13 Minutes (12A.)
Directed by Oliver Hirschberger.
Starring Christian Friedel, Katharina Schüttler, Burghart Klaußner, Johan Von Bülow, Felix Eitner and Rüdiger Klink. In German with subtitles. 113 mins.
Hitchcock had a quote about how a five minute shot of four people talking at a table is boring, but the same shot of four people talking at a table is full of suspense if you tell the audience that there is a bomb under the table that is set to blow in five minutes. But does that still work if one of those four people is Hitler? The Day of the Jackal conundrum – making a film about a plot to kill an historical figure that you you know didn't die then – was inelegantly but gloriously sidestepped by Tarantino in Inglorious Basterds. In 13 Minutes, the story of a failed attempt on Hitler's life in 1939, their answer is to get the disappointment out of the way early. It opens with the failed assassination attempt; the rest of the film is the interrogation of perpetrator George Elser (Friedel) inter-cut with flashbacks to his “radicalization” during the years of the Nazis rise.
For director Hirschberger this is a back to basics act of redemption. He made his name with Downfall, the film of Hitler's last days in the bunker. After that he floundered with The Invasion (of the Body Snatchers remake) and the infamous Diana. 13 Minutes shows that he is still an impressive film maker; all the more so because he doesn't have to show off how good he is. The first half hour is full of moments that are, just subtly, much more effective than a standard jobbing director would manage. For example after a lot of close up, tight shots showing Elser planting the bomb in a Munich beer cellar and being captured while trying to escape, we cut to a wide shot of the peaceful Munich skyline at night, disturbed by a bomb exploding in the distance. It's a beautiful moment – just at the climax removing us from the immediate drama and showing us the wider context.
After this though we see the flaw in the scheme. Do you you really want to see another film about a failed attempt on Hitler's life and the Nazis' rise to power? Even a really quite good film about a failed attempt on Hitler's life and the Nazis' rise to power.
As Elser, Friedl looks like he's all dressed up for a Dylan Thomas biopic. Elser is a musician and philanderer, a slightly creepy looking guy. There is a potential interesting angle here – paralleling him with the typical loner who turns to assassination and terrorism, but the film presents him as a hero. The film's limitation is that it doesn't really illustrate the Nazis rise to power, or even how Elser became a man who would kill eight people.
On thing struck me though: the Heil Hitlers. It suddenly occurred to me how shocking it was that Germans actually did this as a matter of course. Through films the Nazis have become some dreamlike myth of evil - it's jarring to think of the actual day to day reality of it.
Directed by Oliver Hirschberger.
Starring Christian Friedel, Katharina Schüttler, Burghart Klaußner, Johan Von Bülow, Felix Eitner and Rüdiger Klink. In German with subtitles. 113 mins.
Hitchcock had a quote about how a five minute shot of four people talking at a table is boring, but the same shot of four people talking at a table is full of suspense if you tell the audience that there is a bomb under the table that is set to blow in five minutes. But does that still work if one of those four people is Hitler? The Day of the Jackal conundrum – making a film about a plot to kill an historical figure that you you know didn't die then – was inelegantly but gloriously sidestepped by Tarantino in Inglorious Basterds. In 13 Minutes, the story of a failed attempt on Hitler's life in 1939, their answer is to get the disappointment out of the way early. It opens with the failed assassination attempt; the rest of the film is the interrogation of perpetrator George Elser (Friedel) inter-cut with flashbacks to his “radicalization” during the years of the Nazis rise.
For director Hirschberger this is a back to basics act of redemption. He made his name with Downfall, the film of Hitler's last days in the bunker. After that he floundered with The Invasion (of the Body Snatchers remake) and the infamous Diana. 13 Minutes shows that he is still an impressive film maker; all the more so because he doesn't have to show off how good he is. The first half hour is full of moments that are, just subtly, much more effective than a standard jobbing director would manage. For example after a lot of close up, tight shots showing Elser planting the bomb in a Munich beer cellar and being captured while trying to escape, we cut to a wide shot of the peaceful Munich skyline at night, disturbed by a bomb exploding in the distance. It's a beautiful moment – just at the climax removing us from the immediate drama and showing us the wider context.
After this though we see the flaw in the scheme. Do you you really want to see another film about a failed attempt on Hitler's life and the Nazis' rise to power? Even a really quite good film about a failed attempt on Hitler's life and the Nazis' rise to power.
As Elser, Friedl looks like he's all dressed up for a Dylan Thomas biopic. Elser is a musician and philanderer, a slightly creepy looking guy. There is a potential interesting angle here – paralleling him with the typical loner who turns to assassination and terrorism, but the film presents him as a hero. The film's limitation is that it doesn't really illustrate the Nazis rise to power, or even how Elser became a man who would kill eight people.
On thing struck me though: the Heil Hitlers. It suddenly occurred to me how shocking it was that Germans actually did this as a matter of course. Through films the Nazis have become some dreamlike myth of evil - it's jarring to think of the actual day to day reality of it.
