Saw Valkyrie with Tom Cruise tonight as the better half and I decided we needed a date. I liked the history being portrayed, but was skeptical that Cruise could pull off a decent German officer, particularly since he didn’t even attempt an accent. I was pleasantly surprised to find that it didn’t bother me at all, probably because in the beginning of the movie we see Cruise as Col. von Stauffenberg writing in his journal with his voice over in German and subtitled in English then segueing quickly into him speaking English. From that point forward it didn’t bother me at all.
The movie flowed quite well and there just weren’t any boring parts- I hate historical dramas that require you to sit through long scenes of fluff to establish their bona fides. Of course they took liberties with the facts (though not nearly as many as I feared they might), and of course we know from the start that the conspirators are doomed, but it did not matter. It was engrossing and entertaining and that is what I want out of a movie, after all.
I know there are some who are having a hard time with the recent spate of movies portraying Germans in Hitler’s Germany in a sympathetic light, and the movie laid it on a bit thick when some of the conspirators expressed a strong sentiment to avoid ‘destroying Europe just to wait for Hitler to die’, but it is the absolute truth that while the German professional military was more than happy to be invading Europe willy-nilly, many had very strong misgivings about the NAZI party in general and Hitler in particular. Trying to pretend that was not the case just to preserve the black and white nature of the Second World War serves no good purpose.
Take the movie for what it is: a dramatization of a very real event, involving very real people who laid it all on the line to stop a monster and try to save their nation. It was worth the few bucks to go see it and I left feeling happy I’d seen it. Enough said.
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I’m broke these days so I have to wait until it comes out on DVD, but, I’m looking forward to it.
I applaud Hollywood for finally giving a nod to this reality: the Nazis controlled all German media, and terrorized, imprisoned, or outright killed any significant dissenters. The word "totalitarian" was first created to describe Hitler’s regime: the Nazis took over every aspect of German life, and ruled as much through fear and intimidation as anything. Those who loved Hitler were free to say anything they wanted in support of Hitler; those who did not love Hitler were terrorized into silence.
The failed assassination plot against Hitler practically aches for a movie to be made about it, and I’m happy that Hollywood finally noticed what an interesting story that was. Indeed, a bone I’ve had to pick with Hollywood for a long time is their tendency to NOT notice that many everyday Germans in that era were just terrorized into cooperating. Hollywood’s never really addressed that, and that’s unfortunate because it feeds into the idea that all of Germany went insane and worshiped Hitler. That’s just not true, and we do a disservice to the German people by suggesting that the Nazi regime was universally beloved and unthinkingly followed.
If it will make you feel even better about non-nazi Germans in the Hitler entourage, consider that Heinrich "Gestapo" Mueller never even joined the NSDAP (Nazionalsozialistiche Deutsche Arbiter Partei).
Which of course did not stop him from being the chief of the Gestapo, carrying out the Nacht und Nebel ("night and fog") disappearances; supplying drugged concentration camp prisoners Polish Army uniforms to the Sicherheitsdienst for purposes of rigging up a  faked attack on a german radio transmitter station at Gleiwitz as an excuse to invade Poland; and in general being the key helpmate to Reinhard "Hangman" Heydrich and, after his assassination, to his successor Ernst Kaltenbrunner, in terrorizing all of nazi-occupied Europe.
Gestapo Mueller was a professional police investigator who, before Hitler came to power, had even tracked down and ruthlessly suppressed more than a few Nazis. His professional ability and cold-blooded focus on the job at hand, no matter how unpleasant, impressed Heydrich more than any consideration of party ideology.
Mueller, who was 44 years old when World War II ended and who had served as an officer in the German Air Service in World War I, was last known for his involvement in locating high-ranking SS officer Herrmann Fegelein, a couple of days before the endgame was over in the Fuehrerbunker in Berlin in late April 1945. Hitler had ordered Fegelein executed because he couldn’t get his hands on Reichsfuehrer Heinrich Himmler, chief of the SS, who had enraged Hitler by publicly making peace overtures to the western allies while Hitler was still alive and issuing nonsensical battle orders to armies that no longer existed, from the depths of the Fuehrerbunker. Â
That was the last anyone ever saw of Gestapo Mueller, who never was apprehended after World War II. Nor was his body ever found. Alternative stories circulated that he had gone to work for Stalin’s secret police, or that he had hooked up with one of the US intelligence agenices, or that he had disappeared in some south american asshole of the world.
