CRUISED ON PRETTY NICELY!

MOVIE: Valkyrie(2009)
CAST: Tom Cruise, Bill Nighy, Tom Wilkinson
DIRECTOR: Bryan Singer




Cinema is a strange thing. We at times feel it should portray reality and at times fantasy. When cinemas based on real stories are made they have to be "cinematically" treated to make something intriguing and special. Even reality must be portrayed with a touch of fantasy(Slumdog Millionaire) and at times fantasy has to be treated with reality(The Dark Knight) so as to make it an interesting screen watch. Many have complained that Valkyrie fails cinematic expression. I disagree.

Apart from cinematic expression, one must also consider the maker's intention. Cristopher McQuirie in Valkyrie has a tale to tell which may not be as interesting as the World War II, but is based in close association to it. Tom Cruise plays Col. Stauffenberg who physically damages himself during his posting in the Tenth Panzer Division in Africa. He loses one of his eye, his right palm and also two fingers from the left hand.

Valkyrie is based on a true story of an attempt to assassinate the Feuher of Germany, Adolf Hitler. The screenplay and cinematography gets stronger as the story unfolds and reaches its best in the last stages. Stauffenberg associates himself with an organisation within the German Military which finds numerous ways to assassinate Hitler. Their motto is to initiate a revolutionary movement called Operation Valkyrie after the assasination of Hitler.

Hitler is a word which is today synonymous to treachery and oppression. But many historians believe he was nothing more than an eccentric disciplinarian. He was eccentric as he maddened himself with an idea of ruling the world and proving the Germans to be a superior race. He was a disciplinarian as he single handedly could resonate his idea onto a whole efficient department called Germany. His discipline could win him the world, what ruined him was his madness!

The story is not at all anticlimactic as many sections are believing and writing. The maker tells you a story and supports it with one of the best screenplays I have seen from quite sometime. The problem with Tom Cruise has been his star image. Tom Cruise the star has become much bigger than Tom Cruise the actor. People are more interested in knowing what is his status with Holmes or whether he still believes in Scientology rather than appreciating his cinematic performances. Without a doubt, Tom Cruise is one of the very bests in the world who can balance stardom and performances.

I would conclude with one of the best dialogues in the movie when Tom Cruise looks at a picture of Hitler and says, "Its time for this picture to unhung, and the man to be hung."