Valkyrie (film)
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''Valkyrie'' is a 2008
historical History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...
political Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies ...
war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...
thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre ...
directed by
Bryan Singer Bryan Jay Singer (born September 17, 1965) is an American filmmaker. He is the founder of Bad Hat Harry Productions and has produced almost all of the films he has directed. After graduating from the University of Southern California, Singer d ...
, written by Christopher McQuarrie and Nathan Alexander, starring
Tom Cruise Thomas Cruise Mapother IV (born July 3, 1962), known professionally as Tom Cruise, is an American actor and producer. One of the world's highest-paid actors, he has received various accolades, including an Honorary Palme d'Or and three Gol ...
. The film is set in
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
during
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
and depicts the
20 July plot On 20 July 1944, Claus von Stauffenberg and other conspirators attempted to assassinate Adolf Hitler, Führer of Nazi Germany, inside his Wolf's Lair field headquarters near Rastenburg, East Prussia, now Kętrzyn, in present-day Poland. The ...
in 1944 by German army officers to assassinate
Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
and to use the
Operation Valkyrie Operation Valkyrie (german: Unternehmen Walküre) was a German World War II emergency continuity of government operations plan issued to the Territorial Reserve Army of Germany to execute and implement in the event of a general breakdown in civ ...
national emergency plan to
take control "Take Control" is a song by the American singer Amerie from her third studio album, ''Because I Love It'' (2007). It was released as the album's lead single on October 17, 2006. The song was written by Cee-Lo Green, Mike Caren and Amerie, and was ...
of the country. The film was released by American studio
United Artists United Artists Corporation (UA), currently doing business as United Artists Digital Studios, is an American digital production company. Founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks, the studi ...
and stars Cruise as Colonel
Claus von Stauffenberg Colonel Claus Philipp Maria Justinian Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg (; 15 November 1907 – 21 July 1944) was a German army officer best known for his failed attempt on 20 July 1944 to assassinate Adolf Hitler at the Wolf's Lair. Despite ...
, one of the key plotters. The supporting cast includes
Kenneth Branagh Sir Kenneth Charles Branagh (; born 10 December 1960) is a British actor and filmmaker. Branagh trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London and has served as its president since 2015. He has won an Academy Award, four BAFTAs (plus t ...
,
Bill Nighy William Francis Nighy (; born 12 December 1949) is an English actor. Nighy started his career with the Everyman Theatre, Liverpool and made his London debut with the Royal National Theatre starting with ''The Illuminatus! Trilogy, The Illuminatu ...
,
Eddie Izzard Edward John Izzard (; born 7 February 1962) is a British stand-up comedian, actor and activist. Her comedic style takes the form of what appears to the audience as rambling whimsical monologues and self-referential pantomime. Izzard's stand- ...
,
Terence Stamp Terence Henry Stamp (born 22 July 1938) is an English actor. Stamp is known for his sophisticated villain roles. He was named by ''Empire Magazine'' as one of the 100 Sexiest Film Stars of All Time in 1995. He has received various accolades inc ...
, and
Tom Wilkinson Thomas Geoffrey Wilkinson (born 5 February 1948)Born January–March 1948, according to the ''Births, Marriages & Deaths Index of England & Wales, 1916–2005.''; at ancestry.com is an English actor of film, television, and stage. He has rece ...
. Cruise's casting caused controversy among German politicians and members of the von Stauffenberg family due to the actor's practice of
Scientology Scientology is a set of beliefs and practices invented by American author L. Ron Hubbard, and an associated movement. It has been variously defined as a cult, a business, or a new religious movement. The most recent published census data indi ...
, which is viewed with suspicion in Germany. Because of this, the filmmakers initially had difficulty setting up filming locations in Germany, but they were later given access to locations such as Berlin's historic
Bendlerblock The Bendlerblock is a building complex in the Tiergarten district of Berlin, Germany, located on Stauffenbergstraße (formerly named ''Bendlerstraße''). Erected in 1914 as headquarters of several Imperial German Navy (''Kaiserliche Marine'') off ...
. German newspapers and filmmakers supported the film and its intention to spread global awareness of von Stauffenberg's plot. The film changed release dates several times, from as early as June 27, 2008, to as late as February 13, 2009. The changing calendar and poor response to United Artists's initial marketing campaign drew criticism about the film's viability, and followed by a positive test screening, ''Valkyrie''s release in North America was ultimately changed to December 25, 2008 and was opened in Germany on January 22, 2009; United Artists renewed its marketing campaign to reduce its focus on Cruise and to highlight Singer's credentials. The film received mixed reviews from critics and grossed nearly $201.5 million worldwide.


Plot

During
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
,
Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previous ...
Colonel
Claus von Stauffenberg Colonel Claus Philipp Maria Justinian Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg (; 15 November 1907 – 21 July 1944) was a German army officer best known for his failed attempt on 20 July 1944 to assassinate Adolf Hitler at the Wolf's Lair. Despite ...
is stationed in
Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...
, where he becomes increasingly disillusioned with the future of Germany under
Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and then ...
's tyranny. His battalion comes under attack by
P-40 The Curtiss P-40 Warhawk is an American single-engined, single-seat, all-metal fighter and ground-attack aircraft that first flew in 1938. The P-40 design was a modification of the previous Curtiss P-36 Hawk which reduced development time an ...
fighter-bombers of the No. 3 Squadron RAAF,
Desert Air Force The Desert Air Force (DAF), also known chronologically as Air Headquarters Western Desert, Air Headquarters Libya, the Western Desert Air Force, and the First Tactical Air Force (1TAF), was an Allied tactical air force created from No. 204 ...
. Stauffenberg is severely injured in the air raid and is evacuated home to
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
, where he loses his left eye, his right hand, and two fingers on his left hand. Meanwhile, Hitler visits his
military headquarters Headquarters (commonly referred to as HQ) denotes the location where most, if not all, of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. In the United States, the corporate headquarters represents the entity at the center or the to ...
on the Eastern Front. General
Henning von Tresckow Henning Hermann Karl Robert von Tresckow (; 10 January 1901 – 21 July 1944) was a German military officer with the rank of major general in the Nazi Germany, German Army who helped organize German resistance to Nazism, German resistance again ...
attempts to assassinate Hitler by smuggling a timebomb disguised as a box of
Cointreau Cointreau (, , ) is a brand of orange-flavoured triple sec liqueur produced in Saint-Barthélemy-d'Anjou, France. It is consumed as an apéritif and digestif, and is a component of several well-known cocktails. It was originally called Curaçao ...
onto his plane. The bomb fails to detonate, and Hitler's plane lands safely in
Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
. Shortly afterwards, resistance member General
Hans Oster Hans Paul Oster (9 August 1887 – 9 April 1945) was a general in the ''Wehrmacht'' and a leading figure of the anti-Nazi German resistance from 1938 to 1943. As deputy head of the counter-espionage bureau in the ''Abwehr'' (German military inte ...
is arrested by the
Gestapo The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one organi ...
. While recuperating, Stauffenberg is recruited by General
Friedrich Olbricht Friedrich Olbricht (4 October 1888 – 21 July 1944) was a German general during World War II and one of the plotters involved in the 20 July Plot, an attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler in 1944. He was a senior staff officer, with the rank of ...
to take Oster's place in the
German Resistance German resistance can refer to: * Freikorps, German nationalist paramilitary groups resisting German communist uprisings and the Weimar Republic government * German resistance to Nazism * Landsturm, German resistance groups fighting against France d ...
, which includes Tresckow, General
Ludwig Beck Ludwig August Theodor Beck (; 29 June 1880 – 20 July 1944) was a German general and Chief of the German General Staff during the early years of the Nazi regime in Germany before World War II. Although Beck never became a member of the Na ...
, Dr.
Carl Goerdeler Carl Friedrich Goerdeler (; 31 July 1884 – 2 February 1945) was a monarchist Conservatism, conservative German politician, executive, economist, civil servant and German resistance to Nazism, opponent of the Nazi Germany, Nazi regime. He oppose ...
, and Field Marshal
Erwin von Witzleben Job Wilhelm Georg Erdmann Erwin von Witzleben (4 December 1881 – 8 August 1944) was a German field marshal in the Wehrmacht during the Second World War. A leading conspirator in the 20 July plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler, he was designated ...
. Stauffenberg proposes using
Operation Valkyrie Operation Valkyrie (german: Unternehmen Walküre) was a German World War II emergency continuity of government operations plan issued to the Territorial Reserve Army of Germany to execute and implement in the event of a general breakdown in civ ...
, which involves the deployment of the
Reserve Army A military reserve force is a military organization whose members have military and civilian occupations. They are not normally kept under arms, and their main role is to be available when their military requires additional manpower. Reserve f ...
in a national emergency, as a means to take control of the country. The plotters redraft the plan's orders to dismantle the Nazi regime after assassinating Hitler. Stauffenberg's promotion within the Reserve Army grants him direct access to Hitler, who approves the redrafted plan without fully examining the modifications. Realizing that only General
Friedrich Fromm Friedrich Wilhelm Waldemar Fromm (8 October 1888 – 12 March 1945) was a German Army officer. In World War II, Fromm was Commander in Chief of the Replacement Army (''Ersatzheer''), in charge of training and personnel replacement for combat divi ...
, the head of the Reserve Army, can initiate Valkyrie, they offer him a position as head of the Wehrmacht; but Fromm, although agreeing to remain silent on the matter, declines to be directly involved. Stauffenberg is ordered to assassinate both Hitler and
Himmler Heinrich Luitpold Himmler (; 7 October 1900 – 23 May 1945) was of the (Protection Squadron; SS), and a leading member of the Nazi Party of Germany. Himmler was one of the most powerful men in Nazi Germany and a main architect of th ...
at the
Wolf's Lair The ''Wolf's Lair'' (german: Wolfsschanze; pl, Wilczy Szaniec) served as Adolf Hitler's first Eastern Front military headquarters in World War II. The headquarters was located in the Masurian woods, near the small village of Görlitz in Ostp ...
. He persuades General Fellgiebel to cut off communications after the attempt. On July 15, 1944, Stauffenberg attends a strategy meeting at the Wolf's Lair with a bomb, but does not receive permission to proceed as Himmler is absent. Meanwhile, the Reserve Army is mobilized by Olbricht. Stauffenberg leaves with the bomb and the Reserve Army is ordered to stand down. Fromm threatens Olbricht and Stauffenberg that he will arrest them if they try to control the Reserve Army again; Stauffenberg berates the plotters for their indecisiveness and condemns Goerdeler. When Goerdeler demands that Stauffenberg be relieved, Beck informs him that the SS has issued a warrant for his arrest, and that he must leave the country immediately. On July 20, 1944, Stauffenberg and his adjutant Lieutenant von Haeften return to the Wolf's Lair. Due to the warm weather, the conference is being held in an open-window summer barrack, minimizing their bomb's potential effectiveness. Stauffenberg places the briefcase containing the bomb close to Hitler before leaving. Officer
Heinz Brandt Heinz Brandt (11 March 1907 – 21 July 1944) was a German officer. During World War II he served as an aide to General Adolf Heusinger, the head of the operations unit of the General Staff. He may have inadvertently saved Adolf Hitler's life, ...
moves the case behind a table leg, inadvertently shielding Hitler. When the bomb explodes, Stauffenberg is certain that Hitler is dead and flees, managing to bluff his way past security checkpoints and returning to Berlin. Olbricht refuses to mobilize the Reserve Army without confirmation that Hitler is dead; but Colonel von Quirnheim, one of the plotters, forges his signature and issues the orders. With Valkyrie underway, the plotters order the arrest of Nazi party leaders and SS officers, convincing lower officers that the Party and the SS are staging a coup, and soldiers begin to take control of the ministries. Rumors surface that Hitler survived the blast, but Stauffenberg dismisses them as SS propaganda. Having learned from Field Marshal Keitel that Hitler is still alive, Fromm refuses to join the plotters, resulting in them detaining him. Major
Otto Ernst Remer Otto Ernst Remer (18 August 1912 – 4 October 1997) was a German ''Wehrmacht'' officer in World War II who played a major role in stopping the 20 July plot in 1944 against Adolf Hitler. In his later years he became a politician and far right act ...
of the Reserve Army prepares to arrest Goebbels, but he's stopped when Goebbels connects him by phone to Hitler. Recognizing the voice on the other end, Remer realizes that the Reserve Army has been duped. Soon, SS officers are released and the plotters are besieged inside the
Bendlerblock The Bendlerblock is a building complex in the Tiergarten district of Berlin, Germany, located on Stauffenbergstraße (formerly named ''Bendlerstraße''). Erected in 1914 as headquarters of several Imperial German Navy (''Kaiserliche Marine'') off ...
. The headquarters staff flees, but the resistance leaders are arrested. Attempting to save himself, Fromm convenes an impromptu court martial, during which he places Beck under arrest, and sentences von Quirnheim, Olbricht, von Haeften, and Stauffenberg to death. The ringleaders are executed by
firing squad Execution by firing squad, in the past sometimes called fusillading (from the French ''fusil'', rifle), is a method of capital punishment, particularly common in the military and in times of war. Some reasons for its use are that firearms are us ...
; Beck is given a pistol and commits
suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...
; Tresckow kills himself in a forest by holding a grenade to his throat; Witzleben and Goerdeler are sentenced in
show trials A show trial is a public trial in which the judicial authorities have already determined the guilt or innocence of the defendant. The actual trial has as its only goal the presentation of both the accusation and the verdict to the public so th ...
and hanged. A post-script displays the text of the German resistance memorial.


