I just watched the new film Bonhoeffer and, for various reasons, thoroughly recommend it. It is a well-shot, quality production with excellent acting, especially that of Jonas Dassler in the lead role. It makes Christian beliefs and Christian actions central and raises very challenging questions for our time.
The film tells the story of the famous German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer who, at great personal cost, stood firm against the Nazi regime only to be executed just two weeks before the end of the Second World War. There are jumps backwards and forwards in time that I found disrupted the story. If you don’t know the period, matters can be confusing. In contrast, if you do know the period, it’s irritating that so many liberties are taken with Bonhoeffer’s life and times. Of course all ‘biopics’ are forced to bend reality, whether by filling in gaps or by simplifying the events. This is inevitable with Bonhoeffer because we don’t have all the information that we would like, and he was a complex man living in very complex and murky times. Nevertheless, Bonhoeffer is guilty of a number of historical errors and remains very much a personal interpretation of the man and his life.
Let me make three points.
First, for all his deep spirituality, Bonhoeffer was not any sort of conservative evangelical Christian as we would understand it.
Second, the portrayal of Bonhoeffer – highlighted in the title – is of a man who was at the heart of the conspiracy to assassinate Hitler. The reality is that while Bonhoeffer seems to have had some knowledge of various plots, how, or even whether, he supported them is debated. Fundamentally a pacifist, Bonhoeffer recognised that violent political action, let alone assassination, was deeply against the spirit of the gospel. In an age that seems over-inclined to violence I’m wary about anything that could give support to the idea that assassination is a legitimate political option.
Finally, the film seems to suggest that Bonhoeffer recognised the limits of theology and decided that he needed to act. That goes against everything we know about the man. His heroism was to continue to preach, proclaim and teach the truth in hostile times, rather than to engage in political action.
Yet, such reservations notwithstanding, I recommend this film for two reasons. The first is that it is a portrait of something all too rare in Hollywood: a Christian living out and struggling with their faith. (It’s a pity, by the way, that Bonhoeffer’s relationship with his fiancée Maria is totally omitted.) The second is that while some films dealing with historical matters simply tell a story, this film – like all worthwhile films – raises questions. Rather than comfort the viewer, it challenges. How did a solidly Christian nation allow itself to be led down the very darkest of roads? Why did the church allow it to happen? How should we as Christians relate to politics? Do we allow ourselves to be swept along by political currents, whether of the right or the left? Do we just stand by and, like so many German Christians then, do nothing except hope and pray? Some of the words spoken in the film have such an unnerving and uncomfortable contemporary relevance that I hear gasps in the cinema.
Bonhoeffer speaks with extraordinary clarity to a time when an ugly nationalism seems once more to be on the rise across the world. Only a few years ago, it was fashionable to say that we didn’t need more films about the Second World War and that it was time to put all that behind us. Bonhoeffer reminds us that this was premature.
So watch Bonhoeffer. Think about it, discuss it and do read more about Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the man and his times. As the philosopher Santayana warned over a century ago, ‘Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.’ Let’s remember.
J.John
Reverend Canon
