Most World War II buffs know about some high-ranking Germans’ attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler in July 1944. But not-so-well-informed history geeks — like me — should learn a lot from Valkyrie, Bryan Singer’s data-rich procedural about the close-but-no-cigar coup attempt.
A surprisingly suspenseful thriller, considering we know how it ends from the start, Valkyrie was painstakingly put together by “the usual suspects†team of director Bryan Singer and writer Christopher McQuarrie (Nathan Alexander also worked on this script). Light on military action — it’s mostly a series of high-risk deceptions, close calls and miscommunications — the film develops increasing tension through straightforward plot unraveling. Though inevitably talky, it benefits from a hushed, matter-of-fact tone that, while not the most dynamic way to tell a tale, certainly seems apt for the conspiratorial business at hand.
Individuals’ motives and contradictions could have been better-explored, but then the Third Reich was falling apart and Nazis were still Nazis. So what else do we really need to know about some sensible Germans’ rationales for trying to stop the carnage sooner rather than too late?
Tag: Valkyrie review
An unfussy, adult and stoic Tom Cruise anchors the World War II thriller ” Valkyrie.” In a compact performance of nerve and rare glimpses of emotion, Cruise is a leading man who takes us through a complex story, and ennobles and personalizes events that have almost faded into history.
This Bryan Singer film is about the most famous attempt by Germans to kill the Führer who led the world into war and Germany into horror. And it is about the man at the center of that conspiracy, Claus von Stauffenberg. He was an army officer from German nobility, that rare man with the resolve, “tenacity and determination,” historian Roger Moorhouse says in his book “Killing Hitler,” to carry out an attempted coup to “save Germany.”
“Valkyrie” introduces the principals — civilians struggling to find a way to seize control of the government, from a military dictatorship, Wehrmacht officers appalled by the “stain” the mass murderer Hitler had brought to their army.
In “Valkyrie,” the latest Hollywood film to delve into Nazi Germany, the Jews are almost entirely absent. There is a brief mention of the concentration camps, and that’s about it. A moralist might find this an outrage, but a moviegoer, especially one exhausted by grim dramas about the Holocaust, may feel relief.
Based on a true story, “Valkyrie” aims to be a thriller, not an issues movie, and it succeeds. Tom Cruise, sporting an eyepatch and an aristocratic curl in his forelocks, plays Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg, an officer who discovers he’s not the only one with thoughts of eliminating Der Führer. With the backing of an expansive web of resisters – from typists to generals – Stauffenberg hatches a plan to take Germany by coup. Step one: Bring a briefcase full of explosives to a meeting with Hitler.
It’s probably no spoiler to say the plan doesn’t work. The fun, if that’s the right word, lies in seeing how tantalizingly close the dominoes come to falling in just the right way.
Thanks to crisp direction from Bryan Singer and a terse, efficient script from Christopher McQuarrie and Nathan Alexander, “Valkyrie” recalls one of Shakespeare’s wonkier plays – say, “Richard II” – as the best-laid plans of high-placed men lead inevitably to disaster. And the impeccable supporting cast, particularly Tom Wilkinson as a careerist general who cleverly hedges his bets, breathes life into numerous small but important roles.
As Stauffenberg, Cruise makes for a good-looking martyr, but it’s the larger story that fascinates. Here is a parallel group of Nazis-within-the-Nazis, operating almost openly while others nervously turn a blind eye. “Valkyrie” includes no sermons about genocide or anti-Semitism; these resisters are concerned with the fate of the Fatherland. In that aspect, they’re underdogs worth rooting for.
BOTTOM LINE An engaging dramatization of one of history’s footnotes, with excellent performances from the supporting cast.
(Source: Newsday)
Tom “delivers”, is “convincing” and gives an “impressive performance.” “The picture is essentially a requiem for a lost cause.”
‘Valkyrie’: Desperate Measures, By Kurt Loder
Tom Cruise delivers.
Turning the true story of a 1944 attempt by German army officers to assassinate Adolf Hitler into a movie presents one considerable problem: The attempt failed, and everybody knows it. Conversely, “The Day of the Jackal,” the 1973 film about an attempt to assassinate French president Charles DeGaulle, worked because the story was fiction — the movie was really a straightforward thriller that derived its tension from the cat-and-mouse interplay between a wily assassin and an intrepid police inspector. The German scenario, being rooted in real life, is less tidy. It involved a large cast of conspirators and a certain amount of muddling bureaucratic complexity. However, it also offers a real hero around which to construct a film — a handsome young colonel named Claus von Stauffenberg, who coordinated the assassination attempt and might have pulled it off had it not been for the intrusion of, well, real life.
Tom Cruise is probably not the first actor who would spring to most people’s minds in connection with this role. And yet it’s Cruise who has managed to get the movie made. And the surprise — for those who were expecting a train wreck — is how convincing he is. “Valkyrie,” directed with admirable restraint by Bryan Singer, is an exceedingly well-crafted movie, and an educational one, too. (It’s unusually faithful to the historical record.) And Cruise, somewhat encumbered as an actor by an eyepatch and an empty sleeve (Stauffenberg was maimed in combat in 1943), puts himself entirely at the service of the character — his trademark boyish grin is nowhere in evidence. It’s an impressive performance.
