Showing posts with label movies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label movies. Show all posts

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Norse Myth, Nazis, and Scientology

On the plane over to Thailand recently, I watched Valkyrie (film, 2008).

First, "valkyrie" was a vaguely familiar word, so I looked it up. Norse mythology depicted warrior-angel-like women who gathered the souls of the worthy fallen, took them to heaven, and served them. This is the origin of the word.

The movie, based on a true story, is about a Nazi plot to assassinate Hilter in 1944. "Valkyrie" was the code name for the operation. It highlights sincere anti-Hitler sentiment during WWII German, which is often neglected in modern portrayals focusing on the holocaust.

Tom Cruise played the lead, a Colonel von Stauffenburg. Cruise's Scientology involvement created strong opposition to the film in Germany, where Scientology is considered a dangerous cult.

Overall, I thought the film was good. Having my own scale, I'd rate it around a 4 out off 5. This means it's definitely worth watching. It made me stop and think, put me in a reflective mood, but was ultimately not much different from other such movies. I'll probably never see it again and will forget it within a few weeks. I particularly liked the conclusion: you knew where it was headed, but the artistry with which they portrayed it was compelling.