Cast

*
Tom Cruise Thomas Cruise Mapother IV (born July 3, 1962), known professionally as Tom Cruise, is an American actor and producer. One of the world's highest-paid actors, he has received various accolades, including an Honorary Palme d'Or and three Gol ...
as Colonel
Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg Colonel Claus Philipp Maria Justinian Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg (; 15 November 1907 – 21 July 1944) was a German army officer best known for his failed attempt on 20 July 1944 to assassinate Adolf Hitler at the Wolf's Lair. Despite ...
, the
German army The German Army (, "army") is the land component of the armed forces of Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German ''Bundeswehr'' together with the ''Marine'' (German Navy) and the ''Luftwaf ...
Colonel who was instrumental in the conspiracy to assassinate
Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
: Bryan Singer saw von Stauffenberg as "very much a humanist", saying, "He understood his role as a colonel, but he also understood that the Nazis were doing terrible, terrible, terrible things." Having directed ''
Superman Returns ''Superman Returns'' is a 2006 American superhero film directed by Bryan Singer and written by Michael Dougherty and Dan Harris (screenwriter), Dan Harris from a story by Singer, Dougherty and Harris based on the DC Comics character Superman. I ...
'', Singer compared von Stauffenberg's dual identity as loyal colonel and conspirator to
Superman Superman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, and debuted in the comic book ''Action Comics'' #1 (cover-dated June 1938 and publi ...
and his civilian identity
Clark Kent Superman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, and debuted in the comic book ''Action Comics'' #1 (cover-dated June 1938 and publish ...
. Cruise had wanted to work with Singer since they met at the premiere for '' Mission: Impossible'', and the actor was enticed by the script's background, the truth of which struck him as a surprise. The actor described von Stauffenberg's heroism: "I thought of it in terms of what onStauffenberg represents. He was someone who realized that he had to take the steps that ultimately cost him his life. ... He recognized what was at stake." Cruise felt von Stauffenberg did not think of himself as a hero. The actor prepared for the role for eight months by hiring a researcher, studying history books, and speaking with some of von Stauffenberg's family. Since von Stauffenberg lost his left eye, right hand and two fingers on his left hand in an Allied attack in Tunisia, Cruise affected the same disabilities to practice dressing, moving items and writing. Cruise initially found the eyepatch difficult to work with but acknowledged that von Stauffenberg had to live with this discomfort. *
Kenneth Branagh Sir Kenneth Charles Branagh (; born 10 December 1960) is a British actor and filmmaker. Branagh trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London and has served as its president since 2015. He has won an Academy Award, four BAFTAs (plus t ...
as Major General
Henning von Tresckow Henning Hermann Karl Robert von Tresckow (; 10 January 1901 – 21 July 1944) was a German military officer with the rank of major general in the Nazi Germany, German Army who helped organize German resistance to Nazism, German resistance again ...
: Branagh differed physically from the real von Tresckow, who was balding, but Singer said, "if you look at onTresckow's energy, he had an honesty that Branagh has." *
Bill Nighy William Francis Nighy (; born 12 December 1949) is an English actor. Nighy started his career with the Everyman Theatre, Liverpool and made his London debut with the Royal National Theatre starting with ''The Illuminatus! Trilogy, The Illuminatu ...
as General of Infantry
Friedrich Olbricht Friedrich Olbricht (4 October 1888 – 21 July 1944) was a German general during World War II and one of the plotters involved in the 20 July Plot, an attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler in 1944. He was a senior staff officer, with the rank of ...
: Nighy was cast to give a sympathetic quality, so Olbricht would not be the "
fall guy Fall guy is a colloquial phrase that refers to a person to whom blame is deliberately and falsely attributed in order to deflect blame from another party. Origin The origin of the term "fall guy" is unknown and contentious. Many sources place ...
". Nighy wanted to convey Olbricht as conflicted between complaining about Hitler's regime and actually doing something about it. The actor described his portrayal, "One of the most disconcerting things imaginable is to put on a Nazi uniform. It's so associated with evil that it took me several days to get used to being in costume." *
Terence Stamp Terence Henry Stamp (born 22 July 1938) is an English actor. Stamp is known for his sophisticated villain roles. He was named by ''Empire Magazine'' as one of the 100 Sexiest Film Stars of All Time in 1995. He has received various accolades inc ...
as Colonel General
Ludwig Beck Ludwig August Theodor Beck (; 29 June 1880 – 20 July 1944) was a German general and Chief of the German General Staff during the early years of the Nazi regime in Germany before World War II. Although Beck never became a member of the Na ...
: Singer met Stamp to discuss playing a part in ''
X-Men The X-Men are a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, first appearing in Uncanny X-Men, ''The X-Men'' #1 by artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby and writer/editor Stan Lee in 1963. Although initially cancelled in ...
'', having admired him for portraying
General Zod General Zod is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly known as an List of Superman enemies, adversary of the superhero Superman. The character, who first appeared in ''Adventure Comics'' #283 (April 1961 ...
in ''
Superman II ''Superman II'' is a 1980 superhero film directed by Richard Lester and written by Mario Puzo and David and Leslie Newman from a story by Puzo based on the DC Comics character Superman. It is the second installment in the ''Superman'' film seri ...
''. Stamp endured
the Blitz The Blitz was a German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom in 1940 and 1941, during the Second World War. The term was first used by the British press and originated from the term , the German word meaning 'lightning war'. The Germa ...
as a child and aided Singer in staging a scene where the von Stauffenbergs hide from Allied bombings. The actor described his approach to acting: he was not the sort of actor who puts on a mask; rather, he tries to find the place within himself that resonates with the characters he portrays saying that "There has to be a kind of non-judgmental discernment, so when I'm playing villains, they don't think they're particularly villains." Singer said of his direction of Stamp as the heroic and selfless Beck that he sought to find "the part of Terence that would be prepared to fall on his sword for certain ideals" just as Beck had in fact done after being arrested with his co-conspirators for treason. *
Tom Wilkinson Thomas Geoffrey Wilkinson (born 5 February 1948)Born January–March 1948, according to the ''Births, Marriages & Deaths Index of England & Wales, 1916–2005.''; at ancestry.com is an English actor of film, television, and stage. He has rece ...
as General
Friedrich Fromm Friedrich Wilhelm Waldemar Fromm (8 October 1888 – 12 March 1945) was a German Army officer. In World War II, Fromm was Commander in Chief of the Replacement Army (''Ersatzheer''), in charge of training and personnel replacement for combat divi ...
, the head of Germany's Reserve Army: Wilkinson was cast to make the treacherous Fromm sympathetic. *
Carice van Houten Carice Anouk van Houten () is a Dutch actress and singer (born 5 September 1976 in Leiderdorp). Her first leading role in the television film '' Suzy Q'' (1999) won her the Golden Calf for Best Acting in a Television Drama; two years later, she ...
as
Nina Schenk Gräfin von Stauffenberg Countess Nina von Stauffenberg (German: ''Elisabeth Magdalena Schenk Gräfin von Stauffenberg''; 27 August 1913 – 2 April 2006) was the wife of Colonel Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg, the leader of the failed plot to assassinate Adolf ...
, von Stauffenberg's wife: The filmmakers were impressed by her performance in '' Black Book'', and argued she could give a strong performance with minimal dialogue. Screenwriter Nathan Alexander spoke to von Stauffenberg's relatives and noted that, although Nina and Claus never directly spoke about the plot, "in a sense it was all they talked about". *
Kevin McNally Kevin Robert McNally (born 27 April 1956) is an English actor and writer. He is known for portraying Joshamee Gibbs in the ''Pirates of the Caribbean'' film series. Early life Born in Bristol, McNally spent his early years in Birmingham, att ...
as Dr.
Carl Friedrich Goerdeler Carl Friedrich Goerdeler (; 31 July 1884 – 2 February 1945) was a monarchist conservative German politician, executive, economist, civil servant and opponent of the Nazi regime. He opposed some anti-Jewish policies while he held office and was ...
, a German politician who intended to become
chancellor of Germany The chancellor of Germany, officially the federal chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany,; often shortened to ''Bundeskanzler''/''Bundeskanzlerin'', / is the head of the federal government of Germany and the commander in chief of the Ge ...
after a successful coup * David Schofield as Field Marshal
Erwin von Witzleben Job Wilhelm Georg Erdmann Erwin von Witzleben (4 December 1881 – 8 August 1944) was a German field marshal in the Wehrmacht during the Second World War. A leading conspirator in the 20 July plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler, he was designated ...
, a retired general and one of the plotters: Singer and producer Christopher McQuarrie were impressed by Schofield's professionalism and dedication to show up on set for scenes without his character, and the filmmakers expanded his role as a result.''Valkyrie'' DVD commentary featuring
Bryan Singer Bryan Jay Singer (born September 17, 1965) is an American filmmaker. He is the founder of Bad Hat Harry Productions and has produced almost all of the films he has directed. After graduating from the University of Southern California, Singer d ...
and
Christopher McQuarrie Christopher McQuarrie is an American filmmaker. He received the BAFTA Award, Independent Spirit Award, and Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for the neo-noir mystery film ''The Usual Suspects'' (1995). He made his directorial debut wi ...
,
009 009 may refer to: * OO9, gauge model railways * O09, FAA identifier for Round Valley Airport * 0O9, FAA identifier for Ward Field, see List of airports in California * British secret agent 009, see 00 Agent * BA 009, see British Airways Flight 9 * ...
United Artists.
*
Christian Berkel Christian Berkel (born 28 October 1957) is a German actor. He is known for his appearances in '' Downfall'' (2004), ''Valkyrie'' (2008), ''Inglourious Basterds'' (2009) and ''The Man from U.N.C.L.E.'' (2015). Life and career Berkel was born on 2 ...
as Colonel Albrecht Ritter Mertz von Quirnheim, a plotter with knowledge of explosives *
Jamie Parker Jamie Parker (born 14 August 1979) is an English actor and singer. He is best known for his role as Harry Potter in the original cast for the West End play ''Harry Potter and the Cursed Child'', for which he received a Laurence Olivier Award f ...
as Lieutenant
Werner von Haeften Werner Karl Otto Theodor von Haeften (9 October 1908 – 21 July 1944) was an Oberleutnant in the Wehrmacht who took part in the military-based conspiracy against Adolf Hitler known as the 20 July plot. Early life Haeften and his brother Hans ...
, an adjutant to von Stauffenberg who helps the colonel carry out the plot *
Eddie Izzard Edward John Izzard (; born 7 February 1962) is a British stand-up comedian, actor and activist. Her comedic style takes the form of what appears to the audience as rambling whimsical monologues and self-referential pantomime. Izzard's stand- ...
as General of Signal Corps
Erich Fellgiebel Fritz Erich Fellgiebel (4 October 1886 – 4 September 1944) was a German Army general of signals and resistance fighter in the 20 July plot to assassinate Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler. In 1929, Fellgiebel became head of the cipher bureau (german: C ...
, a German signals officer and plotter, responsible for communications at Hitler's bunker
Wolf's Lair The ''Wolf's Lair'' (german: Wolfsschanze; pl, Wilczy Szaniec) served as Adolf Hitler's first Eastern Front military headquarters in World War II. The headquarters was located in the Masurian woods, near the small village of Görlitz in Ostp ...
*
David Bamber David James Bamber (born 19 September 1954) is an English actor. He has worked in television and theatre. He is an Associate of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. Early years Bamber was born in Walkden, Lancashire. By September 1973, he was ...
as
Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
, the
Führer ( ; , spelled or ''Fuhrer'' when the Umlaut (diacritic), umlaut is not available) is a German word meaning "leader" or "guide". As a political title, it is strongly associated with the Nazi Germany, Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler. Nazi Germany ...
of Germany: During Bamber's audition for the role, Singer was struck by Bamber's eyes and stated that Bamber had a quality that resonated with Hitler. *
Thomas Kretschmann Thomas Kretschmann (; born 8 September 1962) is a German actor who has appeared in many European and American films. His notable roles include Lieutenant Hans von Witzland in '' Stalingrad'' (1993), Hauptmann Wilm Hosenfeld in '' The Pianist'' ( ...
as Major
Otto Ernst Remer Otto Ernst Remer (18 August 1912 – 4 October 1997) was a German ''Wehrmacht'' officer in World War II who played a major role in stopping the 20 July plot in 1944 against Adolf Hitler. In his later years he became a politician and far right act ...
, commanding officer of Großdeutschland guard battalion: Kretschmann was the original choice to play von Stauffenberg before Singer joined the production, when McQuarrie was intending to direct. *
Harvey Friedman __NOTOC__ Harvey Friedman (born 23 September 1948)Handbook of Philosophical Logic, , p. 38 is an American mathematical logician at Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. He has worked on reverse mathematics, a project intended to derive the axi ...
as Dr.
Joseph Goebbels Paul Joseph Goebbels (; 29 October 1897 – 1 May 1945) was a German Nazi politician who was the ''Gauleiter'' (district leader) of Berlin, chief propagandist for the Nazi Party, and then Reich Minister of Propaganda from 1933 to 19 ...
, Minister of Propaganda and a member of Hitler's inner circle *
Kenneth Cranham Kenneth Cranham (born 12 December 1944) is a Scottish film, television, radio and stage actor. Early life Cranham was born in Dunfermline, Fife, the son of Lochgelly-born Margaret McKay Cranham (née Ferguson) and Ronald Cranham, a London-born ...
as Field Marshal
Wilhelm Keitel Wilhelm Bodewin Johann Gustav Keitel (; 22 September 188216 October 1946) was a German field marshal and war criminal who held office as chief of the '' Oberkommando der Wehrmacht'' (OKW), the high command of Nazi Germany's Armed Forces, duri ...
, the head of the OKW and a member of Hitler's inner circle * Matthias Freihof as
Heinrich Himmler Heinrich Luitpold Himmler (; 7 October 1900 – 23 May 1945) was of the (Protection Squadron; SS), and a leading member of the Nazi Party of Germany. Himmler was one of the most powerful men in Nazi Germany and a main architect of th ...
, the head of the SS and a member of Hitler's inner circle *
Waldemar Kobus Waldemar Kobus (born 1966) is a German actor. Biography Kobus was born in Szczytno, Poland and, as an ethnic German, moved to Germany in 1970. From 1988 until 1991 he attended the Otto-Falckenberg-Schule school of performing arts in Munich, Ge ...
as
Wolf-Heinrich Graf von Helldorf Wolf-Heinrich Julius Otto Bernhard Fritz Hermann Ferdinand Graf von Helldorff (14 October 1896 – 15 August 1944) was an SA-''Obergruppenführer'', German police official and politician. He served as a member of the Landtag of Prussia during th ...
, chief of the Berlin police who pledges his and men's assistance in carrying out the plot *
Halina Reijn Halina Reijn (; born 10 November 1975) is a Dutch actress, writer and film director. Early life and education Halina Reijn was born on 10 November 1975 in Amsterdam, Netherlands, to Fleur ten Kate and Frank Volkert Reijn (1931-1986). Reijn's pa ...
as
Margarethe von Oven Margarethe von Oven (11 March 1904, Berlin – 5 February 1991, Göttingen) was a secretary in the Bendlerblock and an accomplice in the 20 July plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler. Early life Margarethe's parents were Prussian nobility. Her ...
, secretary in the Bendlerblock: Reijn co-starred with fellow Dutchwoman Carice van Houten in ''Black Book''. *
Werner Daehn Werner Daehn (born 14 October 1967) is a German actor, who has worked with Vin Diesel and Samuel L. Jackson in '' XXX'', with Jason Priestley in ''Colditz'' an ITV1 2005 miniseries, with Bill Pullman in '' Revelations'' and with Steven Seagal in ...
as Major
Ernst John von Freyend Ernst John von Freyend (25 March 1909 Ernst Jo ...
*
Tom Hollander Thomas Anthony Hollander (; born 25 August 1967) is an English actor. As a child Hollander trained with the National Youth Theatre and was later involved in stage productions as a member of the Footlights and was president of the Marlowe Soci ...
as Colonel
Heinz Brandt Heinz Brandt (11 March 1907 – 21 July 1944) was a German officer. During World War II he served as an aide to General Adolf Heusinger, the head of the operations unit of the General Staff. He may have inadvertently saved Adolf Hitler's life, ...
*
Bernard Hill Bernard Hill (born 17 December 1944) is an English actor. He is well recognized for playing King Théoden in ''The Lord of the Rings'' film trilogy, Captain Edward Smith in ''Titanic'', and Luther Plunkitt, the Warden of San Quentin Prison in the ...
as a general working with von Stauffenberg during the
Tunisian campaign The Tunisian campaign (also known as the Battle of Tunisia) was a series of battles that took place in Tunisia during the North African campaign of the Second World War, between Axis and Allied forces from 17 November 1942 to 13 May 1943. The ...
: While he is not named in the film, the 10th Panzer Division's commander while von Stauffenberg was serving with it was Lieutenant General Friedrich Freiherr von Broich. *
Ian McNeice Ian McNeice (born 2 October 1950) is an English film and television actor. He found fame portraying government agent Harcourt in the 1985 television series ''Edge of Darkness'', and went on to feature in popular films such as ''The Englishman ...
as the composite "Pompous General" who attempts to disrupt the coup headquarters: Though the general is not named in the film, McQuarrie and Alexander said the character was based on General
Joachim von Kortzfleisch Joachim Otto August Achatius von Kortzfleisch (3 January 1890 – 20 April 1945) was a German general in the Wehrmacht during World War II. As the commander of the Military District III (Berlin), he played a role in the failure of the attempted ...
, who tried to disrupt the coup in the same fashion. * Gerhard Haase-Hindenberg as
Hermann Göring Hermann Wilhelm Göring (or Goering; ; 12 January 1893 – 15 October 1946) was a German politician, military leader and convicted war criminal. He was one of the most powerful figures in the Nazi Party, which ruled Germany from 1933 to 1 ...
* Anton Algrang as
Albert Speer Berthold Konrad Hermann Albert Speer (; ; 19 March 1905 – 1 September 1981) was a German architect who served as the Minister of Armaments and War Production in Nazi Germany during most of World War II. A close ally of Adolf Hitler, he ...
* Helmut Stauss as judge
Roland Freisler Roland Freisler (30 October 1893 – 3 February 1945), a German Nazi jurist, judge, and politician, served as the State Secretary of the Reich Ministry of Justice from 1934 to 1942 and as President of the People's Court from 1942 to 1945. As ...
* Matthew Burton as Lieutenant General
Adolf Heusinger Adolf Bruno Heinrich Ernst Heusinger (4 August 1897 – 30 November 1982) was a German military officer whose career spanned the German Empire, the Weimar Republic, Nazi Germany and West Germany. He joined the German Army as a volunteer in 1915 ...
* Philipp von Schulthess as Major General Henning von Tresckow's aide: The actor is the grandson of
Claus von Stauffenberg Colonel Claus Philipp Maria Justinian Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg (; 15 November 1907 – 21 July 1944) was a German army officer best known for his failed attempt on 20 July 1944 to assassinate Adolf Hitler at the Wolf's Lair. Despite ...
. *
Chris Larkin Chris Larkin (born Christopher Stephens, 19 June 1967) is an English actor. Early life Born Christopher Larkin Stephens on 19 June 1967 in London, Larkin is the elder son of actors Dame Maggie Smith and Sir Robert Stephens. His younger brot ...
as Sergeant Helm
Patrick Wilson Patrick Joseph Wilson (born July 3, 1973) is an American actor and director. He began his career in 1995, starring in Broadway musicals. He received nominations for two Tony Awards for his roles in ''The Full Monty'' (2000–2001) and ''Oklahoma ...
was originally cast in ''Valkyrie'', but dropped out due to scheduling conflicts and other unspecified reasons.
Stephen Fry Stephen John Fry (born 24 August 1957) is an English actor, broadcaster, comedian, director and writer. He first came to prominence in the 1980s as one half of the comic double act Fry and Laurie, alongside Hugh Laurie, with the two starring ...
was also offered a role in the film but was unable to participate. Some of the non-German actors initially experimented with German accents, but Singer discarded the idea, instead instructing them to adopt neutral accents that " ouldn'tdistract from the story". Singer added he was not making a docu-drama and wanted to make the story engaging.


