I smell a fish.
And the fish I smell is the whisper/smear campaign against the movie "Valkyrie."
Ever since it went into production it was befuddled by a bevy of problems, set backs and delays.
Then the German government/people were complaining about the movie and some complained about Tom Cruise having the audacity to make a movie of one of the nation's greatest heroes (which the Germans seemingly failed to do in the past 60 years).
Because of all this I was hell-bound-determined to see the movie simply to spite what I suspect was a group of leftists/Tom-Cruise-haters/jerks that didn't want to see another movie about good guys vs. bad guys, sacrifice and duty and other such things those of lefter leaning ideologies love to hate succeed in the box office.
Saw it last night. Amazing movie.
I didn't know much about Von Stauffenberg aside from the historical facts of his attempt to assassinate Hitler. But the plotting, the scheming, how much all those men gave up (family, wives, children, careers) AND just how close they came to pulling it off, make this not only a very thrilling and engaging movie, but you learn a lot more beyond what you picked up in the history books.
Not to mention you have Eddie Izzard and Kenneth Branaugh as well as what I could count to be two actors from the Lord of the Rings trilogy that keep you looking for other actors you may not recognize.
So, do yourself a favor, ignore what preppy liberal elites write as they went from daddy's dime to major in journalism to working at USA Today or the NYT or whatever dying periodical they work for now and instead of report the news, try to create it or sway you one way or another.
It's a great flick, a great history lesson and a great tribute to a great man.
Thanks for the movie tip. I was planning to see it anyway but your rec is encouraging.
ReplyDeleteI saw the Cowboy Beebop movie with my son and we really enjoyed it. I just began my anime phase of foreign films.
The History Channel had several shows this week about Hitler's bodyguards. The best part is how they weave the details of his security into the history of the rise of Hitler and how vulnerable he was. It takes you through the Anschluss with Austria, Hitler's trip to visit Mussolini, and the occupation of the Sudetenland.
The internal conflict between Himmler and Hitler's personal bodyguard was intriguing.
You're right - von Stauffenberg was a courageous man and it's a worthy story to tell. Intolerence for Cruise's religion (as hokey as it is) seems to be the sole source of dissent. Scientology is strange, but their skepticism about psychology and medication is well-founded.
Actually, 'Hitler's Bodyguard' is on the Military Channel, not the History Channel. Mea culpa.
ReplyDeleteScientology is strange, but their skepticism about psychology and medication is well-founded.
ReplyDeleteThe skepticism about psychology is merely a counteroffensive. Scientologists correctly recognize that psychology, which offers strikingly different explanations for human behivor than those recognized by Scientologists, threatens the basis of their religion. The same principle makes many Christians highly suspicious of psychology - I've heard it called "new age nonsense" and such.
So no, I wouldn't call it "well-founded" - it's just a defensive measure, and it isn't based on any substantive analysis or understanding.
I was wondering, going in, whether the movie Stauffenberg would be motivated by money, ideology, conscience, or ego (the traditional motives that intelligence officers study in order to manage their agents.) His motivations, and those of the co-conspirators, are not well developed. It took some liberties with the history, but not as many as I might have expected of Hollywood.
ReplyDeleteIs Eddie wearing red leather trousers? Cool.
ReplyDeleteMany people (in particular women) turned on Cruise because of his treatment of Nicole Kidman and Brooke Shields.
ReplyDelete"I saw the Cowboy Beebop movie with my son and we really enjoyed it. I just began my anime phase of foreign films"
ReplyDeleteIf you're not careful, you'll end up watching subtitled anime so you can tell what honorifics people are using with each other. :)
But since the topic of anime came up on a mostly-economics blog, this is the part where I have to make my plug for Spice and Wolf. It's an anime based on a series of novels about a traveling merchant and a wolf deity who tags along with him in mostly human form, and economics is a major theme.
"The skepticism about psychology is merely a counteroffensive. Scientologists correctly recognize that psychology, which offers strikingly different explanations for human behivor than those recognized by Scientologists, threatens the basis of their religion."
Knowing why someone likes an argument is irrelevant to the argument's strength or validity. I'd recommend reading up on Thomas Szasz, a certified psychiatrist and Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry at the State University of New York Health Science Center. He's quite skeptical of his own profession, particularly the involuntary administration of psychiatric treatments. He's not a Scientologist either, if you really think that really matters. (After all, crazy people can be right sometimes too, so it's important to judge an argument on its own merits rather than who it's coming from)
Thanks for this review, Cap. I have been on the fence about seeing this movie, wondering if they butchered the story, etc. But now I will definitely see it.
ReplyDeleteI'm assuming this movie isn't in German with subtitles. Do they speak with German accents at least?
"I'm assuming this movie isn't in German with subtitles. Do they speak with German accents at least?"
ReplyDeleteI haven't seen it, but they don't speak with German accents in the trailer, so probably not. Often that's for the best, since poorly done accents can really detract from an otherwise excellent movie. It's just my personal preference, but I'd rather have subtitles than bad voice work.
I don't understand why you think left media hates this movie. NPR gave Cruise a big interview over it. The New York Times gave it a "not bad" review. There's been a lot of buzz over the studio acting weird over its release and timing, that's all.
ReplyDeleteBut Stauffenberg is hardly a great man. Courageous, but a bit repulsive. He was plenty happy to get rid of the Poles and Jews and his peace offers would've let Germany keep all its Eastern annexations. And he was a pretty solid Reichsman, he just didn't like Hitler, probably as much because of Hitler's letting go some of the senior brass as anything else. And trying to assassinate Hitler after the Americans are beginning to kick your ass is.... Germany has lots of good reasons to be ambiguous about Stauffenberg.
A better story would be Gerstein, and even then it's complex. Suggestion (although most readers here won't be able to try this trick): go buy Vollman's Europe Central, read, repeat.
I liked the movie as well but kept thinking maybe it was a lib justification for trying to kill Bush and how that would have been the truly "right" thing to do.
ReplyDelete