Valkyrie (2008)

Directed by Bryan Singer; produced by Gilbert Adler, Christopher McQuarrie and Bryan Singer

In 1944, a group of well-placed German civilians and army officers plan to assassinate their country’s leader, Adolf Hitler. Led by Generals von Tresckow (Kenneth Branagh) and Olbricht (Bill Nighy), the group recruits dissident Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg (Tom Cruise), who will carry out the actual attempt. Hoping to end the world war and save countless lives, as well as their country, the small group of men gamble everything to rid the Earth of a tyrant.

A well-directed, acted and produced film, Valkyrie provides excitement and tension, as well as telling a compelling story in a compelling manner. The script treats the audience intelligently. There is a wealth of names and detail, but the movie is confident that the viewers will be able to digest it all. As an example, one scene has the conspiracy’s explosives expert, Colonel Mertz von Quirnheim (Christian Merkel), explain that the windowless reinforced bunker in which the assassination will occur negates the need for a large bomb, as the air pressure in the virtually sealed building would magnify the blast. On the day of the attempt, however, the vital briefing is moved to a ‘conference hut’. Stauffenberg walks to it, staring at its tall, open windows. It is assumed the audience understands the implication.

For all that, the script nonetheless is explicit where it needs to be. The plan to kill Hitler was both simple (as many of the best plans are) but ingenious. Walkürie was the Nazis’ contingency operation to use the Berlin-based Reserve Army to suppress riot and rebellion if the German people rose up against them. The conspirators intended to use Walkürie for their own purpose: killing Hitler and blaming the act on a combined SS/Gestapo coup d’état; the conspirators would implement Walkürie, use it to eliminate the entire Nazi leadership and take control of the government. This scheme is elaborated concisely and clearly by the characters. But one still must pay attention.

The direction is necessarily taut. A study of such an event would provide enough material for an hours-long documentary, but for a thriller - which is what Valkyrie is - extraneous material needs to be jettisoned. This must be balanced with the requirements of exposition, as noted above. The director, Singer, and editor, John Ottman - who also composed the film’s music - are successful in this. The running time is an unexpectedly brief 121 minutes, but there are no slow moments.

The acting is very good. Cruise, as Stauffenberg, is probably the least of the cast, though this is composed of excellent veterans such as Nighy, Branagh, Tom Wilkinson, Terence Stamp and Kenneth Cranham. Nonetheless, Cruise is perfectly capable in the role. There was some comment from German critics that he was he was an American Stauffenberg, rather than a European Stauffenberg, and that he lacked an indefinable aristocracy. This fine difference will likely be lost on most North American audiences. Philipp von Schulthess, Stauffenberg's real-life grandson, appears as Tresckow's aide.

Movies in which all the characters are meant to be speaking their own, non-English language, even though the scripts are in English, sometimes bring derision, but I’ve always assumed that the tongue they are speaking is their own, and any distinctions are due to characters’ regional and social origins. An interesting dilemma in Valkyrie might have been Hitler’s manner of speech. With all the other actors using their natural accents, it might seem incongruous to have David Bamber portray the dictator with a German accent. But I imagine the director and producers thought hearing Hitler speak as though he were from Ohio or Oxford might be far too distracting for viewers. Bamber practised Hitler’s Austrian accent which, apparently, was a contrast to that used in his speeches, and which made him stand out among native Germans. Thus Hitler’s dialect poses no problem.

In such a film, or, rather, when a film must concentrate on certain aspects, detailed character analysis is sacrificed. Thus we learn very little of the personalities of the different conspirators, Stauffenberg’s alone being the exception, and even he is given only a sketch. A study of the plotters and their motives would fill books or whole tv series - which it has. Certainly, some conspirators - such as Berlin’s police president Helldorf and his superior, Nebe - were opportunistic and amoral, leaning whichever way would ensure their survival. Others, such as Stauffenberg and Quirnheim, had early moral objections to the Nazis. Indeed, Tresckow’s life alone would make for an intriguing movie, as he seemed to be the driving force behind the 20 July 1944 plot. (In fact, one of his quotes about Hitler is transferred to Stauffenberg in the film.)

Aside from the scantiness of the attention given to the characters themselves, Valkyrie is an exceptional historical film, in that it provides as much accuracy as possible within the framework of a Hollywood thriller. It should satisfy a range of viewers for a range of reasons.