mostly lukewarm reviews for this film but ignoring that
a missed and compelling piece of history under the spotlight
georg elser - a german driven to try and assassinate adolf hitler
straight into it in the opening scenes as he prepares a huge bomb
alone, in secret, in a darkened building with a mouth-held torch
the significance of the building explained with scenes of a speech
hitler addressing the troops and announcing austria's now allegiance
he interrupted with a note advising his car won't start - a mental note
elser has made the final preparations and hoofs it to the swiss border
he is arrested for wearing a badge of the illegal communist party
and curiously he has bomb and building plans on him still - why?
the bomb explodes but hitler had left the building 13 minutes earlier
seems his transportation issues lead to an unplanned early departure
8 people are killed and soon enough the connection to elser is made
hitler famously sees his escape as divine approval for his actions
he orders that elser is interrogated to determine his collaborators
a raid on elser's home town has all his family and fiance arrested
reich criminal director arthur nebe is first seen interviewing elser
he is soon joined by gestapo chief heinrich muller - heavy dudes
a bit of a good-cop-bad-cop routine develops with these 2 chaps
nebe seemingly believing and impressed by elser acting alone
muller (and hitler) wanting the names of his co-collaborators
elser's first act of defiance is to bravely sing to his interviewer
this then nicely segueing to lakeside scenes some 8 years earlier
elser seen on an accordian in a musical group entertaining friends
happy days and a nice insight into a carefree time before the war
elser is a womaniser also and is soon pursuing already married elsa
their love story in the small german village in itself is quite compelling
the growing sense of nationalism a clear reminder of how it can happen
but then back to the present and elser's defiance is irking his captors
nuller starts the beatings and torture to extract the required names
elser refusing to provide basic details such as his name and birthdate
it's hard to watch these scenes but i am grateful for the sense of reality
relief for him and us when elsa is brought in with a threat of torture
fearing for her he agrees to provide a full confession of the bombing
and then another flashback to more recent times to fill in some gaps
nationalists and hitler youth in his village at odds with many adults
they then marginalised and derided for their religion or beliefs
of course a common scenario in many times and in many places
and here done in such a realistic way with no sledgehammering
we know the outcome of this and elser similarly sees the danger
he confides with a friend that he has decided a bold act is required
hitler and his top leaders need to be taken out - and he goes to work
elser has been a clock-maker, a carpenter and is currently a turner
his skills, intelligence and determination combining on his project
over a long period of time he gathers equipment and explosives
all the while his love story with now divorced elsa is played out
back to the present and his captors still demanding more names
providing accurate details of how he built the bomb saves him
and with the full breakout of war then distracting his captors
5 years later we see them again with muller arresting nebe
he being part of the stauffenberg plot to assassinate hitler
a suggestion then that nebe was directly influenced by elser
more squirming with a scene of nebe hung by a piece of wire
elser is next seen in dachau concentration camp but looking ok
he spends his days making zithers - until someone issues an order
he is lead away from his cell and shot point blank in his head
the end - and the end of film text provides some sad details
this happened 2 days before the camp was finally liberated
but not before 55 million people perished in this brutal war
a clear reminder of what could have been but for 13 minutes
if this was fiction it would be impressive but it is factual
not sure why the average reviews - for me - essential...
