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In an impossible time, it takes impossible courage.
As the world teeters on the brink of annihilation, Dietrich Bonhoeffer joins a deadly plot to assassinate Hitler, risking his faith and fate to save millions of Jews from genocide.
CinemaSerf
Mar 12, 2025 · via TMDB
Dietrich Bonhoeffer (Jonas Dassler) is a pacifist pastor who is furious at the acquiescence of the German church with the rise of the Naziism and the establishment of the puppet “Reichskirche”. Unlike many, though, he is prepared to use his position in the pulpit and preach to anyone who will listen of the folly of this plan. Needless to say, this doesn’t go down well and so he has to spend a lot of time out of the country whilst many of those left behind fall victim to persecution. That absence has it’s uses, though, as he hopes to galvanise opinion in both the USA and the UK - a task all the harder when his forebodings fall largely on deaf or unwilling ears. It’s when his colleagues come up with a plan to assassinate their Führer that the threads of his multi-timeline story and his life start to come together and we realise just how perilous his position is when he finally returns to his homeland. The is a true story of a man who dared to fight back in the face of overwhelming odds, indifference and fear - but sadly I just found Dassler didn’t, well, dazzle. Even at his most animated, his characterisation was underwhelming and contributory to this looking more like a high-end television movie rather than an enlightening story of courage and, to a certain extent, faith. The ensemble cast do well enough, but again there isn’t really an anchor role to give it the necessary gravitas either within the church, or amongst his allies. Even Churchill is presented as lacklustre. Bonhoeffer was a jazz lover and that does give us an excuse to indulge in the odd bit of toe-tapping, and the whole story is a savage indictment of complicity when the state gets up on it’s hind legs and mobilises the militia and the militant, but this disappointed, sorry.
Brent Marchant
Dec 1, 2024 · via TMDB
Heroes come in many forms, and, regrettably, they often go unrecognized for their efforts, which is why movies honoring them for their accomplishments can be so vitally important, particularly in attempts at correcting the oversight of being overlooked. However, when it comes to writer-director Todd Komarnicki’s cinematic tribute to Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945) (Jonas Dassler), a little-recognized German theologian who was sharply critical of the Nazis’ treatment of Jews and imprisoned dissidents during World War II, that noble goal goes largely unfulfilled. To be perfectly honest, this film is dreadfully dull, relying on a lot of preaching and protracted conversations to carry the narrative, not exactly what I would call engaging and compelling viewing. Indeed, if Bonhoeffer was supposedly so influential in spearheading German resistance against the Third Reich and criticism of Germany’s national church for its silence toward and complicity with Adolf Hitler’s policies, his initiatives, at least as portrayed here, aren’t particularly enlightening or instructive. To make matters worse, the picture’s flashback-oriented approach alternating between Bonhoeffer’s final days and events from his past lends little to telling his story, occasionally causing pivotal developments in his life to become more muddled than enlightening. Perhaps this production’s biggest sin, however, is its alleged tampering with the facts, including events that never took place, others whose content was significantly altered and still more for which there are only vague suggestions about their validity but for which substantial proof is lacking. The result is a release where viewers might easily come away from it not knowing what to believe given its fabrications, alterations and lack of coherence. That’s even apparent in the title, whose qualities attributed to the protagonist could be considered specious, at least when it comes to his supposed role as spy and assassin. To its credit, though, there are moments when Bonhoeffer’s outspoken views are presented through powerfully delivered statements (though the same could also readily be said of the words of some of his peers), but they’re too few and far between for my tastes. In addition, Bonhoeffer’s prolific career as a writer goes largely unnoticed, reducing his 34 volumes of work to little more than a footnote and a few passing references. It’s truly sad to see a film that gets things wrong as badly as this one does, especially when it comes to recognizing the work of someone who is said to have had as much impact as he did. Unfortunately, the oversights here continue.
User reviews courtesy of TMDB.
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Jonas Dassler
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Phileas Heyblom
Young Dietrich Bonhoeffer
August Diehl
Martin Niemoller
David Jonsson
Frank Fisher
Flula Borg
Hans Dohnanyi
Moritz Bleibtreu
Karl Bonhoeffer
Nadine Heidenreich
Paula Bonhoeffer
Greg Kolpakchi
Officer Ansel Knoblauch
William Robinson
Eberhard Bethge
Clarke Peters
Reverend Powell Sr.
James Flynn
Dr. Rascher
Lisa Hofer
Sabine Bonhoeffer
Patrick Mölleken
Walter Bonhoeffer
Simon Licht
Herman Punder
Evan Hart
Vassily Kokorin
Mark Wingett
Payne Best
Vincent Franklin
Bishop Bell
Ingo Brosch
Gerhard Jacobi
Felix von Bredow
Rudolf-Christoph Von Gersdorff
Tim Hudson
Winston Churchill
Caroline Berry
Clementine Churchill
Marc Bessant
Hitler
John Keogh
Professor Fosdick
Muiris Crowley
Hoble (Lead Officer)
Katharina Heyer
Else Niemoller
Arthur Riordan
Publican
Robert Besta
Rudolf Bamler
Jade Matthew
Christel Bonhoeffer
Tomer Barash
Moses Kiefer
Mark Huberman
Samuel
James Craze
Bus Driver
Matthijs van de Sande Bakhuyzen
Swiss Guard 2
Andy Kellegher
Gestapo At The Buchenwalde
Dagmar Döring
Church Goer 2
Tobias Schäfer
Gestapo Officer Of The Youth
Jörg Westphal
Gestapo At The Gallows
Derek Carroll
Gestapo
Johannes Heinrichs
Grabbing Man
Milton Welsh
Ludwig Müller
Roman Schomburg
Ulrich Wagner
Joseph Palmer
Man in Sedan
Marcus Lamb
Colonel Tresckow
Scott William Winters
Innkeeper
Mark de Carreau
Londoner
Alex O’Brien
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Mary T Lynch
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Jean Schatz
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Jasper Montgomery Passenger
Sion Alun Davies
Sebastian
Dada Ashi
Mattie Powell
John Flanders
Bishop #4
Daire McMahon
Gestapo
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Gestapo Officer
Moritz Ross
Other Gestapo
Jacky Nercessian
Pastor
Hugh O'Shea
Brit
Dean Panter
Clergyman
Kenneth Barry
Church Attendee (uncredited)
John Mathieson
Director of Photography
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Epk Camera Operator
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Prosthetics
Todd Komarnicki
Director
Lars P. Winther
First Assistant Director
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Editor
John Hubbard
Casting
Ros Hubbard
Casting
Kadija Leclère
Casting Director
Lars P. Winther
Executive Producer
Todd Komarnicki
Producer
Antonio Pinto
Original Music Composer
Todd Komarnicki
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