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Bonhoeffer (film)

Film by Todd Komarnicki From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Bonhoeffer (film)
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Bonhoeffer (released as Bonhoeffer: Pastor. Spy. Assassin.) is a 2024 historical drama thriller film about the German theologian and anti-Nazi dissident Dietrich Bonhoeffer, written, produced and directed by Todd Komarnicki. It stars Jonas Dassler, August Diehl, David Jonsson, Flula Borg, Moritz Bleibtreu, and Clarke Peters.

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The film was released in the United States on November 22, 2024. It attracted some controversy regarding political interpretations and historical inaccuracies.

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Plot

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In 1914, eight-year-old Dietrich Bonhoeffer is playing a game of hide-and-seek with his older brother Walter, at their home in Breslau, Germany. Walter announces his decision to enlist in the army to his family and leaves for service shortly after. Walter is killed in combat in 1918 and the family attends his funeral.

Years later, Bonhoeffer is a theology student in the U.S.; while in the country, he grows closer to African-American Baptists, including a fellow student named Frank, which influences his spiritual outlook and religious beliefs. Back in Germany, Bonhoeffer's family grows wary of the Nazi Party's growing power, including their influence in Germany's churches. Bonhoeffer is sternly opposed to the Nazi's changes in the churches, viewing them as sacrilegious.

Bonhoeffer starts an underground seminary in Finkenwalde for training Confessing Church pastors. In April 1943 he was arrested by the Gestapo and imprisoned at Tegel Prison. Later, he was transferred to Flossenbürg concentration camp.

Bonhoeffer was accused of being associated with the 20 July plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler. He was hanged in 1945 during the collapse of the Nazi regime.

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Cast

Historical inaccuracies

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The film portrays Bonhoeffer leading a jazz band in a Harlem nightclub and being physically assaulted in a racially charged incident. While Bonhoeffer did attend the Abyssinian Baptist Church during his time in New York and was influenced by African American spirituals, there is no evidence that he performed in jazz clubs or experienced such confrontations. These scenes appear to be fictionalized to emphasize his opposition to racism.

The film portrays Martin Niemöller as initially privately, but not publicly, opposed to Nazism. In reality, he initially supported Adolf Hitler's rise to power. In the early 1930s, he sympathized with many Nazi ideas and supported radically right-wing political movements. Certain events are depicted out of their historical sequence. For instance, the film presents Martin Niemöller's famous post-war confession during the Nazi era, which is historically inaccurate. Such chronological liberties can mislead viewers about the actual timeline of events.

The film suggests that the Confessing Church, under Bonhoeffer's leadership, operated as an underground resistance movement against the Nazis. In reality, while the Confessing Church opposed the Nazification of German Protestant churches, it was not a clandestine resistance group. Its primary focus was on maintaining theological integrity rather than orchestrating political resistance.

A pivotal scene shows Bonhoeffer renouncing his pacifist beliefs, which suggests a complete abandonment of his commitment to nonviolence. Historically, Bonhoeffer grappled with the moral implications of resisting Hitler, but he did not categorically renounce his pacifism. He viewed participation in the resistance as a complex moral decision, acknowledging the ethical dilemmas involved.

The film depicts Dietrich Bonhoeffer as a central figure in the conspiracies to assassinate Hitler, including scenes of him actively planning and discussing bomb plots. In reality, while Bonhoeffer was aware of and morally supported the resistance efforts, his direct involvement in assassination planning is not substantiated. His primary contributions were through his theological opposition to Nazism and his involvement in the Confessing Church.

The film changes the location of where Bonhoeffer was hanged. In the film, he was hanged outside of an abandoned school, but in reality, he was hanged in the Flossenbürg concentration camp. He also was naked when hanged, something also changed in the film, which depicted him clothed.

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Production

In 2018, Komarnicki discussed shooting the film, then titled God's Spy, describing it as a "profound and pretty untold story of heroism from World War II."[4]

In January 2023, Jonas Dassler was confirmed in the role of Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Flula Borg, David Jonsson, August Diehl, and Moritz Bleibtreu were confirmed as cast. Cinematographer John Mathieson and production designer John Beard were also revealed to be on board the project.[5]

Principal photography took place in Ireland in locations such as counties Limerick,[6] Clare and Tipperary,[7] and St Fin Barre's Cathedral in Cork.[8][9] Filming also took place in Belgium, in Brussels, Liege,[10] and Spa.[11] According to Variety filming wrapped before March 2023.[12]

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Release

In November 2023, Angel Studios acquired worldwide rights to the film, which had been retitled from God's Spy to Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Spy, Assassin.[13] It was released in the United States on November 22, 2024.[14]

Reception

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Box office

Bonhoeffer made $2.3 million from 1,900 theaters on its first day, and went on to debut to $5.5 million, finishing in fourth.[15] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.[16]

Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 65% of 43 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.5/10. The website's consensus reads: "Bonhoeffer more or less gets the job done as a righteous thriller, but its glossy treatment of history flattens this remarkable true story into a formulaic matinee."[17] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 43 out of 100, based on 4 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.[18]

In a positive review, Joe Leydon of Variety wrote, "If it had been released just two years ago, Bonhoeffer might have come across as simply the latest in a long line of respectable but predictable period dramas about brave Germans who dared to stand up to the Nazi regime. Today, however, the movie feels more like an uncomfortably timely cautionary tale with unsettling echoes of current events."[19]

Controversy

Bonhoeffer caused controversy before its release. In addition to numerous historical inaccuracies and misleading marketing, the film was accused of promoting viewpoints of the Christian right, including conspiracy theories.[20][21][22] In the German weekly Die Zeit, experts on Bonhoeffer, including presidents of the International Bonhoeffer Society and the publishers of Bonhoeffer's work in German and English, accuse the movie of abusing Bonhoeffer's life in order to promote Christian nationalism.[21] The film's slogan "How far will you go to stand up for what's right?" is not a question Bonhoeffer asked, they write. On the same page of Die Zeit Bonhoeffer's grandnephew Tobias Korenke calls ads for the film that depict Bonhoeffer holding a pistol an outrageous reversal of history.[23][24][25]

Director, writer, and producer of the film, Todd Komarnicki, has asserted that the many accusations made against the film are false, and that the film is at its heart a distinctly anti-fascist film.[26] The International Bonhoeffer Society released a statement in which several actors involved, including Jonas Dassler, August Diehl and David Jonsson, condemned the film's appropriation by Christian nationalists.[27] The signatories criticised the misuse of Bonhoeffer's life and legacy by right-wing extremists.[28]

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References

External links

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