Production


Development

In 2002,
Christopher McQuarrie Christopher McQuarrie is an American filmmaker. He received the BAFTA Award, Independent Spirit Award, and Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for the neo-noir mystery film ''The Usual Suspects'' (1995). He made his directorial debut wi ...
visited
Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
while researching another project and visited the memorial to von Stauffenberg at the
Bendlerblock The Bendlerblock is a building complex in the Tiergarten district of Berlin, Germany, located on Stauffenbergstraße (formerly named ''Bendlerstraße''). Erected in 1914 as headquarters of several Imperial German Navy (''Kaiserliche Marine'') off ...
. Researching the 20 July plot, he was moved and fascinated by the fact that the conspirators were fully aware of what would happen if they failed their assassination attempt, and he wanted to make their story more well-known. He approached Nathan Alexander to co-write the film, and Alexander began researching the project. McQuarrie sought to model the story after the 2001 TV film ''
Conspiracy A conspiracy, also known as a plot, is a secret plan or agreement between persons (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder or treason, especially with political motivation, while keeping their agree ...
'', which depicted the Wannsee Conference at which the Nazis planned the
Final Solution The Final Solution (german: die Endlösung, ) or the Final Solution to the Jewish Question (german: Endlösung der Judenfrage, ) was a Nazi plan for the genocide of individuals they defined as Jews during World War II. The "Final Solution to th ...
. (Branagh, McNally and McNeice had all starred in ''Conspiracy''.) He also sought to direct the film, until he realized that adequate financing would only be secured with
Bryan Singer Bryan Jay Singer (born September 17, 1965) is an American filmmaker. He is the founder of Bad Hat Harry Productions and has produced almost all of the films he has directed. After graduating from the University of Southern California, Singer d ...
directing. After Singer completed the three major productions ''
X-Men The X-Men are a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, first appearing in Uncanny X-Men, ''The X-Men'' #1 by artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby and writer/editor Stan Lee in 1963. Although initially cancelled in ...
'' (2000), '' X2'' (2003) and ''
Superman Returns ''Superman Returns'' is a 2006 American superhero film directed by Bryan Singer and written by Michael Dougherty and Dan Harris (screenwriter), Dan Harris from a story by Singer, Dougherty and Harris based on the DC Comics character Superman. I ...
'' (2006), he sought a smaller project before embarking upon the eventually aborted sequel to ''Superman Returns''. Singer and McQuarrie had often made
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
films in their backyards while growing up in
New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
, and Singer had later dealt with Nazi subject matter in ''
Apt Pupil ''Apt Pupil'' (1982) is a novella by Stephen King, originally published in the 1982 novella collection ''Different Seasons'', subtitled "Summer of Corruption". Format of the story ''Apt Pupil'' consists of 30 chapters, many of which are headed ...
'' and ''X-Men''. Singer first learned of the plot in the early 1980s when his mother visited
Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr r ...
and met
Freya von Moltke Freya von Moltke (née Deichmann; 29 March 1911 – 1 January 2010) was a German American lawyer and participant in the anti-Nazi opposition group, the Kreisau Circle, with her husband, Helmuth James von Moltke. During World War II, her husba ...
, widow of Helmuth von Moltke, a founder of the
Kreisau Circle The Kreisau Circle (German: ''Kreisauer Kreis'', ) (1940–1944) was a group of about twenty-five German dissidents in Nazi Germany led by Helmuth James von Moltke, who met at his estate in the rural town of Kreisau, Silesia. The circle was com ...
resistance group. After learning of McQuarrie and Alexander's screenplay and signing on to direct ''Valkyrie'', Singer read ''
The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich ''The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany'' is a book by American journalist William L. Shirer in which the author chronicles the rise and fall of Nazi Germany from the birth of Adolf Hitler in 1889 to the end of World Wa ...
'' by
William L. Shirer William Lawrence Shirer (; February 23, 1904 – December 28, 1993) was an American journalist and war correspondent. He wrote ''The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich'', a history of Nazi Germany that has been read by many and cited in scholarly w ...
to gain deeper understanding of Nazi Germany's political landscape, and also met with one of Hitler's bodyguards,
Rochus Misch Rochus Misch (29 July 1917 – 5 September 2013) was a German ''Oberscharführer'' (sergeant) in the 1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler (LSSAH). He was badly wounded during the Polish campaign during the first month of World ...
, who was the last person to leave the bunker where Hitler committed suicide. The creative team acknowledged the ambiguity over the enigmatic von Stauffenberg's true motivation, but Singer and McQuarrie judged him to be a man of ethics just from what he did. Enter the main site and click "Navigation" to access. Though McQuarrie sought for ''Valkyrie'' to be similar to ''Conspiracy'', Singer had bigger ambitions for the film, wanting it to be more than "old men in rooms, talking". Singer looked back on his decision, saying, "The true story had all the makings of a classic assassination thriller. ... I knew if I could keep the audience with onStauffenberg, with his mission, they would go with the flow and be less inclined to start hypothesising on things from history." McQuarrie suggested they bring the project to
United Artists United Artists Corporation (UA), currently doing business as United Artists Digital Studios, is an American digital production company. Founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks, the studi ...
partners
Paula Wagner Paula Kauffman Wagner (born Paula Sue Kauffman) is an American film producer and film executive. Her most recent credits include the film ''Marshall'' starring Chadwick Boseman, Kate Hudson, Sterling K. Brown, and Josh Gad as well as the Broad ...
and
Tom Cruise Thomas Cruise Mapother IV (born July 3, 1962), known professionally as Tom Cruise, is an American actor and producer. One of the world's highest-paid actors, he has received various accolades, including an Honorary Palme d'Or and three Gol ...
, who immediately agreed to finance the film in March 2007. Singer invited Tom Cruise to take the lead role, which Cruise accepted. Cruise had been provided a picture of von Stauffenberg, in which the actor noticed a similarity in his profile with the German colonel, drawing him to the role. The director and the screenwriter initially anticipated ''Valkyrie'' as a "small" film with a budget of under US$20 million and to be completed within several months, but Cruise's interest in playing von Stauffenberg made Singer realize his involvement could broaden the film's publicity and therefore its budget. The film's budget was then raised to $60 million. The director considered calling the film ''Operation Valkyrie'', not wanting to use a generic
action film Action film is a film genre in which the protagonist is thrust into a series of events that typically involve violence and physical feats. The genre tends to feature a mostly resourceful hero struggling against incredible odds, which include life ...
title. The film's English-language title was ultimately titled ''Valkyrie'' because Singer felt that the film was about more than the operation and liked its connection to Wagner's music. Germany's Finance Ministry had originally denied the producers the right to film at Bendlerblock, explaining that the site should be treated as a "place of remembrance and mourning" which would "lose dignity if we were to exploit it as a film set". The producers were also denied a request to film at a Berlin police station by the department, citing adverse impact to the facility. The German government eventually had a change of heart concerning the Bendlerblock site and gave permission for filmmakers to film there. A United Artists spokesman said that they were "very grateful" for the decision, saying that the site " adalways been important to us symbolically, creatively and for the sake of historical authenticity" and that the company had been in continuous talks with the German government in order to clear up any misconceptions about the nature of the film. The
Memorial to the German Resistance The German Resistance Memorial Center (german: Gedenkstätte Deutscher Widerstand) is a memorial and museum in Berlin, capital of Germany. History It was opened in 1980 in part of the Bendlerblock, a complex of offices in Stauffenbergstrasse (fo ...
also helped filmmakers by permitting them access to their materials and documents. German military pageantry was shaped by referring to the recorded material and input from military advisers.


