Bonhoeffer - Review

Whilst Bonhoeffer is set in the lead-up and during the Second World War, it could not be more obvious that the film’s director wants us to themes of the film within the context of the present day. He even tacks on a QR code during the end credits where you can donate to allow other people to access free tickets. It is a film that sees itself with immense importance, both in shining a light on Bonhoeffer, a real-life figure, but also in standing up against contemporary forms of hate.

In his first directed feature since 2003, Todd Komarnicki tells a biopic of Dietrich Bonhoeffer (Jonas Dassler), who I was unaware of. Bonhoeffer was a Christan Pastor who rose up against the Third Reich before the war when they tried to infiltrate the Church and teach a new doctrine. During the war, Bonhoeffer attempted to rally against the Nazis and was part of an unsuccessful plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler. Whilst a pacifist, Bonhoeffer noted, “silence in the face of evil is itself evil”.

Komarnicki does not just focus on Bonhoeffer’s plight during the Second World War but aims to a much broader spectrum of his life through several time jumps. The youngest we see of him is as a young boy living innocently pre-World War I, before his brother is shipped off, never to return. We then see him in Harlem, where he learns about a new faction of the church, a church with gospel singing and jazz. However, when he returns to his native Germany, it is in a pessimistic state, with his family increasingly uneasy with the rise of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party, targeting specific demographics to swell up support.

This is the most intriguing aspect of the film is the steady and lethal rise of Hitler. It is, for lack of a better word, interesting to see a German perspective, seeing the fear that the public has for its new leader. Whilst he may be elected by the people, it does not mean that everybody wants him in office. Hitler comes off as incredibly clever in the film, brainwashing the youth and gaining control of the Church. A church which is suddenly spouting his hate speech whilst calling him a prophet and a saviour to reunite Germany, those in the audience are too scared to retort. The once gentle rise has become an incredibly slippy slope.

However, where the film struggles is in its pacing, with a sometimes confusing use of time jumps, making it difficult to know where we are exactly in the timeline – despite having titles to display the year and location. Likewise, the film takes a significant chunk of the opening act walking us through his time in Harlem, which somewhat goes against its selling point as a political/historical thriller. It is a film almost projecting its own self-importance so much that the prevalent and concerning themes that it tackles are undercut.