valkyrie

it's a bit of a surprise that i even bothered with this one
for one i'm not a big fan of war films - the reality is too depressing
for another i'm not a big fan of tom cruise - but who is these days?
but - circumstances sometimes override such negative thoughts
in this case the previous evening i found myself parked in front of the box
a fairly rare occurrence these days but all is not lost - it's the abc i am watching
there's a late night documentary being viewed about the valkyrie project
using lots of archive footage and actors reconstructing the events
relative ignorance of this moment in history now overcome
a realisation of it's significance and how close it came to changing the world
or at least had it succeeded how many millions of lives would have been saved
so in discussion with my hosts of the moment it was agreed the film should be seen
and lo and behold it's on at the local picture theatre on this night - so off we go
tom cruise plays the part of colonel claus von stauffenberg - the main man
the film opens with him on duty and in retreat in north africa in 1943
some deference to the origins of the story with the use of language and sub-titles
but a very quick transition to english as the man is seen writing his diary
expressing his concerns for the fate of his beloved country under adolf hitler
cut to some action as they come under attack and he is badly injured
these scenes providing some quite shuddering realism of the brutality of war
and also leading me to bracing myself for the possibility of a long ride
he is relocated to a hospital back in germany having lost an eye and his right hand
upon release he then fnds himself working closer and closer to the despot
exposure to the inner workings means he can then plot the takeover plan
during this part of the film the other main characters are introduced
in large played by british actors but to their credit convincing as germans
there's only a touch of romance as von stauffenberg's wife has a minor part
she beautiful and passionate - he handsome and caring but detached
intentional or not it is clear that their relationship is quite inconsequential
the main focus of the story kept on the planning and execution of the plot
in my case this all helped with the previous nights documentary in mind
though significantly some clear differences in interpretations of events
relatively minor but still a reminder that this film also may be subjective
that aside the film succeeds in portraying the seriousness of the times
it's quite dark but so too are the circumstances in which it is set
this is a war film after all but thankfully action scenes are limited
the emphasis placed very deliberately on the people involved in the plot
adolf hitler in a few scenes and the actor providing the necessary trepidation
tom cruise very capably playing the hero of the film with good effect
in the end of course the plot fails and hitler continues his reign of terror
possibly and as suggested with renewed vigour for another 10 months
during which time many more millions of people perish in europe
as the credits rolled, and rolled, and rolled it was a time for reflection
the conclusion being that this moment in history was hugely significant
and that tom cruise has been involved in a successful story-telling
still not going to rush out and see more war or tom cruise films
but in this case a combination that has worked very well