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| Valkyrie | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical poster | |
| Directed by | Bryan Singer |
| Produced by | Christopher McQuarrie Bryan Singer Gilbert Adler Chris Lee |
| Written by | Christopher McQuarrie Nathan Alexander |
| Starring | Tom Cruise Bill Nighy Christian Berkel Terence Stamp Tom Wilkinson Kenneth Branagh Carice van Houten |
| Music by | John Ottman |
| Cinematography | Newton Thomas Sigel |
| Editing by | John Ottman |
| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer United Artists |
| Release date(s) | December 25, 2008 (US) January 22, 2009 (GER) |
| Running time | 120 min. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $75 million (official) to $90 million (reported) |
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Valkyrie is a 2008 historical thriller film set in Nazi Germany during World War II, depicting the July 20, 1944 plot of German army officers to assassinate Adolf Hitler. The United Artists film was directed by Bryan Singer, who re-teamed with producer/screenwriter Christopher McQuarrie. Actor Tom Cruise stars as Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg, one of the key plotters. McQuarrie began writing the script after visiting Berlin and learning of the plot in 2002. Singer, who was seeking a smaller project after completing Superman Returns in 2006, signed on to direct the script written by his friend, with whom he had often made World War II home movies as a child.[citation needed]
Cruise's casting caused controversy among German politicians and members of Stauffenberg's family because of the actor's practice of Scientology, which is considered a cult in the country, though German newspapers and filmmakers gave support to the film to spread global awareness of von Stauffenberg's plot. The filmmakers of Valkyrie initially had difficulty setting up filming locations in Germany due to the controversy, but they were later given leeway to film in locations pertaining to the film's story, such as Berlin's historic Bendlerblock.
The film changed release dates from as early as June 27, 2008 to as late as February 14, 2009. The changing calendar and poor response to United Artists's initial marketing campaign drew criticism about the studio's viability. After a positive test screening, Valkyrie was ultimately released on December 25, 2008. United Artists renewed its marketing campaign to reduce its focus on the star Tom Cruise and to play up director Bryan Singer's previous credentials. The film will open in Germany on January 22, 2009.
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Plot
During World War II, German Colonel Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg (Tom Cruise) is severely wounded in Africa, and returns home to Nazi Germany. In Germany, Major General Tresckow (Branagh) attempts to assassinate Hitler by delivering a bomb in a wine case to kill Hitler on his plane in mid-air, but the bomb fails to detonate. Tresckow safely retrieves it to conceal his intent and considers his next course of action. He has General Olbricht (Nighy) bring Stauffenberg to the secret committee, including members General Beck (Stamp), Dr. Goerdeler (McNally), and Witzleben (Schofield), that plots to assassinate Hitler. The colonel suggests using the plan Operation Valkyrie, which involves the deployment of the Reserve Army to maintain order, to take control of the government after successfully assassinating Hitler. The plotters agree to rewrite the plan to exclude the Schutzstaffel, whom they do not trust, and they bring General Fromm (Wilkinson), the head of the Reserve Army, into the fold. With the rewritten plan needing to be signed off by Hitler (Bamber), Stauffenberg visits the Führer at his Bavarian residence Berghof. Hitler, with his inner circle before him, praises Stauffenberg's sacrifices and signs off on the plan, trusting that the changes are adequate.
The plotters plan to assassinate Hitler as well as the SS head Himmler at the bunker Wolf's Lair, and Colonel Quirnheim (Berkel) instructs the committee members in how to use pencil detonators. Stauffenberg reaches out to General Fellgiebel (Izzard), in charge of communications at Wolf's Lair, to cut off communications at the right time. The colonel attends a strategy meeting at Wolf's Lair with the bomb in his briefcase, but with Himmler not present at the meeting, Stauffenberg does not get the go-ahead from the committee leaders to detonate the bomb. In the meantime, the Reserve Army is mobilized by Olbricht, unbeknownst to Fromm, to stand by. With no action taken, Stauffenberg safely extracts himself and the bomb from the bunker, and the Reserve Army is ordered to stand down, believing that the mobilization was training. The colonel goes to the committee to protest the indecisiveness and blames the political intent of Goerdeler, who is intended to be chancellor after the coup. Stauffenberg demands the presence of another military opinion in the committee, nominating Quirnheim. Beck informs Goerdeler that the SS have a warrant for the politician's arrest and implores him to leave the country, bringing Quirnheim into the fold.
A second plan is formulated with two pencil detonators prepared. Stauffenberg and his lieutenant Haeften (Parker) return to Wolf's Lair. To Stauffenberg's dismay, the colonel discovers that the strategy meeting is being held in an open-window summer hut, where the plotters had intended to detonate the bomb within the walls of the bunker for maximum damage. Stauffenberg has Haeften wait with a getaway car, and the colonel leaves the briefcase at the meeting. He calls for the go-ahead from the committee, but without Himmler at the meeting, no order is given by Beck or Olbricht. Stauffenberg talks to Quirnheim and agrees to go ahead with the assassination. With the bomb ticking, Stauffenberg leaves the hut for the getaway car. In the meantime, Stauffenberg's briefcase is knocked over and replaced against the leg of the table opposite Hitler. When the bomb explodes, Stauffenberg believes that the assassination was a success and flees the bunker. Fellgiebel calls Quirnheim about the explosion but does not clearly convey whether the Führer is dead or not. The general then cuts off communications between Wolf's Lair and the outside.