Writing

McQuarrie and Alexander researched first-hand accounts, photos, newsreels and texts. They also examined
Gestapo The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one organi ...
and SS records, as the organizations had been meticulous in reconstructing the events of the conspiracy in its aftermath. A timeline of events was created, from which McQuarrie and Alexander shaped the script. After production began in Berlin, the writers were able to visit locations and meet with relatives of the conspirators; these meetings informed changes made to the script during filming. The initial scenes of von Stauffenberg in
Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...
were written to provide historical context to the rest of the film. The scenes were written with the intention of communicating the complexity of the situation—including references to the
Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...
—without being too obvious. The writers also wanted to evoke the spirit of the resistance and convey the ongoing disgust of the German officers. McQuarrie and Alexander found the most difficult task was in conveying the motives of the conspirators; von Stauffenberg especially remained an enigma, though the writers believed he and the other resistance members to be propelled by their moral outrage. McQuarrie and Alexander attempted to include a scene of von Stauffenberg's witnessing an atrocity, but because he was a supply officer he had little exposure to many of those that occurred. Though he witnessed some—such as the starvation of the
Russians , native_name_lang = ru , image = , caption = , population = , popplace = 118 million Russians in the Russian Federation (2002 ''Winkler Prins'' estimate) , region1 = , pop1 ...
—they believed it difficult to dramatize von Stauffenberg's being compelled to action by "field reports". They also had difficulties with Hitler's portrayal; in researching
his speeches His or HIS may refer to: Computing * Hightech Information System, a Hong Kong graphics card company * Honeywell Information Systems * Hybrid intelligent system * Microsoft Host Integration Server Education * Hangzhou International School, in ...
, they struggled to find one in which he made overtly villainous statements.


Filming

Filming began on July 18, 2007, in
Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
. Production of ''Valkyrie'' was then estimated to have a budget of US$80 million, with two-thirds to be spent in Germany. The issued
The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists o ...
4.8 million (US $6.64 million) to United Artists to assist with production. The filmmakers received permission to film at
Tempelhof International Airport Berlin Tempelhof Airport (german: Flughafen Berlin-Tempelhof) was one of the first airports in Berlin, Germany. Situated in the south-central Berlin borough of Tempelhof-Schöneberg, the airport ceased operating in 2008 amid controversy, leav ...
's Columbia Haus, a former Nazi jail for political prisoners. Production also involved World War II planes with
swastika The swastika (卐 or 卍) is an ancient religious and cultural symbol, predominantly in various Eurasian, as well as some African and American cultures, now also widely recognized for its appropriation by the Nazi Party and by neo-Nazis. It ...
s painted on the sides, practicing in the airspace above
Brandenburg Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a states of Germany, state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an ar ...
. Around 70 sets were built for the film. The filmmakers also shot on location at the former
Reich Air Ministry Building The Detlev-Rohwedder-Haus (Detlev Rohwedder House) is a building in Berlin that, at the time of its construction, was the largest office building in Europe. It was constructed between February 1935 and August 1936 to house the German Ministry of ...
and the exterior of the house at which von Stauffenberg stayed with his brother. A replica set of Hitler's Eastern Front Headquarters
Wolf's Lair The ''Wolf's Lair'' (german: Wolfsschanze; pl, Wilczy Szaniec) served as Adolf Hitler's first Eastern Front military headquarters in World War II. The headquarters was located in the Masurian woods, near the small village of Görlitz in Ostp ...
was constructed south of Berlin, though the headquarters' actual location was in modern-day northeastern Poland. It took twelve weeks to build. Filming took place in some of the houses that were used to hide the bombs in 1944. The interior of Hitler's
Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...
n residence Berghof was replicated using film shot by Hitler's consort
Eva Braun Eva Anna Paula Hitler (; 6 February 1912 – 30 April 1945) was a German photographer who was the longtime companion and briefly the wife of Adolf Hitler. Braun met Hitler in Munich when she was a 17-year-old assistant and model for his ...
and designing models of furniture possessed by secretive collectors. The production also made use of surviving Nazi relics, including furniture used by the
Reich Air Ministry The Ministry of Aviation (german: Reichsluftfahrtministerium, abbreviated RLM) was a government department during the period of Nazi Germany (1933–45). It is also the original name of the Detlev-Rohwedder-Haus building on the Wilhelmstrasse ...
and objects that once adorned Hitler's desk.
Nazi symbols The 20th-century German Nazi Party made extensive use of graphic symbols, especially the ''swastika'', notably in the form of the swastika flag, which became the co-national flag of Nazi Germany in 1933, and the sole national flag in 1935. A ...
, the display of which is heavily restricted in Germany, were used at several locations; while the filmmakers gave forewarning to local residents, a passerby witnessing the use of
swastika The swastika (卐 or 卍) is an ancient religious and cultural symbol, predominantly in various Eurasian, as well as some African and American cultures, now also widely recognized for its appropriation by the Nazi Party and by neo-Nazis. It ...
s during filming in Berlin filed an official complaint with the city. Similar charges were filed against the owners of sites set up to show Nazi displays for the film's production. Filming also took place at
Babelsberg Studios Babelsberg Film Studio (german: Filmstudio Babelsberg), located in Potsdam-Babelsberg outside Berlin, Germany, is the second oldest large-scale film studio in the world only preceded by the Danish Nordisk Film (est. 1906), producing films since ...
. During filming on August 19, 2007, eleven people were hurt when the side panel of a truck they were riding broke, with one person requiring hospitalization. They demanded $11 million in compensation, rejecting a settlement offered by the studio. Before filming the scene of von Stauffenberg's execution at Bendlerblock, Tom Cruise led the cast and crew in holding a
moment of silence A moment of silence (also referred to as a minute's silence or a one-minute silence) is a period of silent contemplation, prayer, reflection, or meditation. Similar to flying a flag at half-mast, a moment of silence is often a gesture of ...
"out of respect for the place and out of respect for the life achievement of these people who were executed there", according to actor
Christian Berkel Christian Berkel (born 28 October 1957) is a German actor. He is known for his appearances in '' Downfall'' (2004), ''Valkyrie'' (2008), ''Inglourious Basterds'' (2009) and ''The Man from U.N.C.L.E.'' (2015). Life and career Berkel was born on 2 ...
. After filming of the scene was completed, the footage was sent to be developed for the post-production process at a processing plant in Germany. The wrong chemical was accidentally used in development, damaging the film and requiring the crew to seek permission from the government to re-shoot the scenes. Permission was granted and a spokesman for the film indicated the schedule and budget had not been affected. Singer and cinematographer
Newton Thomas Sigel Newton Thomas Sigel, (born August 1955; sometimes credited as Tom Sigel) is an American cinematographer best known for his collaborations with director Bryan Singer on films like ''The Usual Suspects, Valkyrie,'' and the ''X-Men'' film franchi ...
chose different styles for the separate halves of the film. Elegant camerawork such as cranes were used for the build-up to the attempt on Hitler's life, while the second half is frantic with handheld cinematography as the plotters are hunted down. The colors in the film also become more intense as the story continues. Sigel focused on red, the color of the Nazi flag, which he felt represented the violence of their ideology. Singer looked towards thrillers of the 1940s and home movies shot by Eva Braun for inspiration. Shooting scenes at night was difficult because presenting the era accurately required blackouts. Sigel noted that, in real life, car headlights were used for the firing squad to aim at and execute the plotters in the Bendlerblock. Singer chose to shoot in 1:85 aspect ratio and, since filming took place in Germany, the director used
Arri The Arri Group () is a German manufacturer of motion picture film equipment. Based in Munich, the company was founded in 1917. It produces professional motion picture cameras, lenses, lighting and post-production equipment. Hermann Simon menti ...
flex cameras with
Zeiss Zeiss or Zeiß may refer to: People *Carl Zeiss (1816–1888), German optician and entrepreneur *Emil Zeiß (1833–1910), German Protestant minister and painter Companies *Carl Zeiss AG, German manufacturer of optics, industrial measurem ...
lenses. One Ju-Air Junkers JU-52, registration HB-HOT, which crashed near
Piz Segnas Piz Segnas is a mountain in the Glarus Alps, located on the border between the cantons of Glarus and Graubünden. Piz Sardona is on the same ridge to the north, from where the Trinserhorn or Piz Dolf lies to the southeast. The Tschingelhoerner ...
in the Swiss Alps on 4 August 2018, had been used for the filming. The
Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...
battle sequence that opened the film was the last major sequence filmed. The filmmakers wanted to avoid the appearance that von Stauffenberg wanted to kill Hitler because of the injuries he suffered in the battle. They began a rough cut in October 2007 and, between then and June 2008, there were several test screenings without the battle sequence. By June 2008, the filmmakers felt that they knew how to adequately frame the characters when filming the battle sequence. Singer scouted
Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...
and
Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...
for locations, but the candidates did not meet the aesthetic and economic criteria. The Cougar Buttes desert in
California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
was ultimately chosen to represent Tunisia. Since the production budget was adjusted to provide visual effects to make von Stauffenberg's injuries realistic, not enough was left for solely computer-generated fighter planes. Singer instead used two P-40 Warhawks in the battle sequence. The budget increased in the course of production due to the filming in Germany, the rebuilding of sets, and lost shooting days, but German tax rebates tempered the growth. The studio reported its final production budget to be $75 million, but competing studios believed it to be closer to $90 million.