The ultimate servant of the state, and the ultimate trickster, one might say.
Arnold Harris
Mount Horeb WI
Arnold,
And your point is…?
It’s a post about a movie dramatizing an actual historical event. Where the hell does Gestapo Mueller come into this?
Maybe you just don’t read lengthy comments before making judgements, JAE.
The second paragraph of Dean’s post was not about Valkyrie as a filmplay, but about Germans and their attachment to the nazi movement and the Hitler regime.
Gestapo Mueller and his background are a commentary on that commentary.
Arnold Harris
Mount Horeb WI
 Indeed, a bone I’ve had to pick with Hollywood for a long time is their tendency to NOT notice that many everyday Germans in that era were just terrorized into cooperating. Hollywood’s never really addressed that, and that’s unfortunate because it feeds into the idea that all of Germany went insane and worshiped Hitler. That’s just not true, and we do a disservice to the German people by suggesting that the Nazi regime was universally beloved and unthinkingly followed.
I disagree, a bit. It’s my understanding that the German Resistance was generally viewed as a bunch of traitors in post-war Germany among a significant majority. A History Channel special I watched just last night claimed that a highly public reevaluation of their efforts didn’t take place until the ’70s.
So while it’s true that not all Germans were complicit in the Nazi war machine, it’s probably fair to say that a majority bought into it, and Hitler did indeed achieve huge popularity. So I wouldn’t go so far as to excuse "the German people" because they lived in a police state.
Very good movie. I was very impressed. By Hollywood standards, it was an A+. I also loved it that they chose the frau from a spectacular WWII movie about the Dutch resistance , Black Book, to play Cruise’s wife (small role).Â
HB
Bill, I think you’re still missing it. And at risk of sounding "too catholic," the current Pope had a major address on this very issue a couple of years ago, having himself grown up in Nazi Germany (he was 17 when the Third Reich fell). And what he said was pretty much the same:
Those who supported the regime were free to say anything they wanted, and did so volubly. Those who were opposed to the regime were murdered. Those who expressed doubt were persecuted.
The Nazis had complete control over ALL media and ALL education.
The very word "totalitarian" was coined to describe the Nazi regime in Germany. If you don’t believe it, read The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich by William L. Shirer. I’m astonished that somehow most people fail to realize this: Hitler’s regime took 100% control of all media, and all education, and worked extremely hard to craft an image of Nazi Germany that made it look like everyone in Germany except a few weird radicals loved him.
AND GUYS LIKE YOU BUY THAT.
You buy into it hook line and sinker, some 60 years later. You BELIEVE the image that Hitler & Co. created for themselves. You BELIEVE that almost all Germans absolutely loved Hitler and were fervent supporters. Hitler created that image, and you believe it.
This, to me, is absolute proof that the Nazi propagandists were true geniuses: you sit here in early 21st Century America, with all of the benefit of hindsight, and you still are convinced that Hitler was welcomed into power and slavishly followed by all Germans–because Hitler’s propaganda machine said so. Those brilliant films by Leni Riefenstahl (and others) said so. And you just BELIEVE IT, even though you KNOW these are propaganda films. You’re an exceptionally intelligent person, who has all the rearview-mirror knowledge of history, and you STILL think that Hitler was universally beloved and revered.
Why do you believe that?
Why do you not believe that there were everyday Germans who had some doubts, and other everyday Germans who were opposed? Why, other than what you’ve seen in Hollywood movies and Nazi propaganda films?
There were people in Germany who were persecuted and even murdered for criticizing Hitler. If the Nazi regime didn’t like what you had to say, they might just execute you, or they might show up and ask you to recant and swear your allegiance to Hitler anyway. But YOU have bought into the notion that all Germans everywhere (except for a few weird people) absolutely loved this guy and his whole agenda. Heck, you may have even bought into the idea that the guy was "democratically elected," even though Hitler only ran once for public office in his entire life, AND LOST.
But you’re convinced that the average German loved this guy and his regime. Which is not a question of "supported some of his policies." No, you’re convinced that 90+% of Germans LOVED the guy and were fervent supporters.
It’s like you don’t know what totalitarianism is. It’s like you’re looking at the supposed "elections" that the Communists held in Poland and Russia, and draw from that the idea that most Russians loved Communism.
Dude, seriously: you’re buying into Nazi propaganda.
Why?
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