The film’s problem is inherent in the material. This is a movie about a confusingly numerous group of men with names like Fellgiebel, Goerdeler and von Haeften gathering in rooms to discuss secrets and strategies in an attempt to eliminate Hitler and invoke Operation Valkyrie — an emergency plan, sanctioned by Hitler himself, to allow an army element based in Berlin to take control of the civil government in case of a destabilizing enemy attack. The conspirators’ intention was to terminate Hitler with a bomb, seize control of all communications, arrest the Nazi political leaders and SS goons, and begin negotiating the terms of an acceptable surrender with the Allied forces that were pressing in on Germany from the West. If their plot failed, they purportedly hoped that its attempt would at least demonstrate to the world that not all Germans supported the odious regime. (Anti-Hitler plots had been festering in the high command of the German army for years.) The movie’s script, by Christopher McQuarrie and Nathan Alexander, is sleek and clearly constructed, but this is still a lot to take in.
The supporting cast is first-rate. Among the plotters are Kenneth Branagh, Terence Stamp, Bill Nighy and Kevin McNally; among their antagonists, Tom Wilkinson, Tom Hollander and — portraying Hitler as a fading old man — David Bamber. Cruise inserts himself comfortably among these British actors by use of a strictly neutral American delivery and carefully controlled deportment. And he brings some welcome warmth to the picture in conveying Stauffenberg’s quiet torment over the possibility of what his treasonous actions could mean for his wife and children. (If the conspiracy should fail, they will likely be executed along with him.)
Although there’s a combat scene at the beginning of the film and, unavoidably, a firing squad at its conclusion, “Valkyrie” is not an action movie (although it does build quite a bit of tension once the conspiracy gets underway). You can occasionally feel Singer trying to kick things along with acrobatic camera angles, but the picture is essentially a requiem for a lost cause. “I’m a soldier,” Cruise’s Stauffenberg says. “I serve my country. But this is not my country.”
(Source: MTV)
Another review on Valkyrie: Tom’s acting is called “good” and “top rate”, his “most mature work to date” and more, read the review! More phrases: “intense journey”, “impressively choreographic” direction, “thrilling to observe the quick-thinking team in action”, a “great thriller”. “We are glued to the screen unable to look away”, “terrific in supporting roles” but “Cruise is the standout. He’s outdone himself”. Read the review!
After all our collective Tom Cruise bashing, he’s turned the tables on us. And he ain’t kidding. He’s good.
His work in Valkyrie and the film itself are top rate. He is restrained and grimly Not Tom as Col. Claus Von Stauffenberg in his most mature work to date.
There are none of the histrionics and mugging sometimes associated with his work. It’s plain, straight forward and effective, a selfless performance.
Cruise says he was inspired to play the Nazi officer who led a plot to assassinate Adolph Hitler when he noticed facial similarities in a portrait. Films have been launched on less than that.
Again script writers McQuarrie Alexander are praised for their “sharp script that creates a well-paced and engaging story”; the way Singer builds up the tension is applauded and is “drawing the viewer in and never letting go from that point on”. “Sometimes the cliche is true…it’s not whether you win or lose, it’s how you play the game. These man played the game brilliantly, and it’s nice to see them given a fitting tribute in cinema.”
“Valkyrie” is called “an absolute treat to watch”, “a succes”, “an intelligent, gripping thriller that is impossible to ignore from start to finish”, shortly, “a highly recommended film.” It scores an 8.5 which is ‘very good’ on their movie ranking.
Proof that failing to live up to the hype can be a very good thing indeed.
Of all the many true stories about World War II, one of the most personally fascinating is the July 20, 1944 plot to kill Adolf Hitler. The plot was the last of fifteen attempts masterminded by Germans to assassinate their own leader, all of which, as any junior high school student could tell you, failed. Of all the plots, the July 20th plot was the one that got the closest to succeeding—and indeed, it very nearly did. Masterminded by members of the German Army and Military Intelligence Organization—including Generals Friedrich Olbricht and Ludwig Beck, Colonel Albrecht Ritter Mertz von Quirnheim and Colonel Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg—the plot resulted in Hitler being wounded rather then killed by a mere set of circumstances. While the end result was disastrous for all involved, one has to wonder just what might have happened had a few twists of fate not intervened and Hitler died. The tale has been dramatized several times, including the 1990 television movie The Plot to Kill Hitler, several German films, and as a side story in 1967’s The Night of the Generals. Now, we have Valkyrie, from Tom Cruise’s United Artists studio. Featuring the reteaming of writer Christopher McQuarrie and Bryan Singer—the duo behind The Usual Suspects—and starring Cruise, Kenneth Branagh, Bill Nighy, Terence Stamp and Tom Wilkinson, the film has suffered some bad press and negative buzz before it finally opened wide on Christmas day.
Bryan Singer’s approach “takes your breath away” and “the movie reveals itself to be a taut, gripping procedural.” Tom “blends into an excellently cast ensemble; and he modulates his performance to the tense, low-boil rhythms of the storytelling”.
