It's a Jungle in Nazi Germany

Rating: 9/10 (19 May 2010)

"Valkyrie" is a gripping suspense film that had my stomach in knots for most of its running time - I must surely be a masochist to enjoy this kind of pain! Director Bryan Singer brings an "incident" from the dying days of the Third Reich to the big screen with thoughtfulness, craftsmanship and style. We are plunged into the centre of a coup d'etat and its suffocating paranoia. Not since "Seven Days in May" (about an attempted military coup in the U.S.) have I seen a film that handles this type of subject matter so adroitly. "Valkyrie" is a thriller that actually thrills. I had the pleasurable feeling that, for once, I was watching a real "movie movie", to quote the late esteemed film critic, Pauline Kael.
The cast is solid. Not only Tom Cruise (who takes many risky parts and who does solid work here), but the likes of Bill Nighy, Kevin Branagh, Tom Wilkinson, Terence Stamp, all of whom bring real authority to their characters. Herr Hitler, as played by an actor named David Bamber, seems not quite "all there", and not quite in charge either - more a brand name than a commander of millions. I started thinking about power and my belief that you only have it with the consent of those around you, people with a vested interest. When the film takes us inside Hitler's inner sanctum, populated by smug, sycophantic generals, like lions between feeding frenzies, the atmosphere is stifling.
There's considerable attention to detail and apparent authenticity in the look of the film. This is the first film I've seen set in Nazi Germany that gives us a broad view of what Imperial Berlin, in all its modern architectural glory, might have looked like. Julius Caesar would have felt right at home. In fact, "Valkyrie" has a Roman Epic feel to it - "Quo Vadis" without the dancing girls, but fully loaded with conspiracies, power struggles, renegade generals, troop movements, and a mad emperor.