Stauffenberg

The picture is a Staufenberg mini-biography and focusing the July 20 plot of 1944.His life and the famous event from how was orchestrated the dangerous,risked plot has been splendidly directed by Jo Baier.The film is correctly based on true events and real Nazis characters and well played by a sensational plethora of German actors.The real deeds are the following: Claus Schenk Graf Von Stauffenberg (Sebastian Koch)served as Lieutenant Colonel on the General Staff ,in the early part of WWII got distinction as an officer in a Bavarian cavalry regiment in Poland,France and North Africa.In April 1943 he was wounded in the face,in both hands,and in the knee by fire from a low-flying Allied plane,he kept one eye and lost his right hand and part of his leg.During his convalescence revised his attitude.He made no secret of his utter contempt for Hitler and Nazism,then he decided to join the conspirators with the goal of liquidating the Nazi regime and replacing it with a new social state that would maintain the good name of the fatherland.At the center of the plot were seniors officers Gen.Henning Von Tresckow(Ulrich Tukur,starring in Amen by Costa Gravas),,Fielf Marshall Erwin Witzleben((Joachim Bissmeyer),General Olbricht(Rainer Bock),General Beck(Remo Girone),General Friedric Fromm(Axel Milberg).Added to these seniors were a number of younger officers who believed that the third Reich was a catastrophe for Germany and were willing to gamble their lives on the outcome of the plot,among them was Werner Haeften(Hardy Kruger Jr).Other knew of the plot but did not take an active role in it,among them were Field Marshal Erin Rommel popular war hero and Field Marshal Hans Von Kluge ,army group of France.Hitler(Udo Schenk) called a conference of his close military advisers at headquarters at Ratenburg.The compound was protected by numerous electric fences and barbed wire,with blockhouses and checkpoints.Stauffenberg arrived at Rastenburg ,in his briefcase along with papers and reports, was a British time bomb,he set the timer on the bomb and brought it into the conference room and he placed it on the floor and then excused himself but he would must make a telephone call.Several minutes passed when at this moment a tremendous explosion blasted the room and several bodies flew out of the smashed windows and wrecking the ceiling.Meanwhile,Stauffenberg,certain that all in the hut had been killed was a plane bound for Berlin,but he learned to his amazement that Hitler had not been killed by the blast .Officers who were in the plot were dismayed and virtually paralyzed into inaction.Officers loyal to Hitler as Otto Remer(Muti) had taken control of the War Ministry and arrested the conspirators.General Fromm hurried to cover his tracks,he had four officers shot by a firing squad in the courtyard below.Beck was killed with a coup de grace.Hitler's vengeance was terrible .The conspirators were handed over to the tortures of Gestapo,many more were killed in a a massive blood purge.Some were strangled with piano wire and their bodies hanged like animal carcasses on huge hooks.General Fromm,who had been active in ordering the executions could not save himself,principal leaders met a barbaric death, among them the Adm. Wilhelm Canaris.Field Marshal Von Witzleben 's execution was typical,the old man was pushed into a cellar prison,placed under the first meat hook and stripped to the waist,a running noose was placed over the hook and wound around his neck,he was lifted and allowed to fall with the whole weight of his body ,young cadets ,forced to view the gruesome spectacle ,fainted.

The assassination attempt on Hitler in July, 1944 is one of the most important events in modern German history. It has been reconstructed dozens of times - none have really been successful. "Es Geschah am 20. Juli" and "Der 20. Juli", both in 1955, were the first early attempts of "Vergangenheitsbewaeltigung" in Germany, both were made for the cinema screen, both with well-known actors of the time that were old enough to experience the event.

Several re-filmings (To name two more successful ones: Operation Walküre, The Plot to Kill Hitler) were less successful. Filming in color was not enough to make a good story out of a weak one.

"Stauffenberg", on German TV was a much advertised and, rumor has it, expensive event. The cast filled with actors the audience is used to seeing on TV, not one a really good one.

The plot is ok, but runs through the timeline very quickly, starting in 1933 and running to the Summer of 1944 in about 3-4 minutes, without delivering any input. Too little emphasis is placed on the historical context to show the drama of the situation, and if the attempt was to portray the characters decently, not enough is done here. Without historical knowledge of the time, it is hard to follow the characters, their roles and positions.

Hitler and Goebbels (portrayed by Udo Schenk and Olli Dittrich) both look like they have just climbed out of their tombs. The attempt to make them look really evil, fails. In his short appearance, Olli Dittrich makes of Goebbels an insecure, hysterical zombie - it made me laugh.

A few moments of the film did keep me on edge, although I knew the outcome, especially shortly before the execution of Stauffenberg and the other "enemies of the state" - a plus.

Yet: I am still waiting for THE excellent portrayal of the event.

It is important to bear in mind, that this German version of the Stauffenberg attempt to save Germany was made four years before the great American film with Tom Cruise. They complement each other. The German version is more concise and precise, more approaching a documentary telling the facts with efficient exactness, while the Hollywood version is more dramatic, has a more elaborate dramaturgy, is more efficiently made and is humanly more interesting, so both versions are vital. Sebastian Koch is a little too good-looking to be quite convincing as the scarred and crippled veteran of many battles and hardships, while Tom Cruise made one of his most convincing performances in all his vulnerability. Nothing bad can be said about either of the versions, it's an important chapter in modern German history, as an evidence of the fact that the national resistance against Hitler was only the greater and more bitter for being constantly suppressed, as there were any number of attempts against his life, of which at least one statistically ought to have been successful, but the bitter tragedy was that they all failed, and especially the greatest and final one, which was the most urgent one, because of unpredictable human factors.

In 1944, a group of high command officers plot an attempt against Hitler, and one of the leaders of the conspiracy, Stauffenberg (Sebastian Koch), goes to a meeting with the Fuhrer in charge of exploding the place. However, Hitler survives and the officers are executed.

"Stauffenberg" is another great example of the powerful German cinema. Based on a true event, with remarkable performances, tight direction and excellent reconstitution of a dark period of the contemporary Germany history, it is highly recommended – indeed a must-see film - for fans of war movies. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Operação Valkiria" ("Valkyrie Operation")

It seems that most of the reviews here believe that this German version is somehow "better" than the Cruise version. Whether this is simply anti-Tom Cruise, or anti-Hollywood bias is debatable. I think this version is quite good from the acting, directing, production value standpoints, but really misses the mark on the intricacies of the plot itself or the character development of the other major conspirators, not just von Stauffenberg. The Cruise version is superior in showing the motivations of all the major conspirators and the slow buildup in the plot where the plan to assassinate the monster foments, and how the attempt crumbled due to fate and ineptitude. This German version is good, but in my mind, it is "Operation Valkyrie-Light" and not very satisfying to a history buff and especially a WW2 buff.