The idea of Tom Cruise wearing an eye patch and a Nazi costume sounds like someone’s idea of a bad Halloween party joke. But one of the many surprises of the new thriller “Valkyrie” is that it allows the actor, whose off-screen persona tends to overshadow his on-screen efforts, to disappear a bit inside the kind of old-fashioned theatrical get-up that Laurence Olivier might have exploited to the hilt.
Cruise doesn’t quite have the gravitas to pull off this very tricky part — a German officer during World War II who leads a plot to overthrow Hitler — but he also doesn’t try to hog the spotlight or oversell the audience on his charm, the way he has in a number of recent efforts, like “Tropic Thunder” and “Lions for Lambs.” He blends into an excellently cast ensemble; and he modulates his performance to the tense, low-boil rhythms of the storytelling.
The actor plays Col. Claus von Stauffenberg, a real-life figure who was maimed and partly blinded in Tunisia in 1943. Upon his return to Germany, his disillusionment with Nazism became so pronounced that he joined forces with a number of members of the underground resistance — played here by the likes of Bill Nighy, Kenneth Branagh and Terence Stamp — to fashion an elaborate plot that will use Hitler’s reserve army to turn against the rest of the army and take control of Berlin.
The only wrinkle: In order for the plot to succeed, Hitler must be assassinated.
The same movie critic that wrote the review for ‘Seattle Post-Intelligencer‘, Wiliam Arnold, also sat down to talk to Tom about ‘Valkyrie’. Here’s his interview:
A conversation with Tom Cruise
Playing a real hero may be just what he needsWhen the door opens and Tom Cruise enters the suite of Seattle’s Hotel 1000, it is with that distinctive whirl of charisma and seductive confidence that has made him the world’s biggest movie star of the past 25 years: killer smile, eyes that bore into you, the firmest of firm handshakes held for a few flattering seconds.
His hair is moussed back, and he’s dressed with casual elegance: jeans, Italian boots, a knit shirt with sleeves pushed up to his elbows. At 46, a few lines crinkle the corners of his famous face as he smiles, but he still looks so boyish he probably could get away with playing the lead in “Risky Business II.”
It’s the first week of November, and he has come to town to publicize his new movie, “Valkyrie” (which opened Thursday). Why so early? “Chris (McQuarrie, the film’s writer-producer) lives in Seattle, and we thought we’d give you guys the first crack at it. This is actually my first interview for the film.”
Movie critic William Arnold: “The movie works like clock”, “Valkyrie” is a highly intelligent and deeply engrossing historical drama and, frame for frame, the year’s most suspenseful nail-biter.”
He has nothing but praise for script writer McQuarrie, director Singer and Tom’s performance and ends his review with this comment about the whole cast: “they all seem Oscar-worthy.”
Read the review here:
On paper, the World War II drama “Valkyrie” — which teams Tom Cruise with the “Usual Suspects” duo of writer Christopher McQuarrie and director Bryan Singer in a true story about a German plot to assassinate Hitler — is the Christmas movie season’s most risky venture, because:
It asks us to accept the still-boyish, all-American movie star in a role that seems well beyond his range and competence: that of an aristocratic, old school, German Army colonel. It asks us to forget what we’ve been taught by the last 60-odd years of Hollywood moviemaking about German war guilt and accept an alternate reality that there was a vast internal resistance to the Nazis. It asks us to feel dramatic tension over two hours for a story of which we know the outcome: Hitler was not assassinated and thus the movie’s conspiracy did not succeed. And yet, despite these handicaps, the movie works like a clock. A few minor quibbles aside (the casting of Hitler, for instance), “Valkyrie” is a highly intelligent and deeply engrossing historical drama and, frame for frame, the year’s most suspenseful nail-biter.
Valkyrie is still out there making money this weekend, so before you go watch Tom Cruise try to kill Hitler, stop here to hear from the man himself, along with director Bryan Singer. They talked about their experience making the movie as partners, how this is totally not a Holocaust movie, and interestingly, what makes up their definitions of success.
Tom, do you see this as a comeback?
Tom Cruise: I don’t really see it that way. I’ve just been making movies. I’ve been making films.Do you think this is an important movie?
Cruise: I think that’s definitely– it’s an important story. I want to entertain audiences. That was a bonus for the film.. It’s important to know, of course, that it’s not everyone. It’s not everybody who felt that and fell into that Nazi ideology. That, to me, was surprising. I grew up wanting to kill Nazis, wanting to kill Hitler. I thought, why didn’t someone just shoot him?Singer: It’s not a Holocaust movie. It’s a conspiracy thriller about assassinating Hitler. As Tom was saying, the bonus is that it happens to be true. Things that you think are Hollywood conventions that happen in the movie, some of the twists and turns actually did happen.
Cruise: It’s not a biopic. Every time we’d start talking about the Holocaust and the different characters and trying to put as much into that story as possible, Bryan always went back to, this is a piece of entertainment. We wanted to bring this movie to a broader audience.What is both of your definitions of success?
Continue reading
