By way of warning the dispossessed Colonel Stauffenberg about the consequences of his embryonic scheme to eliminate Adolf Hitler in 1944, General Erich Fellgiebel states that ‘When the S.S. catch you, they will pull you apart…’ Like dogs tearing at a piece of meat, all sharpened teeth and gristly violence? ‘…pull you apart like warm bread,’ finishes Fellgiebel. It does not help that the line is delivered by comedian Eddie Izzard, whose decadent camp dressed up in a Nazi uniform is the closest Valkyrie gets to examining the aristocratic, fascist excesses of these men. Unfortunately, after his threat that the mostly unseen and entirely unthreatening S.S. will turn Tom Cruise into a complementary appetiser at an Italian restaurant, Izzard is relegated to the sidelines of this effective but highly simplistic ‘based on true events’ tale. Cruise is his usual stolid dramatic self, sans – but not on the poster, natch – a hand, eye, and several fingers, and little is asked of him or the other characters in Bryan Singer’s slick but bland production other than to be cogs in the machine. Rather than impart the piece with an air of impending tragedy, this clunkiness only serves to reveal much of Singer’s conservatism and narrow focus. This is a movie about Hitler’s attempted assassination, and nothing else – the villainy of the man and his party is taken as read, and the only dramatic idea of note developed is that of the struggle for the soul of a country (perhaps a relevant idea in the U.S. of late). It may have been out of Singer’s remit to include anything but the slightest nod to the wider social reality of wartime Germany, but when this extends to a depopulated and stage-set like Berlin it begins to seriously hinder the work. In hindsight, Fellgiebel’s warning seems rather appropriate: Valkyrie is lukewarm entertainment which won’t spoil your dinner.
No comments:
Post a Comment