"We have to show the world that not all of us are like him"

Rating: 7/10 (8 December 2009)

The release of 'Valkyrie (2008)' was clouded by all sorts of overblown controversy regarding Tom Cruise's personal life, so it was perhaps fortuitous that it took me a year to finally watch it, allowing a period in which the dust could settle. All in all, Bryan Singer's film deserves some recognition; his storytelling style harks back to the 1970s, when filmmakers like Alan J. Pakula were crafting intelligent, slow-burning thrillers. In recounting the failed July 20, 1944 plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler, the film avoids the anachronistic use of contemporary visual flourishes, gracefully recreating events with a strong emphasis on historical detail.
Tom Cruise, whose screen persona is usually enough to dominate any film, is surprisingly understated in the lead, his character that of a calm, determined strategist. Colonel von Stauffenberg is driven by ideals, particularly his belief in a "sacred Germany," but the film explores these motivations only peripherally. Instead, 'Valkyrie' is concerned with the mechanics of the July 20 plot; that is, what does it take to overthrow a dictatorship? Singer directs the action as one directs pieces in a chess-game, using Stauffenberg and his co- conspirators as willing pawns in an attempted coup that proved resourceful but ultimately impotent.
Seasoned players Tom Wilkinson, Kenneth Branagh, Billy Nighy and Terence Stamp are excellent in supporting roles. Wilkinson is particularly good: his General Friedrich Fromm stands on the fence between Hitler and the plotters, sensing that the powers are soon to shift, but stubbornly refusing to commit himself until his indecision returns to punish him. Throughout the film, Singer constructs a number of tense suspense sequences centred around the assassination plot. However, despite everybody's best efforts, it is often difficult for the viewer to fully commit to the characters and their scheme, since we already know how the story ends. Like Fromm, I suppose, one finds himself unwilling to pledge allegiance to what is inevitably the losing side.