From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Valkyrie is a 2008 American historical thriller film set in
Nazi Germany during
World War II. The film depicts the
20 July plot in 1944 by German army officers to assassinate
Adolf Hitler and to use the
Operation Valkyrie national emergency plan to
take control of the country.
Valkyrie was directed by
Bryan Singer for the American studio
United Artists, and the film stars
Tom Cruise as Colonel
Claus von Stauffenberg, one of the key plotters. The cast included
Kenneth Branagh,
Bill Nighy,
Eddie Izzard,
Terence Stamp and
Tom Wilkinson.
Cruise's casting caused controversy among German politicians and members of the von Stauffenberg family due to the actor's practice of
Scientology, which is
viewed with suspicion in Germany. Because of this, the film makers initially had difficulty setting up filming locations in Germany, but they were later given access to film in locations pertaining to the film's story, such as Berlin's historic
Bendlerblock. German newspapers and filmmakers supported the film and its attempt to spread global awareness of von Stauffenberg's plot.
The film changed release dates several times, from as early as June 27, 2008 to as late as February 14, 2009. The changing calendar and poor response to United Artists' initial marketing campaign drew criticism about the studio's viability. After a positive test screening,
Valkyrie's release in North America was ultimately changed to December 25, 2008. United Artists renewed its marketing campaign to reduce its focus on Cruise and to highlight Singer's credentials. The film received mixed reviews in the United States. It opened commercially in Germany on January 22, 2009, where reports were mixed about the German reception of the film.
Plot
During
World War II,
Wehrmacht Colonel
Claus von Stauffenberg (Cruise) is severely wounded during an
RAF air raid in
Tunisia, losing a hand and an eye, and is evacuated home to
Nazi Germany. Meanwhile, Major General
Henning von Tresckow (Branagh) attempts to assassinate
Adolf Hitler by smuggling a bomb aboard the Führer's personal airplane. The bomb, however, is a dud and fails to detonate, and Tresckow flies to Berlin in order to safely retrieve it. After learning that the
Gestapo has arrested Major General
Hans Oster, he orders General
Olbricht (Nighy) to find a replacement. After recruiting von Stauffenberg into the
German Resistance, Olbricht presents von Stauffenberg at a meeting of the secret committee which has coordinated previous attempts on Hitler's life. The members include General
Ludwig Beck (Stamp), Dr.
Carl Goerdeler (McNally), and
Erwin von Witzleben (Schofield). Stauffenberg is stunned to learn that no plans exist on the subject of what is to be done after Hitler's assassination.
During a bombing raid on Berlin, he gets the idea of using
Operation Valkyrie, which involves the deployment of the Reserve Army to maintain order in the event of a national emergency. The plotters carefully redraft the plan's orders so that they can dismantle the Nazi regime after assassinating Hitler. Realizing that only General
Friedrich Fromm (Wilkinson), the head of the Reserve Army, can initiate Valkyrie, they offer him a position as head of the Wehrmacht in a post-Nazi Germany and request his support, but Fromm declines to be directly involved. With the rewritten Operation Valkyrie orders needing to be signed by Hitler (Bamber), von Stauffenberg visits the Führer at his
Berghof estate in
Bavaria. In the presence of Dr.
Joseph Goebbels,
Wilhelm Keitel,
Heinrich Himmler,
Hermann Göring and
Albert Speer, his inner circle, Hitler praises von Stauffenberg's heroism in
North Africa and signs the orders without fully examining the modifications, believing von Stauffenberg's changes are "for the best".
At Goerdeler's insistence, von Stauffenberg is ordered to assassinate both Hitler and SS head Himmler at the Führer's command bunker, the
Wolf's Lair. At a final briefing, Colonel
Mertz von Quirnheim (Berkel) instructs the committee members in the use of
pencil detonators. Von Stauffenberg also persuades General
Fellgiebel (Izzard), who controls all communications at Wolf's Lair, to cut off communications after the bomb blast. On July 15, 1944, von Stauffenberg attends a strategy meeting at Wolf's Lair with the bomb in his briefcase, but with Himmler not present at the meeting, von Stauffenberg does not get the go-ahead from the committee leaders, and by the time one of them defies the others and tells him to do it anyway, the meeting is over. Meanwhile, the Reserve Army is mobilized by Olbricht, unbeknownst to Fromm, to stand by. With no action taken, von Stauffenberg safely extracts himself and the bomb from the bunker, and the Reserve Army is ordered to stand down, believing that the mobilization was training. Back in Berlin, Olbrecht and von Stauffenberg are threatened by Fromm that if they try to control the reserve army again he will have them arrested; von Stauffenberg goes to the committee to protest their indecisiveness and condemns Goerdeler, who has been selected to be chancellor after the
coup. When Goerdeler demands that von Stauffenberg be relieved, Beck informs him that the SS is searching for him and implores him to leave the country immediately.
