It’s been a bit surprising to me that Bonhoeffer – the latest film from the Mormon-rooted Angel Studios – has been met with a fairly muted response. Unfortunately it’s difficult to separate any analysis of the film from its distributor (best known for their controversial breakout hit Sound of Freedom), and its absurd subtitle/tagline (“Pastor. Spy. Assassin.”) certainly hasn’t benefited the conversation, drawing some deserved ire.
But Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German pastor and martyr who refused to bow to the Nazi government, is one of the great Christian heroes of the 20th Century, and someone for whom I hold great deal of respect. So despite some reservations I readily headed to the theater with an open mind to see how his story is handled on the screen.
Bonhoeffer was written and directed by Todd Komarnicki (best known as the writer who adapted Sully), who briefly introduces the film with his own personal expression of respect and admiration for Bonohoeffer. It’s an obvious sort of sentiment, but it works as intended – setting the tone as one of reverence and care for doing justice to the story. I got the sense that this was probably a passion project that he’s been dreaming about for awhile.
(That disarming introduction is followed by a rather ominous-sounding intertitle that states the film is approved by the ‘Angel Guild’, whatever that means.)
The film is a biopic in a nonlinear structure, with an imprisoned Bonhoeffer (Jonas Dassler) remembering the events that shaped his life from childhood.
It was while attending abroad seminary in New York City that the German student gained a life-changing dose of perspective, befriending a black student named Frank Fisher (David Johnson, Alien: Romulus), and through this association gaining insight into black life and Harlem culture – encountering jazz music, racism, and perhaps most significantly, the vibrant passion and Christian fellowship of the Abyssinian Church – a stark contrast to the German stoicism back home.
On returning to Germany, Bonhoeffer and his similarly-minded friends and family are appalled by the rise of the Nazis, soon taking over the government and directly influencing the church, pressuring clergy for capitulation and even replacing the Bible with a modified text that eliminated the Old Testament and other Jewish elements.
The greater the pressure, the more Bonhoeffer feels compelled to push back and speak out, increasingly bringing risk and attention to himself as the Nazis’ influence influence and power rapidly expand; eventually becoming a figure of resistance and .
There are a couple really noteworthy and sincere performances to bring up here, from among Bonhoeffer’s allies. August Diehl is quite memorable as another pastor who takes courage in his friend’s stance and likewise chooses to side against Hitler. It’s really great to see him in a sensitive good-guy role (he’s best known as the German officer who says goodbye to his Nazi balls in Inglourious Basterds). Another terrific presence is that of Flula Borg; he’s best known for his leaning comedically into German stereotypes but proves more than capable of a serious dramatic role as Dietrich’s brother in law, a Nazi soldier secretly working for the Resistance.
Unfortunately the film does have a problem common to many biopics in that it hurtles from event to event in an effort to hit the major highlights of a lifetime, and in doing so has trouble feeling like a cohesive story. It’s difficult to find fault in this – it is, after all, the true story of a real person – but cinematically it feels underwhelming, and narratively thin. Additionally, I felt a lack of “heft” to the depiction of World War II, and the chronological orientation could be a little confusing. Not so much because the nonlinear format, but more in that I often didn’t have a sense of how much time was passing. Bonhoeffer’s story is inextricably linked to the rise of Nazism followed by World War II, but we don’t get much sense of this environment, which feels more like a backdrop than an immediate reality.
But despite some criticisms which are, I think, valid, there’s something pretty undeniable about this telling.
A major problem with a lot of faith-based films is that they’re often guilty of the same kind of meaningless engagement: “preaching to the choir” of a religious target audience, often without offering any actual challenge to the faithful (nor much compelling reason to attract anyone else outside of this group). Bonhoeffer avoids this trap.
Moreover, what’s really encouraging – and frankly surprising – about the film is that it’s so clear in its message: Emphatically repudiate evil. Never bow to fascism. Not to populist dictators who trade in nationalism and lies, not to political leaders who publish their own modified Bibles, nor even to compromising Church leaders and Christian figures who offer their endorsements, exchanging the truth of God for a lie. Bonhoeffer stood firm in a faith rooted in Christ, not in human wisdom or influence.
For once, it’s exactly the message that the Church needs to hear.
A/V Out
