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For many, the idea of Tom Cruise playing a former Nazi-with-a-conscience might be difficult to stomach. However, in the lead role as Claus von Stauffenberg, the instigator and brains behind the failed attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler (dubbed Operation Valkyrie), Cruise manages to disappear behind his SS uniform (and blinding smile), leaving audiences engrossed in this well-crafted thriller.
On a cold afternoon in Manhattan, Cruise sits in the ballroom of the Regency Hotel with his fellow cast-mates to promote the movie. Suitably solemn given the material at hand, Cruise says, "It's a subject matter that has always fascinated and horrified me. As a child, I remember seeing documentaries about World War II, the Holocaust, and Nazi Germany. And most definitely to know that these people existed, the German Resistance, validated what I innately have always felt."
Directed and produced by Bryan Singer (Superman Returns, X-Men), Cruise is backed by a heavyweight ensemble, a primarily British cast including: Kenneth Branagh, Bill Nighy, Tom Wilkinson, Eddie Izzard, Terence Stamp and Jamie Parker, most of whom are as well-versed in World War II atrocities as they are Shakespeare. German actors Thomas Kretschmann and Christian Berkel are also present today, and the only woman in the cast, Dutch actress Carice van Houten, sits in as well.
The story behind the anti-Hitler conspiracy is not common knowledge. Says Izzard, "I'm somewhat encyclopaedic on World War II so I knew about this story, but I didn't know the details. So I was grateful to be included in the cast and think it's an important story that needs to be told." The screenplay was penned by Christopher McQuarrie (The Usual Suspects) who underwent an intensive research process to find out about Stauffenberg's complicated life.
"To me, Chris did a bang-on job. Between us, I don't think there is anything we don't know. And because Tom is the lead, the world will see this story, which is very good for people to know, that some German people stood up in a very difficult situation. They risked and lost their lives," Izzard says.
Singer took his homework seriously: "I always love the research process and meeting historians. We didn't debate moral issues, we just got information."
Valkyrie was shot mainly in Berlin including the Benderblock - the military headquarters of Operation Valkyrie. There was much hysteria at the time of filming, and in pre-production. Kretschmann, who plays Otto Ernst Remer, a major player in stopping the plot to kill Hitler, says, "I think at the beginning of the shoot, people were freaking out a little bit that Hollywood comes over to Germany and messes around with one of their heroes in a Hollywood way. There were concerns."
Singer adds, "It wasn't just Tom, but the idea that the director of X-Men or Superman Returns was going there to maybe pervert it in some way and make it into some kind of action movie and disregard the history. I think that thought might have entered certain people's minds."
Despite a slew of Nazi revival World War II movies pouring into the theatres: Defiance, Good, and The Reader, with Valkyrie, Nazi Germany acts as the movie's backdrop and not its entire subject matter. To Cruise's credit, he gives a subtle performance and doesn't over-act. There's no Born On the Fourth of July Hollywood performance here that the Germans were anxious about.
The alleged $90 million budget is up there on the screen. Singer ensured the sets were as authentic as possible, the uniforms were genuine, even some of the furniture was from Hitler's bunker, the swastikas and various artefacts were from collectors and museums, including pieces that were actually on Hitler's desk. The realistic environment had a profound effect on the cast.
Says Branagh, "One morning with Bill [Nighy], we were filming at end of this huge gymnasium with massive ceilings, the swastikas were up, there were about 300 lads in German uniforms. I pushed the swing doors open and there was Bill at the end of the corridor, but everything else was 1944. It was absolutely terrifying because everything was completely and utterly convincing and powerful and sort of overwhelming. There were lots of moments in the film where the reality that Bryan and everybody created meant that you couldn't see any of the make-believe."
Jamie Parker nods, explaining, "I'm not one for getting all hocus pocus about channelling energy and weirdness like that; but it was an exceptional atmosphere. And I have to say, for me, Bill Nighy [playing Friedrich Olbricht] is one of the warmest-hearted and unfazed people I've ever met. To see him suddenly, violently, taken down in front of a firing squad was horrendous."
Needless to say, the ending is no mystery. However, Singer manages to craft a worthy suspenseful thriller. Says Cruise, "When the story is good, it doesn't matter whether you know the ending or not. We know how Titanic ends, still we all enjoy seeing it again and again, and I think it will be the case with this movie. We tested it with audiences and they found themselves absorbed."
Lowdown
What: Valkyrie, starring Tom Cruise
When and Where: Opens at cinemas today.