Visual effects

The film's
visual effects Visual effects (sometimes abbreviated VFX) is the process by which imagery is created or manipulated outside the context of a live-action shot in filmmaking and video production. The integration of live-action footage and other live-action foota ...
were created by
Sony Pictures Imageworks Sony Pictures Imageworks Inc. is a Canadian visual effects and computer animation studio headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia, with an additional office on the Sony Pictures Studios lot in Culver City, California. SPI is a unit of Sony Pi ...
, who collaborated with Bryan Singer on ''Superman Returns''. The company's two key goals were to accurately portray von Stauffenberg's injuries and to create a 1943 period look to Berlin. With many explosions and stunts seen in the film performed practically, the majority of the 800 computer-generated effects shots were used to portray von Stauffenberg's injuries. A digital version of Cruise's hand was designed, and technicians
rotoscoped Rotoscoping is an animation technique that animators use to trace over motion picture footage, frame by frame, to produce realistic action. Originally, animators projected photographed live-action movie images onto a glass panel and traced ov ...
the hand in every movement it could make so the missing fingers were erased in the process. With many close-ups of von Stauffenberg's hand with missing fingers, the injuries were textured to look like actual scars, particularly based on surgical procedures from 1943. Cruise asked for advice on how to best move his hands so visual effects would be easier to apply, but some challenges, such as von Stauffenberg getting dressed on his own, were inescapable. According to supervisor
Richard R. Hoover Richard R. Hoover is a visual effects artist noted for his work on ''Armageddon'', ''Superman Returns'' and ''Blade Runner 2049''. Bio Hoover earned a fine arts degree from the University of Oregon in 1980. Oscar Nominations Both are in the ca ...
, "We know from historical accounts that von Stauffenberg didn't stick his hands in his pockets to try and hide his injuries." For the battle sequence in North Africa, two real
Curtiss P-40 The Curtiss P-40 Warhawk is an American single-engined, single-seat, all-metal fighter and ground-attack aircraft that first flew in 1938. The P-40 design was a modification of the previous Curtiss P-36 Hawk which reduced development time and ...
Kittyhawks in
Desert Air Force The Desert Air Force (DAF), also known chronologically as Air Headquarters Western Desert, Air Headquarters Libya, the Western Desert Air Force, and the First Tactical Air Force (1TAF), was an Allied tactical air force created from No. 204 ...
paint schemes were used, accompanied by cloned images of them or by computer-generated planes. In scenes showing squadrons of soldiers, digital extras were not used; instead, photography of real squadrons was cloned. Sony Pictures Imageworks also digitally expanded details on stage locations and at practical locations. The exterior of Hitler's Bavarian residence Berghof was digitally created, since little was left of the original structure, and the creation was superimposed on a shot of a ski area in
Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
. In Berlin itself, city officials helped reduce the need for visual effects by removing power poles and modern lighting over the weekend when filming took place and restoring the equipment by the start of the new week. There was widespread questioning in some corners of the press as to whether, in order to make himself look more muscular and of ample girth, Cruise had employed butt pads during filming. The star eventually addressed and denied the suppositions.


Editing and scoring

As with his previous collaborations with Bryan Singer on ''
The Usual Suspects ''The Usual Suspects'' is a 1995 neo-noir mystery thriller film directed by Bryan Singer and written by Christopher McQuarrie. It stars Stephen Baldwin, Gabriel Byrne, Benicio del Toro, Kevin Pollak, Chazz Palminteri, Pete Postlethwaite, and ...
'', ''
Superman Returns ''Superman Returns'' is a 2006 American superhero film directed by Bryan Singer and written by Michael Dougherty and Dan Harris (screenwriter), Dan Harris from a story by Singer, Dougherty and Harris based on the DC Comics character Superman. I ...
'' and '' X2'', editor-composer
John Ottman John Ottman (born July 6, 1964) is an American film composer and editor. He is best known for collaborating with director Bryan Singer, composing and/or editing many of his films, including '' Public Access'' (1993), ''The Usual Suspects'' (1995 ...
edited the film without a
temp track A temp track is an existing piece of music or audio which is used during the editing phase of television and film production, serving as a guideline for the tempo, mood or atmosphere the director is looking for in a scene. It is also referred to as ...
, noting if the film was working well without music, it was becoming a strong product. Since ''Valkyrie'' drew its inspirations from previous World War II films like '' The Great Escape'' (1963), ''
Where Eagles Dare ''Where Eagles Dare'' is a 1968 war film directed by Brian G. Hutton and starring Richard Burton, Clint Eastwood and Mary Ure. It follows a joint British-American Special Operations Executive team of paratroopers raiding a castle (shot on lo ...
'' (1968), ''
Patton George Smith Patton Jr. (November 11, 1885 – December 21, 1945) was a General (United States), general in the United States Army who commanded the Seventh United States Army in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations, Mediterranean Theater ...
'' (1970), and '' Midway'' (1976), filmmakers initially had a cut where
title cards In films, an intertitle, also known as a title card, is a piece of filmed, printed text edited into the midst of (i.e., ''inter-'') the photographed action at various points. Intertitles used to convey character dialogue are referred to as "dial ...
introduced characters and their roles. When the cut was test screened with an American audience, the title cards were removed due to complaints that there were too many characters to follow. He said the challenge on ''Valkyrie'' was to create tension from dialogue scenes, and he often reshaped scenes to do this: moments rather than whole scenes were cut from the film. Being historically accurate meant Ottman was more restricted in reorganizing scenes, but he was able to choose what lines and close-ups he could focus on. Ottman said the scene he was most saddened to delete, because he had been looking forward to scoring it, was one where von Stauffenberg dances with his wife. Ottman originally planned for a minimal score to ''Valkyrie'', but found that despite the film's dialogue-heavy nature, the film needed music to create a thriller atmosphere. He described the new approach as similar to his work in ''The Usual Suspects'' where "in order to keep the tension going in a scene where there's really a lot of dialogue, we had to rely on a lot of score", but the score is done in a "pulsating, subliminal way" and not an "expository score", but more like a "running pulse going through the movie". He excluded
snare drum The snare (or side drum) is a percussion instrument that produces a sharp staccato sound when the head is struck with a drum stick, due to the use of a series of stiff wires held under tension against the lower skin. Snare drums are often used ...
s or
trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...
s, in the
percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...
and
brass Brass is an alloy of copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn), in proportions which can be varied to achieve different mechanical, electrical, and chemical properties. It is a substitutional alloy: atoms of the two constituents may replace each other with ...
-led music, which are the changes made by Singer and Ottman, before scoring. He had to compose music for the North African battle before the scene was shot, because booking space to record film music is difficult. Although he found that composing music based on the script results in overlong pieces, he felt the music worked out fine for the sequence. The film's end credits piece, "They'll Remember You", is an original composition, though the lyrics were based on the poem "
Wanderer's Nightsong "Wanderer's Nightsong" (original German title: "") is the title of two poems by the German poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Written in 1776 ("") and in 1780 (""), they are among Goethe's most famous works. Both were first edited together in his 18 ...
" by German poet
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as trea ...
. An end piece entitled "Long Live Sacred Germany" was inspired by
Adagio for Strings ''Adagio for Strings'' is a work by Samuel Barber, arguably his best known, arranged for string orchestra from the second movement of his String Quartet, Op. 11. Barber finished the arrangement in 1936, the same year that he wrote the quarte ...
. Ottman described the original version of the track as a "three minute drone that I slowed down with these two Tuvan throat singers, the whole thing was this horribly dark, morbid piece
hich Ij ( fa, ايج, also Romanized as Īj; also known as Hich and Īch) is a village in Golabar Rural District, in the Central District of Ijrud County, Zanjan Province, Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also ...
left you cold". He further composed a metallic motif for Hitler, which was formed by low strings and a piano
cluster may refer to: Science and technology Astronomy * Cluster (spacecraft), constellation of four European Space Agency spacecraft * Asteroid cluster, a small asteroid family * Cluster II (spacecraft), a European Space Agency mission to study t ...
.


German response to production

In June 2007, prior to production, a German Defence Ministry spokesperson said that filming of ''Valkyrie'' would not be allowed at the country's military sites if protagonist Colonel
Claus von Stauffenberg Colonel Claus Philipp Maria Justinian Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg (; 15 November 1907 – 21 July 1944) was a German army officer best known for his failed attempt on 20 July 1944 to assassinate Adolf Hitler at the Wolf's Lair. Despite ...
was portrayed by
Tom Cruise Thomas Cruise Mapother IV (born July 3, 1962), known professionally as Tom Cruise, is an American actor and producer. One of the world's highest-paid actors, he has received various accolades, including an Honorary Palme d'Or and three Gol ...
, due to the actor's adherence to
Scientology Scientology is a set of beliefs and practices invented by American author L. Ron Hubbard, and an associated movement. It has been variously defined as a cult, a business, or a new religious movement. The most recent published census data indi ...
, which is considered a dangerous
cult In modern English, ''cult'' is usually a pejorative term for a social group that is defined by its unusual religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals, or its common interest in a particular personality, object, or goal. This ...
by the German authorities. The spokesperson further indicated that the ministry had not at that time received official filming requests from ''Valkyrie''s producers. Colonel Stauffenberg's eldest child, retired Bundeswehr general
Berthold Maria Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg Berthold Maria Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg (born 3 July 1934) is a German retired Bundeswehr general. Early in his career, he commanded Germany's largest military base. At the time of his retirement in 1994 he was Germany's longest serving sold ...
, also voiced concerns over Cruise's portrayal of his father, saying that he would not oppose the film's production, but hoped that Cruise would drop the role. "I fear that only terrible
kitsch Kitsch ( ; loanword from German) is a term applied to art and design that is perceived as naïve imitation, overly-eccentric, gratuitous, or of banal taste. The avant-garde opposed kitsch as melodramatic and superficial affiliation with ...
will come out of the project. It's bound to be rubbish," he said. "Cruise should keep his hands off my father." Later in the month, the ministry reversed its stance and welcomed production of ''Valkyrie''. The initial controversy reportedly stemmed from German member of parliament Antje Blumenthal, an authority on cults for the Christian Democratic Union and well-known opponent of Scientology, who had claimed that the German Defence Minister had assured her that the film would not be shot in the country. In addition, Cruise's affiliation with Scientology was also criticized by junior politicians such as Rudolf Köberle, the state secretary for interior issues in the state of
Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a ...
. Thomas Gandow, a spokesperson for the
German Protestant Church The Evangelical Church in Germany (german: Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland, abbreviated EKD) is a federation of twenty Lutheran, Reformed (Calvinist) and United (e.g. Prussian Union) Protestant regional churches and denominations in Germany ...
, said Cruise's involvement in the film would "have the same propaganda advantages for Scientology as the
1936 Olympics 1936 Olympics may refer to: *The 1936 Winter Olympics, which were held in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany *The 1936 Summer Olympics The 1936 Summer Olympics (German: ''Olympische Sommerspiele 1936''), officially known as the Games of the XI ...
had for the Nazis" and compared the actor to Nazi propaganda minister
Joseph Goebbels Paul Joseph Goebbels (; 29 October 1897 – 1 May 1945) was a German Nazi politician who was the ''Gauleiter'' (district leader) of Berlin, chief propagandist for the Nazi Party, and then Reich Minister of Propaganda from 1933 to 19 ...
. The film subsequently found local support in Germany. Director
Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck Florian Maria Georg Christian Graf Henckel von Donnersmarck (; born 2 May 1973) is an Academy Award-winning German and Austrian film director. He is best known for writing and directing the 2006 dramatic thriller ''Das Leben der Anderen (The L ...
saw that Cruise's involvement would promote awareness of a neglected story, and veteran German actor
Armin Mueller-Stahl Armin Mueller-Stahl (born 17 December 1930) is a retired German film actor, painter and author, who also appeared in numerous English-language films since the 1980s. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role i ...
also gave his support to the production. A grandson of Colonel von Stauffenberg, who appeared in the film as an assistant, hailed Cruise's professionalism and indicated that most of his family were curious to see the finished product. In September 2007, when the Defence Ministry initially denied permission for filming at the
Bendlerblock The Bendlerblock is a building complex in the Tiergarten district of Berlin, Germany, located on Stauffenbergstraße (formerly named ''Bendlerstraße''). Erected in 1914 as headquarters of several Imperial German Navy (''Kaiserliche Marine'') off ...
memorial, support for the film came in from German newspaper columnists and filmmakers, including director
Wolfgang Petersen Wolfgang Petersen (14 March 1941 – 12 August 2022) was a German film director, screenwriter, and producer. He was nominated for two Academy Awards for the World War II submarine warfare film ''Das Boot'' (1981). His other films include ''The Ne ...
and
Frank Schirrmacher Frank Schirrmacher (5 September 1959 – 12 June 2014) was a German journalist, literature expert and essayist, writer, and from 1994 co-publisher of the national German newspaper ''Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung''. Education After studying G ...
, journalist and co-publisher of the ''
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung The ''Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung'' (; ''FAZ''; "''Frankfurt General Newspaper''") is a centre-right conservative-liberal and liberal-conservativeHans Magnus Enzensberger: Alter Wein in neuen Schläuchen' (in German). ''Deutschland Radio'', ...
''. Schirrmacher visited the set and agreed that the film would advance global awareness of the German Resistance. Ultimately granting access to the Bendlerblock after reviewing the script, the Defence Ministry said it showed that "barbarism didn't triumph but led to the founding of a democratic Germany". Ursula Caberta, who is in charge of a German government office which monitors Scientology, was disappointed in the ministry's decision, saying, "Tom Cruise sa figurehead of an anti-constitutional organization, and he should be treated that way." A spokesperson for Scientology in Berlin, Sabine Weber, said in August 2007 that she was "shocked" by German politicians' criticisms, adding that it was a "call to discrimination" against someone based on their religious beliefs. In the same month, Cruise suggested to his critics that they see the film before denouncing it. In October 2007, fellow ''Valkyrie'' actor
Kenneth Branagh Sir Kenneth Charles Branagh (; born 10 December 1960) is a British actor and filmmaker. Branagh trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London and has served as its president since 2015. He has won an Academy Award, four BAFTAs (plus t ...
said that the issue had been "largely exaggerated" and that the German official who initially incited the complaints contacted the production one week into filming to apologise, after reading the script and realising he had misinterpreted the film's plot. In November 2007, the head of the
German Resistance Memorial Centre The German Resistance Memorial Center (german: Gedenkstätte Deutscher Widerstand) is a memorial and museum in Berlin, capital of Germany. History It was opened in 1980 in part of the Bendlerblock, a complex of offices in Stauffenbergstrasse (fo ...
warned against any potential "myth formation" around von Stauffenberg as a result of the film, urging that any understanding of the Colonel must also be informed by the fact that he had been loyal to the Nazi cause for most of his military career. In the same month Cruise was given a
Bambi ''Bambi'' is a 1942 American animated drama film directed by David Hand (supervising a team of sequence directors), produced by Walt Disney and based on the 1923 book ''Bambi, a Life in the Woods'' by Austrian author and hunter Felix Salten. ...
courage award, presented by German media company
Hubert Burda Media Hubert Burda Media Holding is a German media group with headquarters in Offenburg. It originated as a small printing business, founded by Franz Burda Snr in Philippsburg, in 1903. In 1986, the corporate group was divided up between Franz Jnr, ...
, "for tackling a story that had never been covered by Hollywood before". Klaus Berg of the ''Hamburg Chronicle'' noted that "... It is a well-known cliche that American film makers prefer to provide their audiences with a
happy ending A happy ending is an ending of the plot of a work of fiction in which almost everything turns out for the best for the main protagonists and their sidekicks, while the main villains/antagonists are dead/defeated. In storylines where the protagon ...
. Here, a viewer with even the most superficial and rudimentary knowledge of the history of the Second World War and of the National Socialist Regime would know from the very outset that a happy ending is out of the question, that all the protagonists' efforts and plans are doomed to end in bitter failure. Knowing this, I was surprised to realize how deeply I was caught up in the tension of the plot, how desperately I was hoping against hope that Cruise and his fellows would after all succeed. ... No, not for one minute during the entire film did I think about Scientology."