On July 20, 1944, von Stauffenberg and his adjutant Lieutenant
Haeften (Parker) return to Wolf's Lair. To von Stauffenberg's dismay, he discovers only after the timer has been activated that the conference is being held in an open-window summer barrack, whereas the plotters had intended to detonate the bomb within the walls of the bunker for maximum damage. While his adjuntant waits with the car, von Stauffenberg places the briefcase with the bomb armed at the meeting as close to Hitler as possible. Von Stauffenberg then leaves the barrack, returning to the car. When the bomb explodes, von Stauffenberg is certain that Hitler is dead and flees Wolf's Lair. Before shutting down communications, Fellgiebel calls Mertz about the explosion but cannot clearly convey whether or not the Führer is dead.
As von Stauffenberg flies back to Berlin, Olbricht refuses to mobilize the Reserve Army until he knows without a doubt that Hitler is dead (if Hitler isn't dead, Olbrecht will be arrested for having the reserve army mobilized without Fromm's premission). Behind Olbricht's back, Mertz forges his signature and issues the orders anyway. With Operation Valkyrie underway, von Stauffenberg and his fellow plotters order the arrest of Nazi party leaders and SS officers, convincing lower officers that the Party and the SS are staging a coup. As Von Stauffenberg begins to take control of Berlin's government ministries, mid-level officers relaying the orders begin to wonder which side they should be fighting for. Rumors reach Berlin that Hitler survived the blast, but von Stauffenberg dismisses them as SS propaganda. Meanwhile, Fromm learns from Field Marshal Keitel that Hitler is still alive. The General refuses to join the plotters, resulting in them detaining him. Major
Otto Ernst Remer of the Reserve Army prepares to arrest Goebbels, but is stopped when Goebbels connects him by phone to Hitler. Immediately recognizing the voice on the other end, Remer realizes that the Reserve Army has been duped - rather than containing a coup, they have unwittingly supported it. SS officers are released and the plotters in turn are besieged inside the
Bendlerblock. The headquarters staff flees, but the resistance leaders are arrested. In an ultimately vain effort to save himself, General Fromm convenes an impromptu court martial and sentences the conspirators to death, contravening Hitler's orders that they be kept alive. Given a pistol by Fromm, Beck commits suicide. That night, the ringleaders are then executed by
firing squad one by one. When his turn arrives, Colonel Stauffenberg's last act is to cry "Long live sacred Germany!"
A brief epilogue informs that the
conspiracy of July 20th, 1944 was the last of fifteen known assassination attempts on Hitler by Germans. It also mentions Hitler's suicide nine months later and that Countess
Nina von Stauffenberg and her children survived the war. The dedication at the
Memorial to the German Resistance is then superimposed:
You did not bear the shame. You resisted. You bestowed an eternally vigilant symbol of change by sacrificing your impassioned lives for freedom, justice and honor.
Cast
- Tom Cruise as Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg: The German army Colonel who was instrumental in the conspiracy to assassinate Adolf Hitler. Bryan Singer saw von Stauffenberg as "very much a humanist", saying, "He understood his role as a colonel, but he also understood that the Nazis were doing terrible, terrible, terrible things." Having directed Superman Returns, Singer compared von Stauffenberg's dual identity as loyal colonel and conspirator to Superman and his civilian identity Clark Kent.[3] Cruise had wanted to work with Singer since they met at the premiere for Mission: Impossible, and the actor was enticed by the script's background, the truth of which struck him as a surprise.[4] The actor described von Stauffenberg's heroism, "I thought of it in terms of what [von] Stauffenberg represents. He was someone who realized that he had to take the steps that ultimately cost him his life... He recognized what was at stake."[5] Cruise felt von Stauffenberg did not think of himself as a hero.[6] The actor prepared for the role for eight months by hiring a researcher, studying history books, and speaking with some of von Stauffenberg's family.[7] Since von Stauffenberg lost his left eye, right hand and two fingers on his left hand in an Allied attack in Tunisia, Cruise affected the same disabilities to practice dressing, moving items and writing.[5] Cruise initially found the eyepatch difficult to work with but acknowledged that von Stauffenberg had to live with this discomfort.[6]
