true patriots' plan was to kill Hitler and Enrich Himmler, install a new government, and sue for a favorable peace.

    As most everyone knows, the nation of Germany, along with the Axis allies of Italy and Japan, sought world domination by total subjugation of its conquered peoples. The result of their collective advancements: into parts of northern Africa and the Middle East by the Italians, parts of eastern Asia by the Japanese and the Germans taking Austria and the Sudetenland without firing a shot and next the total destruction of the Polish Army in 28 days, was the beginning of the Second World War. Other world powers: Great Britain, Russia and the United States were eventually engaged in the frontal defense against these aggressors. While the German and Japanese soldiers were fierce in their aggression and powerful in their fighting skills, they would be incapable in overcoming the overwhelming commitment by the Allies to the destruction of their enemies.
In this true story of Germanic valor, the conspiracy was afoot to permanently remove the the Madman Adolf Hitler. Here the conspirators: (from left to right) sitting; Colonel Mertz von Quirnheim, played by Christian Berkel - General Friedrich Olbricht, played Bill Nighy - Erwin von Witzleben, played by David Schofield - standing; Dr. Carl Goerdeler, played by Kevin R. McNally - Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg, played by Tom Cruise - Ludwig Beck, played by Terence Stamp - Major-General Henning von Tresckow, played by Kenneth Branagh: Above.

    An elite and very capable cadre of officers within the Wehrmacht, including the venerable Erwin Rommel, understood that the madman Hitler had poorly prosecuted the war, and that it would be impossible to reverse the losses in the theaters of the Eastern Front and North Africa. Some of the upper echelon officers, fighting in far away lands to maintain Germany's earlier advancements, knew of the possible genocide in the concentration camps. They also knew that it was grossly wrong, and would reflect poorly upon Germany in the peace process if they did not resolutely act to end these horrors. The first element of any action was to remove Adolf Hitler.

    The story of these patriots is the film "Valkyrie," which was the code name of the Third Reich's defense against the anticipated civil unrest in Berlin, Germany in the event of an internal coup. Richard Wagner's classic composition "The Ride of the Valkyries" had so influenced Adolph Hitler's perspective that he named this operation for it. The Norse legend of the Valkyries is that they would swoop down, like birds of prey, upon the battlefield and gather the bravest heroes, who were mortally wounded, to the mythical Valhalla in the name of the Norse God Odin, where they would reside with beautiful virgins for eternity. In the film, Adolf Hitler, portrayed by David Bramber, remarked to Colonel von Stauffenberg, "The Valkyrie; handmaidens of the gods, choosing who will live and who will die, sparing the most heroic from an agonizing death. One cannot understand National Socialism if one does not understand Wagner." Obviously, Hitler's version of the story, and the music of Wagner held great sway with the lunatic.
David Bamber played the mad leader, Adolf Hitler, of Germany's Third Reich: Above.

    In "Valkyrie," the film's director and producers told the story of these patriots to offer a more robust view of the fact that not all Germans, dressed for war, were monsters. This is the story of very competent warriors, who loved their country above all else. These officers understood that killing Hitler and Himmler was a long shot, at best after the many failed attempts, but recognized that their nation's continued future was in peril. What if the conquering Allied Forces were as ruthless to Germany as the Third Reich had been to Russia, Poland, and the Jews? It was unquestionably a future that they must address, even if it meant to perish in national disgrace.

    This is an important film. This essentially accurate narrative may amble along a bit slowly as it tells its intricate story, but "Valkyrie" is an indispensable component in the historical puzzle that was the 20th Century, and must be considered as such. Some of the characters in thus character driven film are not as well developed as I would have preferred; however, the producers would have needed to expand the film well beyond its 121 minutes of runtime to have accomplished this feat. The actors that were used to tell the story of "Valkyrie," were mostly English or other European actors and were quite good in their specific roles. Tom Cruise was the rare American in a leading role and stood out for two reasons: his American accent and his customary level of intensity that he has brought to his roles since he has grown into a real actor. Not since the "Last Samurai" has Actor Cruise been required to exhibit such a high level of depth and intensity. For the film to work, Cruise would have to lead with conviction in his portrayal of the patriot Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg; a man who would sacrifice his life for a complicated cause, with little hope of success, but kept a ray of hope in his heart that success could be at hand. These contradictive forces are the stuff of great drama, and Tom pulled it off by keeping it very real and very intense - no big goofy, infectious grins in this film.
Kenneth Branagh as Major General Henning von Tresckow contemplates just what these conspirators must accomplish as he stands upon the adjacent grounds of Hitler's Wolf's Lair: Above. The tension at the Wolf's Lair bunker that fateful day was palpable: Below.

    The other roles were filled by the very competent and highly regarded group of actors led by Kenneth Branagh as Major General Henning von Tresckow, Bill Nighy as General Friedrich Olbricht, Terence Stamp as General Ludwig Beck and Tom Wilkinson as General Friedrich Fromm well complemented the central role of the fated Colonel von Stauffenberg, who was tragically disfigured in Tunisia from the strafing of an American P40.
Tom Cruise as Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg and Carice van Houten as Nina von Stauffenberg still know the love between a man and and woman, even after the colonel's disfigurement, while in the great shadow of Hitler's insane Third Reich: Above.

    Director Bryan Singer, who directed the classic "The Usual Suspects," and Screenwriters Christopher McQuarrie and Nathan Alexander pay close attention to detail, thereby exploring the historic perspective to such an important subject; however, this painstaking process does slow the pace down a bit. Do not rent this film if you want to be entertained and care nothing of our history. Otherwise, I obviously believe this to be a good film, an important film, and I heartily suggest to those of you, who appreciate the dramatic dynamics of history, that you rent or buy the DVD.

    In war, not all men are evil and not all men are virtuous; however, one issue is certain, war is terrible. And in the history of the world, there has never been a war more terrible, and some of its belligerents more evil than in World War II. Hitler was a madman and he was a German, but he would not represent the best of Germany, but the worst. The conspirators that tried to kill the Fuhrer in Operation Valkyrie and others were as true of heroes as there were on all sides of this terrible war in these dark days. One could only imagine the many lives spared: both Germans and Allied soldiers if the plot had been successful. How different it might have been?

    Rated PG13. Released on DVD May 19, 2009.




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