Marketing

''Valkyrie'' was intended to be a high-profile film that would jump-start
United Artists United Artists Corporation (UA), currently doing business as United Artists Digital Studios, is an American digital production company. Founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks, the studi ...
, the host studio partly owned by Tom Cruise and Paula Wagner. Pressure was placed on ''Valkyrie'' to do well since an earlier United Artists film featuring Cruise, ''
Lions for Lambs ''Lions for Lambs'' is a 2007 American war drama film directed by Robert Redford about the connection between a platoon of United States soldiers in Afghanistan, a U.S. senator, a reporter, and a Californian college professor. It stars Redford, ...
'', performed poorly in the box office, and the studio's planned production of
Oliver Stone William Oliver Stone (born September 15, 1946) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. Stone won an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay as writer of '' Midnight Express'' (1978), and wrote the gangster film remake '' Sc ...
's '' Pinkville'' was canceled. The film changed release dates multiple times. It was originally slated to be released on August 8, 2008, then moved up earlier to June 27, 2008. The film was then held off to October 3, 2008, to avoid competition from ''
WALL-E ''WALL-E'' (stylized with an interpunct as ''WALL·E'') is a 2008 American computer-animated science fiction film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It was directed and co-written by Andrew Stanton, pro ...
'' and '' Wanted'', and to enable the late filming of the North African battle sequence. The October date was also originally chosen to increase the film's chances of awards success. In April 2008, the release date was pushed back to February 13, 2009, with the studio citing the early fall schedule as too crowded with Academy Award prospects. ''Valkyrie'' would have taken advantage of the lucrative
President's Day Presidents' Day, also called Washington's Birthday at the federal governmental level, is a holiday in the United States celebrated on the third Monday of February to honor all persons who served as presidents of the United States and, since 1879 ...
weekend, after '' The Wolfman'' and ''
The Pink Panther 2 ''The Pink Panther 2'' is a 2009 American comedy-mystery film directed by Harald Zwart. It is the eleventh installment in ''The Pink Panther'' film series and the sequel to the 2006 film ''The Pink Panther'', a reboot of the popular comedy series. ...
'' were moved from this date. In July 2008, United Artists president of worldwide marketing Dennis Rice was replaced by Michael Vollman, who was tasked to develop a marketing strategy for the "troubled" ''Valkyrie'', which had been "battered by constant media sniping". Under Vollman, by August 2008, the release date was changed to December 26, 2008, with reports citing commercial reasons for the move after a successful test screening. (The film was ultimately released on Christmas Day, December 25, 2008.) The release date was before the end of December, which "crucially" helped the film with a home distribution deal with the subscription channel
Showtime Showtime or Show Time may refer to: Film * ''Showtime'' (film), a 2002 American action/comedy film * ''Showtime'' (video), a 1995 live concert video by Blur Television Networks and channels * Showtime Networks, a division of Paramount Global w ...
. In the same month of August, Paula Wagner left her position with the studio during the film's post-production. The changing release date for ''Valkyrie'' drew criticism about the viability of United Artists, and the studio aimed to combat the criticism leading up to the film's eventual release. In addition, the first theatrical trailer, released early in 2008, received "mixed buzz" over Tom Cruise's portraying von Stauffenberg with an American accent. The trade paper ''
Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' described the trailer as "dour and ... like it was selling a talky stage play with a cast of old British actors". Images of Tom Cruise as Colonel von Stauffenberg that surfaced during filming were widely ridiculed. Terry Press, a marketing consultant with the studio, said that ''Valkyrie'' had been wrongly labeled as "the Tom Cruise eye-patch movie". As the December release date approached, United Artists launched a campaign to reform public perception of the film, downplaying the role of Tom Cruise as a German war hero and instead pitching ''Valkyrie'' as "a character-driven suspense thriller". The new campaign also played up the reputation of director Bryan Singer, who had directed the thrillers ''
The Usual Suspects ''The Usual Suspects'' is a 1995 neo-noir mystery thriller film directed by Bryan Singer and written by Christopher McQuarrie. It stars Stephen Baldwin, Gabriel Byrne, Benicio del Toro, Kevin Pollak, Chazz Palminteri, Pete Postlethwaite, and ...
'' (1995) and ''
Apt Pupil ''Apt Pupil'' (1982) is a novella by Stephen King, originally published in the 1982 novella collection ''Different Seasons'', subtitled "Summer of Corruption". Format of the story ''Apt Pupil'' consists of 30 chapters, many of which are headed ...
'' (1998). Terry Press urged foregoing an awards campaign for the film; Cruise agreed with the consultant, while Singer was disappointed about the decision. Instead, the studio focused on audience appeal in a competitive time frame in late December. A second theatrical trailer and a new poster were unveiled in October 2008 by United Artists to renew ''Valkyries viability with audiences and accolades. The poster was designed to have flashy graphics and to emulate the posters from the war films '' The Great Escape'' (1963) and ''
The Dirty Dozen ''The Dirty Dozen'' is a 1967 American war film directed by Robert Aldrich and starring Lee Marvin with an ensemble supporting cast including Ernest Borgnine, Charles Bronson, Jim Brown, John Cassavetes, Richard Jaeckel, George Kennedy, Ralph M ...
'' (1967) in having a team as a central visual. The team element was based on market research from the studio's focus groups who indicated that they liked Cruise as "a character leading a group of people toward solving a problem". The new trailer accentuated action, and was widely considered an improvement over the first trailer. An internal MGM memo reported the reception of the trailer by online communities to be "significantly favorable" compared to the previous trailer. The studio sought two demographic quadrants: males over 35 years old as well as younger males. Since United Artists reported that the film cost $75 million to make and that $60 million was spent on marketing, the studio faced high financial stakes. The film also tested the determination of its distributor
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by amazon (company), Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded o ...
and the mettle of Cruise as a superstar.


Release


Theatrical run

Prior to ''Valkyrie''s December 2008 release, concern was raised about how the film would be received in the holiday season due to its Nazi subject matter, along with related films ''
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas ''The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas'' is a 2006 Holocaust novel by List of Irish novelists, Irish novelist John Boyne. Much like the process he undertakes when writing most of his novels, Boyne has said that he wrote the entire first draft in two ...
'', ''
The Reader ''The Reader'' (german: Der Vorleser) is a novel by German law professor and judge Bernhard Schlink, published in Germany in 1995 and in the United States in 1997. The story is a parable, dealing with the difficulties post-war German generations ...
'', ''
Defiance Defiance may refer to: Film, television and theatre * ''Defiance'' (1952 film), a Swedish drama film directed by Gustaf Molander * ''Defiance'' (1980 film), an American crime drama starring Jan-Michael Vincent * ''Defiance'' (2002 film), a ...
'' and ''
Good In most contexts, the concept of good denotes the conduct that should be preferred when posed with a choice between possible actions. Good is generally considered to be the opposite of evil and is of interest in the study of ethics, morality, ph ...
''. ''
Advertising Age ''Ad Age'' (known as ''Advertising Age'' until 2017) is a global media brand that publishes news, analysis, and data on marketing and media. Its namesake magazine was started as a broadsheet newspaper in Chicago in 1930. ''Ad Age'' appears in mul ...
'' wrote during the
economic crisis of 2008 The Great Recession was a period of marked general decline, i.e. a recession, observed in national economies globally that occurred from late 2007 into 2009. The scale and timing of the recession varied from country to country (see map). At t ...
, "The depressing state of the economy and an alarmingly low level of understanding of the Holocaust among American youth point to a tough road for such serious fare." ''Valkyrie'' opened on Christmas Day, December 25, 2008, in 2,711 theaters in the United States and Canada. The film grossed an estimated $8.5 million for the opening day. In the four-day holiday weekend, ''Valkyrie'' grossed an estimated $30 million, ranking fourth at the box office with $7,942 per theater. Pamela McClintock of ''Variety'' cited the weekend performance as "a victory for United Artists and MGM"; Gitesh Pandya of ''
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
'' said the haul represented a "big hit" for the studio. Studio research revealed that audiences averaged 55% male and 66% over 25. Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Media By Numbers, said that the weekend gross "totally robs the nay-sayers of their ability to deem it a flop", believing that Cruise's comic performance in the previous summer's ''
Tropic Thunder ''Tropic Thunder'' is a 2008 satirical action comedy film directed by Ben Stiller, who wrote the screenplay with Justin Theroux and Etan Cohen. The film stars Stiller, Jack Black, Robert Downey Jr., Jay Baruchel, and Brandon T. Jackson as a gro ...
'' helped audiences embrace the star again. Dergarabedian also ascribed the better-than-expected performance to the studio's marketing of ''Valkyrie'' as a thriller film. Since Cruise was collecting a salary of $20 million against 20% of the backend (revenue gathered after the completion of a film) and MGM/UA investment was capped at $60 million, United Artists sold the film to several foreign territories to make money back. The
Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
an premiere was held at the
Potsdamer Platz Potsdamer Platz (, ''Potsdam Square'') is a public square and traffic intersection in the center of Berlin, Germany, lying about south of the Brandenburg Gate and the Reichstag (German Parliament Building), and close to the southeast corne ...
in
Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
on January 20, 2009. ''Valkyrie'' commercially opened in over a dozen territories outside the United States and Canada on the weekend of January 23, 2009, including a premiere in Germany on January 22. The film ranked first in the international box office, grossing over $13 million. It placed first in Germany, Australia, and the Netherlands and placed second in the United Kingdom, Austria and South Korea. ''Valkyrie''s highest-grossing territory was Germany, where it earned $3.7 million from 689 locations, averaging $5,311 per screen. The German opening was considered "a chart-topping yet unspectacular start", barely edging out ''
Twilight Twilight is light produced by sunlight scattering in the upper atmosphere, when the Sun is below the horizon, which illuminates the lower atmosphere and the Earth's surface. The word twilight can also refer to the periods of time when this il ...
'', which opened three weeks before.
BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadca ...
reported that the premiere of the film has renewed the topic of the
German Resistance German resistance can refer to: * Freikorps, German nationalist paramilitary groups resisting German communist uprisings and the Weimar Republic government * German resistance to Nazism * Landsturm, German resistance groups fighting against France d ...
among the German populace. The film opened in 13 additional territories on the weekend of January 30, including Russia and Spain. With 3,600 screenings in 26 markets, the film grossed $18.6 million to maintain its top placement at the international box office for a second weekend in a row. Spain was its highest-grossing territory with $2.8 million, followed by Germany with $2.3 million, the United Kingdom with $2 million, and $1.9 million in Italy. As of April 13, 2009, the film has grossed $83,079,000 in the United States and Canada and an estimated $117,198,951 in other territories for a worldwide gross of $200,276,784.


