Bonhoeffer: Agent of Grace

This is a good film, and certainly relevant as the church struggles to find its place and vocation in the world today. It is a humble picture that gets by on the strength of its (true) story, and indeed, the incredible witness of Bonhoeffer himself. Both Bonhoeffer enthusiasts and those unfamiliar with his life and works will find this film interesting. It succeeds (as much as a 90-minute film can) in showing how Bonhoeffer wrestled with, and was challenged by, the events of his day. Most Christians (forgive the stereotyping, but I am one, so give me some slack) tend to judge the world as a young creation gone wrong, whereas Dietrich Bonhoeffer viewed the middle of the 20th century on its own terms -- as a world come of age, and acted accordingly.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a true Christian, a theologian, a spy for Allies and a great person, who dared to stay in Nazi Germany and preach what he believed was true - The Word Of God. We all know this sad story, so there is no spoiler here, the movie shows tragic events of 1939-1945 Germany, with all the evils of Hitler's regime, oppression, executions, glaring false propaganda, and above all - the inevitability of death penalty. This is a very decent film, almost a documentary in its delivery, with swift pace through the war years and all main events depicted well and sorely truthful. Chilling evil of Nazi regime is shown extremely realistic, and the tragedy of those few who dared to murder Hitler is all the more naked and fragile. The weaker side is a low budget and it shows, also, a little bit amateurish performance of some actors is evident in several scenes. These weaknesses aside, the film is good and must be watched as a great example of Godly man fight

Dietrich Bonhoeffer is one of my favorite "faith heroes". A friend introduced me to his "Cost of discipleship" when I was at college and I was delighted to read, some years later, his "Letters from prison". Dietrich Bonhoeffer was, indeed, a true Christian and a man to admire. So when I learned that "Agent of Grace" was being released, I was immediately caught up. I saw the film some days ago but, sadly, it did not meet my expectations. I found the film rather boring and confusing: from start to end the emotional level is a flat line, no important ups and downs, no emotions spoken out (the scriptwriters apparently forgot the richness and profoundness of "Letters from prison"). The historical backdrop (WW2, Nazi's rule and conspiracy against Hitler, etc.) is not clear enough for the average spectator to understand what and why things in the film are going on they way they are. But most of all, the movie fails to show the inner struggle of a young man that has everything to loose but chooses to be faithful to his Lord.

In Mexico this movie was aired only in PayTV. Dietrich Bonhoeffer's life, is a true example about a good German and specially, about a good man. The conversations between Tukur's character and the Nazi prosecutor are specially interesting. A true ideas' war: two different Germans, both with faith in there believes. Bonhoeffer was a very complex person: man, freedom fighter, boyfriend, churchman and a great intellectual; Ulrich Tukur is outstanding as Bonhoeffer. I recommended this film a lot, specially in this difficult times for the planet. In Mexico we don't know a lot about Pastor Bonhoeffer life and legacy, this is a great work for rescue a forgotten hero.

Imagine you were someone who knew nothing of Dietrich Bonhoeffer and you thought that this movie might shed a little light on the life of a man who is renowned in Christian intellectual circles. You would be sorely disappointed by this offering. The movie gives no account of Boenhoeffer's early life, he springs fully adult like Adam in the Garden. The movie also gives no real account of later life. It portrays a series of vignettes in which he is peripherally involved in events in Germany, a passive observer of tumultuous occurrences that might seem to be of importance if only we had some explanation of what they were, who was involved, and how they came to be. None of that. Bonhoeffer drifts along in the stream of occurrences until he is swept away to a Gestapo prison where he makes a poor attempt at fooling the bad guys and is eventually killed. Apparently, Bonhoeffer was an admirer of Gandhi. Well, there you go.

I gave it three stars because Robert Joy does a good job of portraying the Gestapo menace. His is the only character that has an obvious motive which is carried out as one would expect. Everyone else is a two-dimensional NPC, reacting as programmed for reasons that are not given and not apparent.