While Stauffenberg returns to Berlin, Olbricht refuses to mobilize the Reserve Army until he knows without a doubt that Hitler is dead. Behind Olbricht's back, Quirnheim issues the order for mobilization before Stauffenberg's return. With Operation Valkyrie underway, Stauffenberg and the other plotters make orders to arrest SS officers and to take control of Berlin's government quarter, which would allow them to command the rest of Nazi Germany's territories. Rumors spread that Hitler survived the assassination attempt, but Stauffenberg dismisses them as SS propaganda. Fromm finds out that communications lines to Wolf's Lair are working and from Field Marshal Keitel at the bunker that Hitler is still alive. The general resists the plotters, resulting in his arrest. Orders come out of Wolf's Lair that contradict Stauffenberg's orders, and both are sent through out of the communication director's fears of wrongful interpretation. Despite the plotters' partial control of Berlin, their ruse is discovered by the Reserve Army, who releases the SS officers and pursues the plotters. They are detained and eventually executed; at Stauffenberg's execution by firing squad, he yells out, "Long live sacred Germany!" before being killed.
Cast
Tom Cruise stars as Colonel Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg, a German World War II colonel who leads the plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler. Singer saw Stauffenberg as "very much a humanist", saying, "He understood his role as a colonel, but he also understood that the Nazis were doing terrible, terrible, terrible things." Having directed Superman Returns, Singer compared Stauffenberg's dual identity as loyal colonel and conspirator to Superman and his civilian identity Clark Kent.[1] Cruise wanted to work with Singer since they met at the premiere for Mission: Impossible, and the actor was enticed by the script's background, the truth of which struck him as a surprise.[2] The actor described Stauffenberg's heroism, "I thought of it in terms of what Stauffenberg represents. He was someone who realized that he had to take the steps that ultimately cost him his life... He recognized what was at stake."[3] Cruise felt Stauffenberg did not think of himself as a hero.[4] The actor prepared for the role for eight months by hiring a researcher, studying history books, and speaking with some of von Stauffenberg's family.[5] Since Stauffenberg lost his left eye, right hand and two fingers on his left hand in an Allied attack in Tunisia, Cruise affected the same disabilities to practice dressing, moving items and writing.[3] Cruise initially found the eyepatch difficult to work with but acknowledged that Stauffenberg had to live with this discomfort.[4]
Other cast members:
- Kenneth Branagh portrays Major General Henning von Tresckow.[6] Branagh differed physically from the real Tresckow, who was balding, but Singer said "Branagh, if you look at Tresckow's energy, he had an honesty that Branagh has."[7]
- Bill Nighy portrays General Friedrich Olbricht.[6] Nighy was cast to give a sympathetic quality, so Olbricht would not be the "fall guy". Nighy wanted to convey Olbricht as divided between complaining about Hitler's regime and actually doing something about it.[4]
- Terence Stamp portrays General Ludwig Beck.[6] Singer met Stamp to discuss playing a part in X-Men, having admired him for portraying General Zod in Superman II. Stamp endured the Blitz as a child and aided Singer in staging a scene where the Stauffenbergs hide from the Allied bombings.[8] The actor described his approach to portraying Beck: "There has to be a kind of non-judgmental discernment, so when I'm playing villains, they don't think they're particularly villains." The actor sought to find "the part of Terence that would be prepared to fall on his sword for certain ideals."[1]
- Kevin McNally portrays Dr. Carl Friedrich Goerdeler, a German politician who intends to become chancellor of Germany after a successful coup.
- David Schofield portrays Erwin von Witzleben, one of the plotters.
- Christian Berkel portrays Colonel Albrecht Ritter Mertz von Quirnheim, a plotter with knowledge of explosives.
- Jamie Parker portrays Lieutenant Werner von Haeften, an adjutant to Stauffenberg who helps the colonel carry out the plot.
- Eddie Izzard portrays General Erich Fellgiebel, a German officer responsible for communications at Hitler's bunker Wolf's Lair.
- David Bamber portrays Adolf Hitler, the Führer ("Leader") of Germany.
- Tom Wilkinson portrays General Friedrich Fromm, head of Germany's Reserve Army. Wilkinson was cast to make the treacherous Fromm sympathetic.[4]
- Thomas Kretschmann portrays Major Otto Ernst Remer, head of a Reserve Army battalion.
- Harvey Friedman portrays Dr. Joseph Goebbels, a member of Hitler's inner circle.
- Kenneth Cranham portrays Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel, a member of Hitler's inner circle.
- Matthias Freihof portrays Heinrich Himmler, the head of Schutzstaffel and a member of Hitler's inner circle.
- Carice van Houten portrays von Stauffenberg's wife, Nina Schenk Gräfin von Stauffenberg. The filmmakers were impressed by her performance in Black Book, and argued she could give a strong performance with minimal dialogue. Nathan Alexander spoke to von Stauffenberg's relatives and noted although Nina and Claus never directly spoke about the plot, "in a sense it was all they talked about".[4]
- Gerhard Haase-Hindenberg portrays Hermann Göring.
- Anton Algrang portrays Albert Speer.
- Werner Daehn portrays Ernst John von Freyend.
- Waldemar Kobus portrays Wolf-Heinrich Graf von Helldorf.
- Helmut Stauss portrays Dr. Roland Freisler.
- Matthew Burton portrays Lieutenant-General Adolf Heusinger
- Tom Hollander portrays Colonel Heinz Brandt.
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