Anti-Scientology protests

When ''Valkyrie'' premiered in
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
on December 15, 2008, it was shown in a private screening room at the
Time Warner Center Deutsche Bank Center (also One Columbus Circle and formerly Time Warner Center) is a mixed-use building on Columbus Circle in Manhattan, New York City. The building occupies the western side of Columbus Circle and straddles the border between ...
, rather than at a Lincoln Square theater. The venue was chosen in part to minimize the exposure to Scientology protesters gathered at the Time Warner Center. While the US "red carpet" was held in private, Cruise interacted with fans in South Korea and Europe. There were small anti-Scientology protests at the European premiere in Berlin, where Cruise signed one protester's
Guy Fawkes mask The Guy Fawkes mask (also known as the ''V for Vendetta'' mask or Anonymous mask) is a stylised depiction of Guy Fawkes (the best-known member of the Gunpowder Plot, an attempt to blow up the House of Lords in London on 5November 1605) created by ...
. Anti-Scientology protests also occurred at the
London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
premiere, and
Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...
where Scientologists in the crowd engaged the protesters. The
NTV NTV may refer to: Television * NTV (Bangladesh), a Bengali-language satellite television channel in Bangladesh * NTV (India), Telugu regional channel * NTV (Kenya) * NTV (Mongolia), a television channel based in Mongolia * NTV (Newport Television) ...
news report about the January 26
Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
premiere noted that journalists had to sign a document promising not to ask questions about Scientology, and their questions would be censored; to this, the reporter remarked, "You can't help getting reminded of those historic times depicted in ''Operation Valkyrie''." In Germany, authorities and politicians expressed concern that if the film was successful, it would boost Scientology in the country. German politician Michael Brand encouraged his deputies to boycott ''Valkyrie'', saying that Scientology pursued "totalitarian goals". Germany's Agency for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), which monitors the presence of Scientology in the country, expressed concern about the film's impact. An anonymous BfV official said, "These Scientologists have two goals in Germany ... to get their message to children, and make their organization respectable. The film does both: it has put a top Scientologist at the center of a national debate about German history." In January 2009, Cruise appeared in the highly popular German-Swiss-Austrian TV show, ''
Wetten, dass (; German for "''Wanna bet, that..?''") is a German-language Saturday entertainment television show. It is the largest and most successful television show in Europe. Its format was the basis for the British show ''You Bet!'' and the American sho ...
.'' Cruise had already left the show, when German comedian
Michael Mittermeier Michael Fritz Mittermeier (born 3 April 1966) is a German comedian. Early life Mittermeier was born in Dorfen, Upper Bavaria. During his childhood he lived in Bavaria. After school he studied theatre. Career In 1996, Mittermeier started th ...
said: "In an interview, Tom Cruise claimed that he would have killed Hitler, too. To me, it would be sufficient if he had killed the ''Führer'' of Scientology." Prior to the show, members of the Christian Democratic
Junge Union The Junge Union Deutschlands (''Young Union of Germany'') or JU is the joint youth organisation of the two conservative German political parties, CDU and CSU. Membership is limited to individuals between 14 and 35 years of age. Junge Union clai ...
protested against the broadcaster for being uncritical about Scientology.


Home media

''Valkyrie'' was released on DVD and Blu-ray on May 19, 2009, in three configurations: a single DVD edition, a two-DVD set, and a Blu-ray version. Valkyrie opened at #2 on the DVD sales chart, selling 844,264 units translating to revenue of $14,816,833. According to the latest figures, 1,631,011 units have been sold, bringing in $27,042,657 in revenue.


Reception

The movie website
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
gave the film an approval rating of 62%, based on 196 reviews, with an
average rating In ordinary language, an average is a single number taken as representative of a list of numbers, usually the sum of the numbers divided by how many numbers are in the list (the arithmetic mean). For example, the average of the numbers 2, 3, 4, 7 ...
of 6.19/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Given the subject matter, ''Valkyrie'' could have been an outstanding historical thriller, but settles for being a mildly entertaining, but disposable yarn." At
Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
, which assigns a normalized rating to reviews from mainstream critics, the film has received an average score of 56 out of 100, based on 36 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". In the United States, the film received mixed reviews from critics, however in Germany, there were different reports about how ''Valkyrie'' was received. ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' wrote, "It has been greeted with a measured and hospitable reception in Germany, where it was once viewed with suspicion." The trade paper ''
Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' reported that despite the controversy over Cruise's ties to Scientology, "initial reviews have been positive, with many observers now hailing Cruise and predicting the pic will even improve the country's image abroad." ''
Der Spiegel ''Der Spiegel'' (, lit. ''"The Mirror"'') is a German weekly news magazine published in Hamburg. With a weekly circulation of 695,100 copies, it was the largest such publication in Europe in 2011. It was founded in 1947 by John Seymour Chaloner ...
'' said that the film and its supporting actors were praised, but that Cruise was panned by German critics for "a surprisingly low-key performance that fails to convey the charisma with which Stauffenberg inspired fellow plotters". The AFP also said that the German critics "savaged Tom Cruise's portrayal" of von Stauffenberg, yet "relished a homegrown hero getting the Hollywood treatment".


American critics

Joe Morganstern wrote in ''
The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
'', "Mr. Cruise's performance turns out to be brisk and reasonably plausible, though unexceptional, while the production as a whole succeeds as an elaborate procedural, impressively staged in historical locations."
Manohla Dargis Manohla June Dargis () is an American film critic. She is one of the chief film critics for ''The New York Times''. She is a five-time finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism. Career Before being a film critic for ''The New York Times'', ...
of ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' thought that Cruise gave "a fine, typically energetic performance in a film that requires nothing more of him than a profile and vigor" but that von Stauffenberg was too complex a character to adequately portray in a film designed as a thriller. Dargis also wrote of the director's excess, "Though Mr. Singer's old-fashioned movie habits, his attention to the gloss, gleam and glamour of the image, can be agreeably pleasurable, he tends to gild every lily," citing as an example the "spooky music" and "low camera angles" in the meeting between Hitler and von Stauffenberg.
Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...
of the ''
Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago T ...
'' also found Cruise "perfectly satisfactory, if not electrifying, in the leading role", believing that the portrayal fit the "veterans of officer rank" that would not panic under fire; Ebert recognizes that "Singer ... works heroically to introduce us to the major figures in the plot, to tell them apart, to explain their roles and to suggest their differences." Writing in ''Time'',
Richard Schickel Richard Warren Schickel (February 10, 1933 – February 18, 2017) was an American film historian, journalist, author, documentarian, and film and literary critic. He was a film critic for ''Time'' magazine from 1965–2010, and also wro ...
said, "I'm not going to argue that Valkyrie is a great movie. But in its way it is a thoughtful and entertaining one, especially in comparison with the pomp and pretentiousness of most of the competition this holiday season."
Ty Burr Ty Burr (born August 17, 1957) is an American film critic, columnist, and author who currently writes a film and popular culture newsletter "Ty Burr's Watchlist" on Substack. Burr previously served as film critic at ''The Boston Globe'' for two ...
of ''
The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...
'' described the film: "It's a smooth, compelling, almost suspenseful ... and slightly hollow Hollywood period piece—a World War II action-drama in which an intriguing (but not electrifying) star performance is buttressed by stellar support." Burr analyzed Cruise's performance: "... his Claus von Stauffenberg is an honorable conception that's ultimately too thin to fully rise up from the pages of history. This story deserves to be told, but for reasons best known to himself, the star has latched onto a strictly
Nietzschean Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) developed his philosophy during the late 19th century. He owed the awakening of his philosophical interest to reading Arthur Schopenhauer's ''Die Welt als Wille und Vorstellung'' (''The World as Will and Repres ...
interpretation that he rides into the ground." Claudia Puig of ''
USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...
'' thought of Cruise as "unconvincing and stiff as the disenchanted" von Stauffenberg. She felt that the film started slowly and that "even during scenes of intense action, the visually slick production is only minimally engrossing". She concluded of the film's overall pace, "The action becomes more engrossing during the film's second half, but one expects more depth and nuance, given its pedigree."
Anthony Lane Anthony Lane is a British journalist who is a film critic for ''The New Yorker'' magazine. Career Education and early career Lane attended Sherborne School and graduated with a degree in English from Trinity College, Cambridge, where he also ...
of ''
The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...
'' wrote, " ruisecarries the movie, although, once you dig beneath the uniform, there isn't much for him to get a handle on; the fascination with Stauffenberg resides in what he did, not in who he was." Lane thought that there was "too much"
character acting A character actor is a supporting actor who plays unusual, interesting, or eccentric characters.28 April 2013, The New York Acting SchoolTen Best Character Actors of All Time Retrieved 7 August 2014, "..a breed of actor who has the ability to ...
of the British veteran actors and felt of the casting of Nighy, Stamp, and Wilkinson, "These men are meant to be battle-toughened Nazi officers, but what we get is an array of discreetly amusing studies in mild neurosis."
Todd McCarthy Todd McCarthy (born February 16, 1950) is an American film critic and author. He wrote for ''Variety'' for 31 years as its chief film critic until 2010. In October of that year, he joined ''The Hollywood Reporter'', where he subsequently served ...
of ''
Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' wrote that ''Valkyrie'' "has visual splendor galore, but is a cold work lacking in the requisite tension and suspense". McCarthy considered Cruise as "a bit stiff but still adequate" as von Stauffenberg. The critic believed that McQuarrie's script was well-carpentered but felt that compressing and streamlining the events to make a known failed plot more thrilling lacked a "sufficient sizzle into the dialogue or individuality into the characters". McCarthy missed "many of the interesting personal and political nuances pertaining to these men" that were not detailed. He thought that the production design by Lilly Kilvert and Patrick Lumb stood out, that Newton Thomas Sigel's cinematography had a "restrained elegance", and that John Ottman performed well in his dual role as editor and composer. A similar sentiment was stated by Mike LaSalle in the ''
San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. de ...
'', who wrote "There's nothing inherently laughable about the spectacle of Tom Cruise with an eye patch and a missing hand, strutting around in a German colonel's uniform. But neither is there anything about him that truly suggests Claus von Stauffenberg, leader of the 1944 conspiracy to decapitate the Nazi government and stage a coup d'etat. Think of ''Valkyrie'' as a reasonably entertaining drama about the time Tom Cruise tried to kill Hitler. Do that, and it becomes possible to enjoy the movie.


