Written by Gareth Jones and Eric Till
Directed by Eric Till

The July 20 Plot to execute Adolph Hitler has become more well-known recently.  For the most part, that’s due to the film Valkyrie.  Unfortunately, that film leaves out completely one of the more important and very public participants in the plot.  German Lutheran Pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer was speaking out against the Nazis from the moment they were elected into office in Germany, and his life was ended in a public execution with other members of the German Resistance who were involved in the July 20 Plot.  He, along with Martin Niemoller, are considered to be the founders of the Confessing Church in opposition to the Nazis.  However, look at the credits of the movie Valkyrie, and you won’t find his character listed at all.

This biographical depiction of Bonhoeffer’s later life opens in Harlem in 1939 in a gospel church (he was close at the time with Adam Clayton Powell Jr. and other members of the Abyssinian Baptist Church which leads me to believe this was where these events were taking place.)  Dietrich Bonhoeffer has been preaching and teaching with them since fleeing Nazi Germany having been declared an enemy of the state.  If he returns to Germany, all are certain the Nazis will put him in prison, yet he feels he must return to remain true to what he has been preaching.

The film then follows Bonhoeffer back to Germany, where he speaks out against the Nazis, which makes many in his German congregation uncomfortable.  At first, the Nazis sanction him, forbidding him to speak in public and teach, as well as reporting to the Gestapo. He goes back to what appears to be a religious school and learns the boys studying there were forced into the German Army or arrested by the Gestapo, as well as the school itself vandalized.  There is little support to be found for his beliefs in the majority of German Lutheran churches at the time as they are continuing as they did before, having gone to bed with the Nazis.  Most are displaying Swastikas in the churches alongside the cross.

Bonhoeffer is then recruited by the resistance; specifically by a friend who is in the German Intelligence and who is with people who aren’t behind Hitler.  They are planning to assassinate Hitler and want to make sure there will be international support for their government once he is deposed.  Bonhoeffer’s experience overseas makes him a good candidate to try and broker talks between the potential new government and those foreign governments currently at war with Germany.

However, things being what they are, the plan never achieves its goal.  Along with other members of the resistance, Bonhoeffer is eventually arrested following the failure of the plot to assassinate Hitler.  Less than one month before the end of the war, he is hanged for political treason.

I had some mixed feelings about the film.  Unless one is already somewhat schooled in who Dietrich Bonhoeffer was, it can sometimes be hard to follow.  There are no overt explanations of who some of the people are.  Right at the beginning of the film, he is sending people away from the climate in Germany. He and the woman call each other “twin”.  I wasn’t sure if this was his sister or just an expression he had for another relative or friend. Only later on is it said for certain that it was his twin and her husband that Bonhoeffer helped escape was of Jewish descent.  The passage of time happens, but quite often I was never clear as to whether we are seeing events a day later, a week later, or a year later.

Ulrich Tukur portrays Dietrich Bonhoeffer and does so quite well.  He is a man who expresses and displays the courage of his convictions, choosing to speak up when others kept silent so they could keep their lives and their churches functioning.  Tukur looks every bit the student, but at the same time, displays strength in knowing all along that what he is doing will likely result in his death.  From where the film picks up his story, it would seem that Bonhoeffer is almost Christ-like in that he knows what the outcome of his going to Germany will likely be, just as Christ knew what was going to happen when he returned to Jerusalem for the Feast of Passover.  The ending of the film also shows the courage with which he faced his death and is shocking, not just because we see him walk out naked to his execution.

Bonhoeffer’s life before 1939 isn’t really shown.  There’s little background as to how he got to this point.  It can be hard to understand why he’s in the United States except that it’s intimated that he fled there for political reasons.  This was why it was difficult to figure out who his sister was.  His personal life isn’t depicted as well until he meets Maria (portrayed by Johanna Klante), a German teenager twenty years his junior.  The two seem an unlikely pairing here, although it’s depicted that Maria was attracted to Bonhoeffer as a replacement father figure.  It’s a shame because it’s generally known that Maria was intelligent far beyond her years, and I just didn’t get that watching this film and it made their relationship something difficult to accept.

This isn’t a Hollywood version of the life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer.  For the most part, that’s a good thing.  It avoids falling into the traps and sanitization that would come with a depiction made purely for profit.  On the other hand, it doesn’t have the same level of cohesiveness those films contain.  The scenery is beautiful and gives this an authentic feeling, having been filmed in Germany and the Czech Republic.

Not as slick as Valkyrie, this still does a fair job with the story, taken from a different angle.  It’s worth it to have some knowledge of who Bonhoeffer was before you approach this, otherwise, it can be hard to follow.  I still recommend it as there’s more dedication to telling the story such as it was than worrying about box-office gross and that helps make this a more factually accurate film about that same topic.


SPECIAL FEATURES:

• Promotional Feature
• Actor Biographies