- Kenneth Branagh as Major General Henning von Tresckow:[8] Branagh differed physically from the real Tresckow, who was balding, but Singer said, "[I]f you look at Tresckow's energy, he had an honesty that Branagh has."[9]
- Bill Nighy as General Friedrich Olbricht:[8] Nighy was cast to give a sympathetic quality, so Olbricht would not be the "fall guy". Nighy wanted to convey Olbricht as divided between complaining about Hitler's regime and actually doing something about it.[6] The actor described his portrayal, "One of the most disconcerting things imaginable is to put on a Nazi uniform. It's so associated with evil that it took me several days to get used to being in costume."[10]
- Terence Stamp as Colonel General Ludwig Beck:[8] Singer met Stamp to discuss playing a part in X-Men, having admired him for portraying General Zod in Superman II. Stamp endured the Blitz as a child and aided Singer in staging a scene where the von Stauffenbergs hide from the Allied bombings.[11] The actor described his approach to portraying Beck: "There has to be a kind of non-judgmental discernment, so when I'm playing villains, they don't think they're particularly villains." The actor sought to find "the part of Terence that would be prepared to fall on his sword for certain ideals".[3]
- Tom Wilkinson as Colonel General Friedrich Fromm: The head of Germany's Reserve Army. Wilkinson was cast to make the treacherous Fromm sympathetic.[6]
- Carice van Houten as Nina Schenk Gräfin von Stauffenberg: von Stauffenberg's wife. The filmmakers were impressed by her performance in Black Book, and argued she could give a strong performance with minimal dialogue. Screenwriter Nathan Alexander spoke to von Stauffenberg's relatives and noted that, although Nina and Claus never directly spoke about the plot, "in a sense it was all they talked about".[6]
- Kevin McNally as Dr. Carl Friedrich Goerdeler: A German politician who intends to become chancellor of Germany after a successful coup.
- David Schofield as Field Marshal Erwin von Witzleben: A retired general and one of the plotters. Singer and Producer Christopher McQuarrie were impressed by Schofield's professionalism and dedication to show up on set for scenes without his character, and the filmmakers expanded his role as a result.[12]
- Christian Berkel as Colonel Albrecht Ritter Mertz von Quirnheim: A plotter with knowledge of explosives.
- Jamie Parker as Lieutenant Werner von Haeften: An adjutant to von Stauffenberg who helps the colonel carry out the plot.
- Eddie Izzard as General Erich Fellgiebel: A German officer responsible for communications at Hitler's bunker Wolf's Lair.
- David Bamber as Adolf Hitler: The Führer of Germany. During Bamber's audition for the role, Singer was struck by Bamber's eyes and stated that Bamber had a quality that resonated with Hitler.[12]
- Thomas Kretschmann as Major Otto Ernst Remer: Commanding officer of Großdeutschland guard battalion. Kretschmann was the original choice to play von Stauffenberg before Singer joined the production, when McQuarrie was intending to direct.[13]
- Harvey Friedman as Dr. Joseph Goebbels: Minister of Propaganda and a member of Hitler's inner circle.
- Kenneth Cranham portrays Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel: The head of the OKW and a member of Hitler's inner circle.
- Matthias Freihof as Heinrich Himmler: The head of Schutzstaffel and a member of Hitler's inner circle.
- Philipp von Schulthess as Major General Henning von Tresckow's aide: Von Schulthess is the grandson of Claus von Stauffenberg.[14]
Other portrayals of Nazis included
Gerhard Haase-Hindenberg as
Hermann Göring,
Anton Algrang as
Albert Speer,
Werner Daehn as Major
Ernst John von Freyend,
Waldemar Kobus as
Wolf-Heinrich Graf von Helldorf,
Tom Hollander as Colonel
Heinz Brandt,
Helmut Stauss as Dr.
Roland Freisler,
Matthew Burton as Lieutenant-General
Adolf Heusinger,
Bernard Hill as a General working with Stauffenberg in
Tunisia, and
Ian McNeice as the composite "Pompous General" who attempts to disrupt the coup headquarters. Though the general is not named in the film, McQuarrie and Alexander said the character was based on General
Joachim von Kortzfleisch, who tried to disrupt the coup in the same fashion.
Patrick Wilson was originally cast in
Valkyrie, but he dropped out due to scheduling conflicts and other unspecified reasons.
[15] Stephen Fry was also offered a role in the film but was unable to participate.
[16]
Some of the non-German actors initially experimented with German accents, but Singer discarded the idea, instead instructing them to adopt neutral accents that "[wouldn't] distract from the story".
[7] Singer added he was not making a docu-drama and wanted to make the story engaging.
