Valkyrie

Valkyrie (2008)

Director: Bryan Singer

Writers: Christopher McQuarrie, Nathan Alexander

Cast: Tom Cruise, Bill Nighy, Carice van Houten, Kenneth Branagh, Tom Wilkinson, Thomas Kretschmann, Terence Stamp, Eddie Izzard, Kevin McNally, Christian Berkel Jamie Parker, David Bamber, Tom Hollander, David Schofield. Kenneth Cranham, Halina Reijn

Synopsis:

Disillusioned by the Third Reich and Adolph Hitler's (Bamber) leadership, crippled war hero Col. Claus von Stauffenberg and a group of like-minded German officers decide to try and save their country, and thousands of lives, before the Allies close in on Berlin. They realize the only way to save Germany is to kill Hitler and overthrow the government. Stauffenberg partners with an influential cabal of high-ranking officials and politicians and together they devise a scheme to modify Operation Valkyrie, Hitler's emergency plan intended to restore civil order in the event of a coup. The also devise a plan to kill Hitler using concealed explosive. Unfortunately, not everything goes according to plan. 

First Impressions:

I saw this one in theaters when it was released back in '08. I've always enjoyed films about World War II and this one was no different, even though it's not really a war film. Prior to my first viewing, I was not aware of the plot to kill Hitler and didn't know that there were dissenters occupying high positions in the German military. Of course I knew that the plot would inevitably fail because Hitler died by his own hand sometime later. However, that knowledge  didn't really impact my enjoyment of the movie that first time around, as I found it to be quite an edge-of-the-seat thriller. It's been quite a while since I watched the film and it's often one I overlook when selecting a movie to watch. Let's see how it holds up, shall we?

Story/Direction:

"We have to show the world that not all of us are like him. Otherwise, this will always be Hitler's Germany."

To get started, it's probably a good idea to address the elephant in the room. Like most movies that deal with the past, that elephant is history. It's a well-known fact that Hitler committed suicide in the waning days of the war, so going into a film like this it's easy to lose some enthusiasm because you have some knowledge of what the final outcome was going to be. I think, for me anyway, Valkyrie manages to avoid much of this issue because it told a story that was not well-known outside of Germany. So, even though we know Stauffenberg must fail in his mission, we can be entertained by the political machinations leading up to the attempt on Hitler's life. That's really where the enjoyment of the film was for me, in that build up.

There were a few thing that I didn't like about the film, though. First among them was that I found it didn't have much of a narrative flow. It seemed to me that the film jumped from scene to scene without much connective tissue or exposition in between them. Now, I'm not going to complain about conservative use of exposition but I often found myself wondering not only where a scene was taking place but also how much time had passed. I don't think this was a mistake on the part of director Bryan Singer and, if I'm honest, it didn't really impact my enjoyment of the film all that much, it was just something that bugged me a bit.

One little thing  that I did like, was the opening credits started in German and then faded to English, which was a nice touch to remind the audience that were dealing with a German story. Likewise, the opening narration by Tom Cruise, as his character is writing a letter, is spoken in German and then eventually transitions into English. I always like little touches like this to help explain why everyone in the movie is speaking English rather than German. It reminds me a bit of what John McTiernan did in The 13th Warrior, it's not really needed but it's a nice touch nonetheless. 

Acting/Characters:

This movie is chock-full with well-known British character actors, so there's a lot of pedigree in the cast. However, as in all things, the focus is on the big man himself, Mr. Tom Cruise. This is unusual for a Cruise film because he doesn't run that much and he doesn't perform any death-defying stunts (spoiler alert). Stauffenberg is actually fairly against type for Cruise as he's not a particularly charming or upbeat character. He's actually a pretty dull character, which is understandable because after being wounded severely in an Allied strafing run in North Africa, Stauffenberg probably suffered from PTSD. From that standpoint, you gotta hand it to Cruise because he's not afraid to take risks and take on unusual roles. I think he does a pretty good job with Stauffenberg. It's a low-key performance (particularly by Cruise standards) but its effective.

I'd also like to highlight the David Bamber's performance as one of history's most evil men, Adolph Hitler. Anybody that's spent a minute of time on the internet has probably seen that clip from the German film Downfall, which depicts Hitler absolutely raging at his closest advisors. I think this is often the image we get of the man, as some sort of raving lunatic. Bamber's performance is interesting because it's so unlike that scene from Downfall. He plays Hitler as very subdued, thoughtful and quiet. Honestly, even though it's a very small part, I think Bamber's portray is pretty terrifying because, as we all know, it's the quiet ones you have to watch out for. 

The rest of the cast, as mentioned, is full of great actors, including Bill Nighy as General Freidrich Olbricht, Stuaffenberg's direct superior at the War Ministry. Terence Stamp as Ludwig Beck, former General and something of a mentor to Stauffenberg. The real shock was to see comedian Eddie Izzard as General Erich Fellgiebel totally playing against type. I mean, he wasn't even wearing a dress!

Visuals/Action:

Even though this film takes place during World War II, there's not a lot of action to be found. There is a really cool scene during the film's opening where a German troop line is strafed by Allied aircraft, which was done very well, and there's a bit of gunplay in the closing parts of the film but that's about it. It's not really that type of film.

Visually, the film does a pretty good job recreating Berlin during the 1940's. There some appropriate use of CGI to render some of the older vehicles in use. Singer also chose to shoot the film with a very muted color palate, which I thought was a bit on the nose, but effective nonetheless. The major effects stumbling block for the film, though, was the fact that the protagonist lost one hand two fingers off of the other. By shooting around Cruises hand, clever use of insert shots and a bit of CGI, the film ably depicts Stauffenberg's handicap. 

Score/Soundtrack:

Like most of Bryan Singer's films, the music for Valkyrie was composed by John Ottman and he does an okay job. To be fair, though, I don't really recall much of the original score. However, the film also laces in quite a bit of classical music, which I really enjoy, including (of course) Wagner's Ride of the Valkyries. Overall, the music didn't really leave an impression on me, good or bad.

Final Verdict:

Valkyrie is an interesting footnote in Tom Cruise's filmography and not a bad choice if you're looking for a less violent film about World War II. It's also tells an engaging and little-known story from that period. Check it out, if you can find it on streaming.