'Do you recognise my voice?' (Valkyrie (DVD))

Member Name: pmcds

Product:	Valkyrie (DVD)
Date:	22/03/09 (85 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Second half

Disadvantages: First half

I'm ashamed to say that I am relatively ignorant of much of the Second World War. I could tell you a lot about the involvement of the Foreign Legion in the African Desert and in Norway, and how they helped by doing their part, but if you wanted to quiz me on the action taking place in Germany, and any historical facts arising from Berlin, you'd find me scoring a bit fat '0' !!!

As a result, watching Valkyrie was, for me, like watching something that I didn't know the outcome of. The film essentially depicts the true story of one of the 15 assassination attempts on Hitler's life throughout the 2nd World War, and while it is well documented in a multitude of sources that Hitler died taking his own life once he realised the war effort was lost to the Nazi cause, the fates of the men involved in this attempt aren't as well advertised.

Immediately, I felt my historical ignorance was going to play into my hands for once, giving me a sense of intrigue going into the film that many would have found lacking. It starts off well enough, showing how Colonel Claus von Stauffenburg lost a hand and an eye in an air raid whilst in the desert, which fuelled his rage and political disagreements with the Hitler regime. On his return to duty, he encounters a group of German officers, sworn Nazis themselves, who are keen to turn their full force against their Fuhrer, realising the monstrosities his actions cause. Their only solution is to assassinate him and provoke martial law on Berlin, under their control.

The film dedicates its 1 hour and 50 minutes or so to this plot, and the suspense and intrigue was apparent in the acting, which is solid at times, mediochre at others. There is an immense star cast involved here, with big names wading in every which way you turn: Tom Cruise, Tom Wilkinson, Eddie Izzard, Kenneth Branagh, Terence Stamp, Bill Nighy, Tom Hollander. There's even a brief cameo for Bernard Hill at the beginning.

Adding to the list of stars is a brief but powerful turn as Hitler from David Bamber, and Jamie Parker, playing Lieutenant Werner von Haeften, has a big part and does admirably amongst the big names. Yet, for all of this star cast, no one blew me away. Sure, Tom Cruise was good as the drive and lead behind the assassination attempt, von Stauffenburg, but his performance was nothing special. The rest of the cast can act, there's no doubt about it: it's already been proven, but their performances were lacklustre and none too convincing, although I have to say it's the first completely serious role I've seen Nighy in and I thought he was quite good.

And this somewhat depicts the first half of the film, as well. It's okay, and we know it's a riveting plot, because it's of serious historical significance and therefore definitely a tale worth telling. And yes it started off well enough with the desert scenes, as I have already mentioned. The problem lies with the attempt to remain as true to historical fact as possible. In doing so, they throw too many specific characters at the first half, and flood the information given to the viewer, focusing far too much on Stauffenburg's family and on trying to let us know who's who. By the end of the film, I was still trying to work out everyone's involvement, if I am honest.

The second half sped up a bit, and there were a few nail-biting moments when I didn't know what was going to happen. The suspense is handled much better, and the silences cleverly placed. The direction and focus of the camera is well developed in terms of picking up various facial expressions from characters as events unfold, coupled with some rousing dialogue and praiseworthy accompanying music. Himmler features, as does Goebbels, although their involvements aren't important in the grand scheme of the film, merely serving to further the historical relevance and fact we get from the film.

It is a shame that I was wandering aimlessly through the first half of the film. Perhaps the advantage of suspense I had would have been better substituted for listening in History lessons all those years ago, and I may have been able to enjoy it a bit more instead of thinking I may need to get out a pad and start taking notes. The second half redeemed it somewhat, and the ending was well shot, with a silence that speaks a thousand words lending a certain gravitas to proceedings, but sadly, it wasn't enough to leave me completely satisfied.

I am going to sit annoyingly on the fence for this one. It has been relatively criticised by many critics, whilst others have praised its bravado in sticking in most part to the truth, and improvising within certain boundaries. I don't pretend to be able to say whether or not it retains historical accuracy - I think we've already established I need a refresher course in this conflict - but it is reported to do so, and if that is so, then it explains to a certain extent what I found to be excessive characterisation at the beginning. They didn't want to leave anyone out, and this is understandable.

My recommendation is still to watch the film, as I did enjoy it once it going a bit more. I probably won't go out of my way to watch it again, but I now feel I have gained a glimpse into the fact that there were some officers close to Hitler during the Second World War that recognised what he was doing for madness, and were willing to do something about it.

Summary: Star-laden film based on an attempt to assassinate Hitler