30/18

Dietrich Bonhoeffer: We have no defense against stupidity

Story

As the world teeters on the brink of destruction, Dietrich Bonhoeffer joins a deadly plot to assassinate Hitler, risking his faith and his fate to save millions of Jews from genocide. Actor Niemoeller August Diehl previously played an SS Gestapo officer in Inglourious Basterds (2009) and a German citizen resisting conscription into the German army in The Hidden Life (2019).

Reasoning is of no use

Neither protest nor force can touch it. Facts that contradict personal prejudices can simply be disbelieved – indeed, a fool can counter them by criticizing them, and if they are undeniable, they can simply be dismissed as trivial exceptions.

It felt complete, leaving the viewer heavy but satisfied

This captured the moral complexity of real life and the high cost of doing the right thing admirably. Despite criticism that the writers took too much liberties with the timeline, the changes worked well to steer the film’s pace and keep the main point.

8/10 – this is much better than the print

The acting was strong and the writing good, despite a few (just a few) clichéd lines that still fit the moment. The actor playing Bonhoeffer avoided the cliché of the perfect hero and showed the frailty of a man suffering for a hopeless cause.