too long overdue - valkyrie

Rating: 9/10 (25 August 2009)

MOVIE. Im not a great fan of Tom Cruise but for political thrillers "Valkyrie" it's Tom Cruises best movie since "a few good men" in 1993 but it's also his best movie. I was impressed the movie was better than I anticipated. 9 out of 10.
HISTORY. Stories about the German resistance are too long overdue but there is an institutionalised agenda to limit or even stop public awareness about them. I don't believe the director realises the door to history that has been inadvertently opened with "Valkyrie" and it 's historical impact. The most crucial part of the movie is the bomb plot on 20 July 1944 and the political coup. The bomb plot occurred on the last day of "operation good wood" on 20 July 1944 when the allies began to break out of the DDay lodgment area. Although inferred in the movie is the grave mistake made by a German officer not portrayed in the movie whom failed to make certain the Valkyrie codes had the "highest priority" when orders were communicated to the German army or wehrmacht. Consequently, when the conspirators put operation Valkyrie into effect the wehrmacht also received orders from Fuhrer HQ or Adolf Hitlers headquarters to counter Valkyrie and this is where the plot came unstuck. Had the Valkyrie codes been given the "highest priority" the wehrmacht would have ignored any further communications from Adolf Hitlers HQ and the conspirators probably would have succeeded.
COSTUMES/PROPS. Although the producers claimed to make a considerable effort with costumes and authenticity i was disappointed here. Soldiers were often seen wearing a dark green mark 1940 pattern combat helmet which matches more closely the color of post war West German border police of the 1960's rather than 1944 field Grey tones. In 1944 the long boots worn by soldiers had largely disappeared and were replaced by ankle boots with British like gaiters. The K98 bolt action rifle although still in use was not too prominent in 1944 because German soldiers were being issued semi-automatic rifles instead including the worlds first assault rifle the MP44 and the Gewehr43 rifle. There was also the Gewehr 41 made by either Walther or Mauser which saw combat in Normandy. Some of the props were below expectation and appeared to ruin an excellent movie the worst of which was the outer checkpoint for the "Wolf's Lair" where a cheap shack and sand bags were included in the set and where soldiers were wearing the wrong uniforms.
EDITING. The editing could have made a huge impression on the audience if there were and should have been more "long" shots in the movie. Long shots particularly of Von Stauffenburg and his Ajutant Leutenant Haeften should have been used to emphasise the grand German architecture of the 1940's wartime to make the audience feel they're in Nazi Germany.This could have been achieved showing the two main characters, the colonel and his adjutant, walking the staircases to Hitlers residence or the ministry with guards in dress uniform at attention. Modern computer graphics like that used in King Kong to reconstruct a 1930's New York or Chicago could have been useful here too.
CAST. High profile British and American actors probably did this movie a great justice "selling it" to a world wide audience. However, the German actors that were cast did an excellent job and looked the part in their roles too. The only role i didn't like was the role of General Keitel played by a British actor with a horrible British accent and was obese and looked like the drunk grandfather Dingle from the British soap Emmerdale.Yuk.
Valkyrie, is a very good movie breaking historical ground.