German critics

Despite differences over the quality of the film, critics were in agreement that the film had drawn attention to von Stauffenberg's cause. It was applauded "both as a history lesson and as a film". Tobias Kniebe of the ''
Süddeutsche Zeitung The ''Süddeutsche Zeitung'' (; ), published in Munich, Bavaria, is one of the largest daily newspapers in Germany. The tone of SZ is mainly described as centre-left, liberal, social-liberal, progressive-liberal, and social-democrat. History ...
'' described the film as "maybe not the masterpiece we might have dreamed of ... but not much less", a sentiment shared by many German critics. The public-service German television channel
ZDF ZDF (, short for Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen; ; "Second German Television") is a German public-service television broadcaster based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. It is run as an independent nonprofit institution, which was founded by all fe ...
called ''Valkyrie'' "neither scandalously bad nor the event of the century. ... Neither is it the action thriller we feared, but it is a well-made and serious film." The newspaper ''Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger'' reported that any fear that the "myth of the
German resistance German resistance can refer to: * Freikorps, German nationalist paramilitary groups resisting German communist uprisings and the Weimar Republic government * German resistance to Nazism * Landsturm, German resistance groups fighting against France d ...
would be put through a Hollywood filter has turned out to be wrong and prejudicial". Other critics thought that Tom Cruise did not "make the grade" as a German war hero. The film critic for ''
Der Tagesspiegel ''Der Tagesspiegel'' (meaning ''The Daily Mirror'') is a German daily newspaper. It has regional correspondent offices in Washington D.C. and Potsdam. It is the only major newspaper in the capital to have increased its circulation, now 148,000, s ...
'' wrote, " ruise'simage as an actor has been finally ruined by ''Valkyrie'' ...
he film He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' in ...
doesn't dare to be popcorn cinema and at the same time lacks any conceptual brilliance." Hanns-Georg Rodek of ''
Die Welt ''Die Welt'' ("The World") is a German national daily newspaper, published as a broadsheet by Axel Springer SE. ''Die Welt'' is the flagship newspaper of the Axel Springer publishing group. Its leading competitors are the ''Frankfurter Allg ...
'' reported of Cruise's performance, "He comes over best as an American hero, someone who battles for respect with aggression and energy. But Stauffenberg was a German hero, with aristocratic bearing, and Cruise cannot carry that off." The ''
Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung The ''Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung'' (; ''FAZ''; "''Frankfurt General Newspaper''") is a centre-right conservative-liberal and liberal-conservativeHans Magnus Enzensberger: Alter Wein in neuen Schläuchen' (in German). ''Deutschland Radio'', ...
'' said Cruise's performance was "credible", and reserved praise for the authenticity of the dubbed
German-language German ( ) is a West Germanic language mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and official or co-official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and the Italian province of South Tyrol. It is also a c ...
version of the film over the original.


Accolades

''Valkyrie'' was nominated by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films for seven
Saturn Award The Saturn Awards are American awards presented annually by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films. The awards were created to honor science fiction, fantasy, and horror in film, but have since grown to reward other films be ...
s: Best Action/Adventure/Thriller Film,
Best Director Best Director is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organizations, festivals, and people's awards. It may refer to: Film awards * AACTA Award for Best Direction * Academy Award for Best Director * BA ...
for
Bryan Singer Bryan Jay Singer (born September 17, 1965) is an American filmmaker. He is the founder of Bad Hat Harry Productions and has produced almost all of the films he has directed. After graduating from the University of Southern California, Singer d ...
,
Best Actor Best Actor is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organizations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actors in a film, television series, television film or play. The term most often refers to th ...
for
Tom Cruise Thomas Cruise Mapother IV (born July 3, 1962), known professionally as Tom Cruise, is an American actor and producer. One of the world's highest-paid actors, he has received various accolades, including an Honorary Palme d'Or and three Gol ...
, Best Supporting Actor for
Bill Nighy William Francis Nighy (; born 12 December 1949) is an English actor. Nighy started his career with the Everyman Theatre, Liverpool and made his London debut with the Royal National Theatre starting with ''The Illuminatus! Trilogy, The Illuminatu ...
, Best Supporting Actress for
Carice van Houten Carice Anouk van Houten () is a Dutch actress and singer (born 5 September 1976 in Leiderdorp). Her first leading role in the television film '' Suzy Q'' (1999) won her the Golden Calf for Best Acting in a Television Drama; two years later, she ...
,
Best Music Best or The Best may refer to: People * Best (surname), people with the surname Best * Best (footballer, born 1968), retired Portuguese footballer Companies and organizations * Best & Co., an 1879–1971 clothing chain * Best Lock Corporation ...
for
John Ottman John Ottman (born July 6, 1964) is an American film composer and editor. He is best known for collaborating with director Bryan Singer, composing and/or editing many of his films, including '' Public Access'' (1993), ''The Usual Suspects'' (1995 ...
and Best Costume Design for
Joanna Johnston Joanna Johnston is an English costume designer who has worked extensively in film, particularly in the United States. She is especially known for her collaborations with Steven Spielberg and Robert Zemeckis. Life and career Initially, Johnston ...
. The film was nominated by the
Visual Effects Society Awards The Visual Effects Society (VES) is an entertainment industry organization representing visual effects practitioners including artists, animators, technologists, model makers, educators, studio leaders, supervisors, PR/marketing specialists and p ...
in the category of Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Feature Motion Picture.


Historical accuracy

The
Gestapo The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one organi ...
investigated the 20 July plot thoroughly, so filmmakers had access to much documentation as they integrated the historical account with "Hollywood factors" in producing ''Valkyrie''. Peter Hoffmann, professor of history at
McGill University McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter granted by King George IV,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill Universit ...
and a leading authority on the
German Resistance German resistance can refer to: * Freikorps, German nationalist paramilitary groups resisting German communist uprisings and the Weimar Republic government * German resistance to Nazism * Landsturm, German resistance groups fighting against France d ...
, was a consultant for the filmmakers. Hoffmann spoke of the film's accuracy, " 'Valkyrie''gives a fundamentally accurate portrait of Stauffenberg and the conspirators. There are details which must be counted as liberties. But, fundamentally, the film is decent, respectful and represents the spirit of the conspiracy." ''
The Scotsman ''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until August 2004. Its par ...
'' reported of the film's accuracy, "''Valkyrie'' ... sticks pretty closely to the story of the failed conspiracy to topple the Nazi regime ... it implies that the plot came closer to success than it really did. But the basic facts are all present and correct." While von Stauffenberg listens to
Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...
's "
Ride of the Valkyries The "Ride of the Valkyries" (german: Walkürenritt Ritt der Walküren, links=no) refers to the beginning of act 3 of ''Die Walküre'', the second of the four operas constituting Richard Wagner's ''Der Ring des Nibelungen''. As a separate piece ...
" in the film, in reality the colonel hated Wagner. In addition, von Stauffenberg's elder brother Berthold was also omitted from the film. Bryan Singer purposely left out some of von Stauffenberg's "macho" moments in writing the character, such as the colonel's refusal of morphine to avoid addiction. He explained the removals, "There were things I actually left out because I knew people would think we were making them up ... imagine Tom Cruise saying 'No morphine!' People would think it's a contrivance." In the film, von Haeften steps out in front of von Stauffenberg when he faces the firing squad, but when filmmakers attempted to reconstruct the scene based on eyewitness testimony and photographs, they discovered that the shots that killed von Haeften would also have killed von Stauffenberg, who was actually shot shortly after. Therefore, director Singer had only two members of the firing squad fire, without command, to kill von Haeften but not Stauffenberg. This attempt to explain why Stauffenberg was not killed by the shots that killed von Haeften is speculative but not impossible. Another alteration was to the portrayal of
Carl Friedrich Goerdeler Carl Friedrich Goerdeler (; 31 July 1884 – 2 February 1945) was a monarchist conservative German politician, executive, economist, civil servant and opponent of the Nazi regime. He opposed some anti-Jewish policies while he held office and was ...
, played in the film by
Kevin McNally Kevin Robert McNally (born 27 April 1956) is an English actor and writer. He is known for portraying Joshamee Gibbs in the ''Pirates of the Caribbean'' film series. Early life Born in Bristol, McNally spent his early years in Birmingham, att ...
. Goerdeler was written in the film to be antagonistic, dramatically representing the friction and conflict that existed within the conspiracy, though filmmakers considered him a "much more moral character" in reality. One significant historical alteration, made to avoid confusion with the audience and also to "set the stage" at the Wolf's Lair, was changing the location of the first aborted assassination attempt to kill Hitler on July 11. Historically, Stauffenberg first attempted to use his briefcase bomb at Berchtesgaden. In the film, this attempt is set inside Hitler's concrete bunker at the Wolf's Lair. Meanwhile, the Berchtesgaden affair is downgraded to a brief scene in which Hitler meets with Stauffenberg to approve a revised plan for Operation Valkyrie (in reality, the Valkyrie updates occurred over a period of several weeks at meetings between Hitler and General Olbricht). Producer Christopher McQuarrie later stated that the shift of the first assassination attempt to the Wolf's Lair was in order to show the audience the inside of the concrete command bunker, with the intent being to emphasize that Hitler most certainly would have been killed had the July 20th attempt not been moved to the outdoor conference hut. British novelist
Justin Cartwright Justin James Cartwright (20 May 1943 – 3 December 2018) was a British novelist, originally from South Africa. Biography Cartwright was born in Cape Town, South Africa, but grew up in Johannesburg where his father was the editor of the ''Ran ...
, who wrote the book ''The Song Before It Is Sung'' about one of the plot's conspirators, wrote, "The film is true to most of the facts of the plot, but fails to convey any sense of the catastrophic moral and political vortex into which Germans were being drawn." Though not depicted, but briefly mentioned in the film, von Stauffenberg was persuaded to become involved in the plot by his uncle, Nikolaus Graf von Üxküll-Gyllenband and his uncle's good friend,
Fritz-Dietlof von der Schulenburg Fritz-Dietlof Graf von der Schulenburg (5 September 1902 – 10 August 1944) was a German government official and a member of the German Resistance in the 20 July Plot against Adolf Hitler. Personal development Schulenburg was born in Londo ...
, who were both disenchanted with the Nazis and appalled by the atrocities in the concentration camps. The film also did not explore von Stauffenberg's philosophy and background, which Cartwright felt fit the German tradition of ''Dichter und Helden'' ("poets and heroes"). Cartwright described how von Stauffenberg was an appropriate leader for the plot: "He was the man who unmistakably wore the mantle of a near-mystic German past, a warrior Germany, a noble Germany, a poetic Germany, a Germany of myth and longing." The novelist felt that Cruise's portrayal was more akin to one as a "troublesome cop". Cartwright also noted that the film did not raise the question of what kind of Germany von Stauffenberg had in mind if the plot succeeded. They did not mention or include the popular Field Marshal
Erwin Rommel Johannes Erwin Eugen Rommel () (15 November 1891 – 14 October 1944) was a German field marshal during World War II. Popularly known as the Desert Fox (, ), he served in the ''Wehrmacht'' (armed forces) of Nazi Germany, as well as servi ...
. He was implicated in the plot and was later forced to kill himself because he knew about the plot but did not warn Hitler. In 2018 it was discovered through previously unknown papers that Rommel did in fact support the plot and even supported killing Hitler, contrary to previous accounts that stated he knew about the plot but did not support it unless Hitler was arrested and tried with due process, not assassination. Historian Peter Steinbach has criticized especially the negative portrayals of some of the conspirators. According to Steinbach the movie depicts Goerdeler in a "hurtful and irresponsible way". Also the characterisation of Olbricht is "downright degrading", as it downplays Olbricht's important role in the plot. The movie portrays the non-military resistance as "quarreling, burnt out and powerless". Actually the military conspirators were not aiming at a military coup d'état but wanted to open up room for politicians. On the other hand, Stauffenberg is shown as being driven by the persecution and murdering of the Jews. But in reality, the Holocaust was the primary motive for only a few conspirators.


See also

*
List of American films of 2008 This is a list of American films released in 2008. Box office The highest-grossing American films released in 2008, by domestic box office gross revenue, are as follows: January–March April–June July–September October–D ...


References


External links

* * * * * {{Authority control 2000s political thriller films 2008 films 20th Century Fox films American political thriller films Babelsberg Studio films Bad Hat Harry Productions films Casting controversies in film Cruise/Wagner Productions films English-language German films Film controversies in Germany Films about Nazis Films about assassinations Films about the 20 July plot Films directed by Bryan Singer Films produced by Bryan Singer Films scored by John Ottman Political controversies in film Films set in 1944 Films set in Berlin Films set in Germany Films set in Tunisia Films shot in California Films shot in Germany Films with screenplays by Christopher McQuarrie Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films Scientology-related controversies in film Thriller films based on actual events United Artists films Films about coups d'état World War II films based on actual events Cultural depictions of Adolf Hitler Cultural depictions of Hermann Göring Cultural depictions of Albert Speer Cultural depictions of Heinrich Himmler Cultural depictions of Joseph Goebbels Films produced by Gilbert Adler 2000s American films Films about capital punishment