A Statement About Valkyrie

OK, so this one time I was watching Quantum of Solace, and a preview of Valkyrie came on, reminding me that that movie existed, and that maybe I should talk about it.

I saw this film in London, and in the interest of full disclosure, I should say that I was invited to see it with a friend.  Otherwise, I probably would not have been bothered about it one way or the other.  It seems to me that there is only one character that Tom Cruise plays, and he has only done it really well twice; once in A Few Good Men, and once in Jerry Maguire.  Valkyrie adds another character to his roster, but I am not entirely sure how hard it is to play A Determined Man Willing To Die For His Cause.  Fine, whatever.

Which, coincidentally, is exactly how I feel about this movie.  It was fine.  A fine script, fine casting, fine special effects, fine story.  Fine fine fine fine fine.

Here's the problem:  Movies about historical events are tricky.  Not only are you telling a story that people already know the ending to, but you run the risk of losing credibility if the portrayal is even slightly off.  Valkyrie is anything but "slightly off."  Hence the incredible pointlessness of the film.

I cannot tell you how many times I have heard someone say "Titanic?  What's the point?  The boat sinks, right?"  Yes, the boat sinks.  But the suspense and interest of the story comes from how it sinks, and which of the characters (who we have had a bit of a chance to get to know) survive.  Not all of them do, you know.  Anyway, Valkyrie suffers from the opposite problem.  It's about an assassination attempt on Hitler that you know doesn't work.  Not only that, but if you're even remotely familiar with the Holocaust, you know that there was no way those who planned the assassination would survive the night, much less the war.  So here we are watching a movie for which we already know the outcome, watching characters whom we know are going to die.  Great.

While doing press for the film, Eddie Izzard, one of the many, many recognizable actors in the background (in fact, one of the few who was not also in the background of Pirates of the Caribbean... talk about distracting), mentioned the fact that this was a good film to be made for the morale of the German people.  Now, instead of there being only films about those complicit with the Nazis, there is one that shines as a beacon proclaiming that not all Germans cooperated, and not all of them stood by while evil took over.  An excellent point.  Finally a film that highlights that there was a resistance, no matter how brutally it was squashed.

If only the story made for a better film.

And yes, we're pink now.  Get over it.