Valkyrie

In Tom Cruise's latest film, Valkyrie, he portrays Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg, mastermind behind the July 20th, 1944 assassination attempt on Adolf Hitler. And while Hitler has rightfully become the personification of evil in human nature and is reviled by most everyone, Tom Cruise has enjoyed a pampered life of celebrity, adored by millions of movie fans worldwide.

The two could not be more disparate, right?

Well, let's just take a look at the small chart I have prepared detailing the totalitarian essences of both men, their lust for power and their moral equivalencies.

                    Adolf Hitler                                                   Tom Cruise

Shot self in temple	Agreed to appear in Vanilla Sky
Never dated Joni Mitchell	Never dated Joni Mitchell
Kept Eva Braun in bunker until her death	Keeps Katie Holmes in bunker for breeding
Used propaganda and mass mind control techniques to manipulate followers	Outspoken member of the Church of Scientology
Demanded being portrayed in a heroic light	Does not take non-heroic roles
Wed Eva Braun. Marriage never consummated	Wed Nicole Kidman. Marriage never consummated
Had only one testicle	Has got a lot of balls
Ordered the genocide of European Jews	Was mean to Brooke Shields
Policies resulted in the deaths of over 50 million people	Starred in Cocktail and Top Gun
Seized power through terror and brutality	Bounced on Oprah's couch
Vegetarian	Vegetarian

                                   

So, as you can see, there are some haunting similarities.

Which means very little actually, unless the Scientologists complete that death ray they're working on. Then, I guarantee you, Cruise makes his move to control the world's fuel and food sources as L. Ron returns on the Mothership.

As for Valkyrie... what the hell was all the pre-release fussing, hatchet jobs and bad press about? It's a terrific movie.

As a matter of fact, it is such a well crafted drama/thriller that it works better for those who have forgotten their history (or refused to ever learn it). Santayana retracts his sweeping condemnation and instead raises the question; why is entertainment always easier and more enjoyable for the dumb and ignorant?

I'm a bit of a WWII buff so there were very few surprises for me in Valkyrie's proceedings. And it was still riveting despite the predominantly British accents.

The Allies had landed in Normandy over a month prior and a group of Wehrmacht officers and German politicians, with the assistance of Stauffenberg, decided to move on the Fuhrer. The war seemed lost for Germany, more of the SS atrocities were being brought to light and the barbarous Russians were looming from the east. There was little choice but to act swiftly in preserving what dignity remained in the Fatherland while also being able to negotiate an acceptable peace.

Hitler had to go.

And the SS had to be stifled.

The plot provided for both those things. Stauffenberg (who had access to the Fuhrer) would plant a time bomb in the conference room at the Wolf's Lair. The reserve German Army in Berlin (and other occupied cities abroad) would be called up to take control of the radio outlets and certain quadrants of the city, seize and arrest SS Officers and blame them for the coup.

It all went rather swimmingly until Hitler didn't die.

Valkyrie takes it time. Deliberately pacing the approach to the takeover and introducing its perpetrators. Cruise is atypically understated here, playing the Colonel with a reserved manner yet forceful will. The supporting cast is a who's who of English talent. Kenneth Branagh, Tom Wilkinson, Bill Nighy, Eddie Izzard and Terence Stamp round out the cabal and provide a glimpse at the desperation, mistrust and near suicidal abandon that led them to this act of treason.

Even knowing the ultimate end of the plot, those who carried it out and the inevitable outcome of the war does not detract from the tense scenes and drama. It's even a bit melancholy. When you think of what these men sacrificed, even with their initial complicity in the war crimes, their bravery and sense of moral purpose is difficult to question.

Stauffenberg is a national hero now, along with his co-conspirators. A memorial and museum stands in a portion of the Bendlerblock on the aptly named Stauffenbergstrasse in Berlin.

Perhaps we can take a page from their book.

We could use a few leaders like that here in America now, to right our morally listing ship of Empire.

Maybe Tom Cruise wants the job?

Comments

[jjmitch21]

I'm fairly fluent in German but this film drags on for fifteen minutes before it even get's going. The sound quality sucks and the pace of action is ridiculously slow.
I was very disappointed with it!