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Country: United States
Genre: Drama/ Suspense
Director: Bryan Singer
Year: 2008

Rating:


TRASH CINEMA RECOMMENDED MOVIE

Given the lukewarm press, Valkyrie is a major surprise from director Bryan Singer. Full disclosure: I’m not normally a big admirer of Singer’s work. I find his directing style mannered and awkward. However, in Valkyrie, Singer aggressively employs the traditional tools of cinema to make Valkyrie as effective as possible. The few instances of awkwardness in this case stem from his star, Tom Cruise, and his screenwriters, Christopher McQuarrie and Nathan Alexander. Occasionally, a piece of dialog will ring false.

For example, when Cruise’s character, Colonel von Stauffenberg was tearing out his hair over the murder of the Jews and the destruction of Europe, I was a little bit skeptical. As I recall from the history books, what the German officers were freaking out about is that they knew the war was lost, and Hitler’s obstinance was going to cause the destruction of Germany and the unnecessary loss of thousands of German lives. This subterfuge is an obvious ploy on the part of the screenwriters to make the heroes of Valkyrie more palatable to a wide (read moronic) audience.

Probably a short synopsis of the plot is in order. By mid-1944, a number of German officers were getting antsy. They knew that Hitler was a dangerous nut and wanted to keep him from driving their beloved country into the ground. Almost everyone knows that Colonel von Stauffenberg and his co-conspirators made a failed attempt on the life of Hitler. What many people, including me, don’t know is that there were over a dozen attempts on Hitler’s life. Hitler attributed the failure of these plots to divine Providence. Maybe he had a point.

Anyway, what Valkyrie concentrates on is von Stauffenberg’s plot. It’s fascinating and suspenseful as hell, as it turns out. This is directly attributable to the filmmakers.

The first thing Singer uses is our knowledge of the Nazis. These guys were the ultimate in ruthlessness. We know about the atrocities they committed. So, we know (or think we know) that if the conspirators are caught, they and their families will be shipped off to the SS and die horrible, protracted deaths. That makes for a nice sense of dread. To tighten the screws even more, the screenwriters stress that the conspirators are constantly trying to recruit new members, and they have no sure way of knowing who is loyal to Hitler and who isn’t. These guys are always a slender thread away from being caught. Through brisk pacing, energetic but lucid camerawork, and an aggressive but always intelligent score by John Ottman, the tension is excruciating.

There are also a number of superb performances. Tom Wilkinson, Thomas Kretschmann, and Eddie Izzard distinguish themselves, but Bill Nighy, Terence Stamp and Christian Berkel are the standouts. The way Bill Nighy, as General Friedrich Olbricht, dithers at a crucial moment is comical and infuriating. Christian Berkel is extraordinarily effective at communicating the anguish of his character while seeming to do almost nothing. Terence Stamp exudes dignity and righteousness in an admirable way, a born leader. Tom Cruise himself is adequate. He has charisma, which is necessary for the part, but his artificiality can be distracting at times. Occasionally, his line readings are less than stellar, but never mind. Cruise is definitely not the whole show here. This is really a director’s movie, and Bryan Singer really shines — it’s probably his best movie from a directing standpoint.

The opening sequence in Tunisia, depicting how von Stauffenberg got his eyepatch (not nearly as distracting a prop as you would think), is beautifully done. Singer has never staged action better. The sequence hits hard but is naturalistic in tone.

One thing Singer was stuck with is that he couldn’t do the movie in German with subtitles, which would probably have been better if the actors could have handled it. Unfortunately, because the majority of Americans are too stupid and lazy to read subtitles, it would have been commercial suicide. Singer finesses this problem by starting off in German with subtitles and segueing into English. It’s an innovative and effective solution.

Valkyrie ends up being a riveting piece of work, managing by sheer force of craft to overcome the familiarity of its subject. Bravo.

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