choosy

Being already familiar with the story, the personalities, and the era, I expected more period false notes to criticize, but there actually weren't that many. I didn't even notice the accents or lack thereof, but then when such as Branagh and Stamp are on screen, their talent is what I notice. I recall reading many references by those who were there that duty at, or even visits to, the swampy Wolfschanze wartime headquarters were an ordeal, especially in summer, so the bit about killing the mosquito was terrific. The aircraft were great! But upon leaving the theater,the character and the performance that left the best impression, and was the most memorable, was Thomas Kretschmann's, perfect! and I agree, he would have made a far better Stauffenberg.

I had read the novel first, Vespers in Vienna, which was delightful as well as sad. The other comments miss the point completely--the focus in the novel was not Cold War propaganda but the facts of the insane policies of the US and British in their respective zones of occupation in Germany and Austria to forcibly remove or return Eastern Europeans, not just Soviet citizens, even including ethnic Germans, most of whom had endured untold horrors trying to escape to the west, safety, and 'freedom' at the end of the war. That was the bemused Walter Pigeon's problem, not 'war guilt' but having to 'obey orders.' The fact that this forceful expulsion was done because the Allies a. did not want to feed and care for refugees, and b. did want to curry favor with the Soviets at that pre-Berlin Blockade period makes the history even more poignant. Most expellees were anti-Soviet, which is why they had escaped to the west to begin with, and thus went back to a certain death. It wasn't a small part of history--it was one of the biggest Allied mistakes and betrayals, and there were many, of the Occupation. Angela Lansbury is terrific and got the character just right.