Review of Operation Valkyrie (2004) by Mario T — 21 Jan 2009

The first two thirds of the film are messy and the acting is flat. After Stauffenberg's plan fails it becomes somewhat interesting, watching him wither away in a mad act of denial. But what is disappointing is that the film attempts to humanise and make a hero out of Stauffenberg.

He would have certainly done the world a great justice had his assassination of Hitler been successful, however, he was also a racist psychopath -he would have had to have been considering he was a well ranked colonel in the Nazi Army who had direct contact with Hitler, Goebbels and Himmler if he so desired.

For Stauffenberg to be portrayed correctly would have made for a better film also; if we could have seen his transition from hating Nazi, to peace wanting Nazi. We shouldn't see Nazi Germany as a cancer in history, because that separates the fact that humans were behind it and not monsters, but we should certainly not celebrate a Nazi colonel just because he becomes a traitor.