Bonhoeffer (2003)

A lot of fun.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

This documentary reviews the life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer with the focus on the relationship between his religious beliefs and his personal actions. Factually, there's little in the movie that you could not get from Google. Bonhoeffer was one of a minority of Christian leaders in Germany who publicly and privately opposed the rise of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party. What the film does is anecdotally present the growth of Bonhoeffer's theology from the conventional Lutheranism of his upbringing into a kind of social activism in which the actions of one's life are what bring one to Christ. The defining moment is when Bonhoeffer arrives in New York, intending to teach at Union Seminary, only to realize "one who believes does not flee." The film notes the irony that while Bonhoeffer did not like Reinhold Niebuhr, by the end of his life he was living the kind of social activism preached by Niebuhr.The film itself is well-made and follows a standard documentary format, with period films, stills and interviews with surviving friends and family. Significant passages from Bonhoeffer's writing are mixed into the narrative description.Bonhoeffer was a pastor, teacher and theologian. His life was not exciting in the conventional sense, although he did some spying against the Nazis that must have been nerve racking. And much of this film is spent relating belief and action. The question asked and answered for him was a simple one: To what extent are our actions the consequence of our beliefs? It's the question we are left to ponder for ourselves.

Lacks depth, perspective, and jumps around a lot. Interesting film historically and as a documentary into a seldom discussed part of Nazi Germany. Only worth watching if it shows up for free on TV.Humor shows up unintended. The most interesting parts are when history reveals one thing and the religious people they interview have interpretations completely disconnected with that reality. You laugh at their either intended deception or utter naiveté. One might say the film makes a better study of cognitive dissonance.In the end, it comes off like listening to priests excusing the activity of fellow priest sex offenders. Maybe a more accurate comparison would be the Bush administration excusing itself for lying about Iraq and the war by claiming it wasn't intentional and taking credit for the newspapers and organizations that disagreed with it from the beginning since they are American.So, while the story of Bonhoeffer provides an interesting addition to history, it really isn't worthy of a theater. It's best viewed within the context of a course on World War 2 history, so that it can be fully understood that while Bonhoeffer was a part of a group in the Protestant church that fought against Nazi Germany, most of that same church, including its leaders, supported the Nazis, just as they now support Bush at the time this film was made.

I've watched a number of documentaries lately and am often amazed at the stories of history past, but the story of Dietrich Bonhoeffer moved my heart so deeply that I will struggle to articulate my response to the film. I am struck by the conviction and courage of Dietrich. His insight on the scriptures, his sincere honesty, and his life's example to the Christian community are inspiring.This film gave me a better understanding of what it must have been like to be a citizen in Germany during the first half of the twentieth century than anything else I've experienced. This explanation of the chain of events that led to brutal violence toward the Jewish people in Europe as well as the moral examination of the Christian response to the socio-political position of Nazi Germany answered so many of the questions I've always asked. "How could such a majority of the Germans be persuaded to support the causes of the Third Reich?" "What motivated Germans to act with such hatred?" and "What were Christians thinking and doing during this time?" The only reason I did not give the film a rating of 10 was because the person I watched the film with fell asleep so I wish it would have captured that person's attention as it did mine. I pray that the story is spread to many others either through this film or perhaps a major Blockbuster style account of these events. The good news that Bonhoeffer believed in so completely and the God he gave his life to offer so much more hope to an audience that cries out for the answer to the question "Why, God?" than a story like "Life is Beautiful" ever could. Movie producers everywhere: "Listen to the story of Bonhoeffer and watch this film".

It looks like a PBS piece ... because it undoubtedly will be. The support credits include some of the few remaining funding sources for long-form documentary work ... but that's just the bankroll, not the message. For those who have spent more than a few moments wondering how the impressive intellectual and cultural powers of Germany in the '30's and '40's could have "allowed" Hitler to wreak the genocide and destruction that he did, start here. "Bonhoeffer" digs into the mind and spirit of one man... but the filmmaker's eye never blinks. The careful balance of grainy black and white, motion camera exploration of archival stills and contemporary color footage of eyewitnesses, historians and theologians creates a tapestry that romances the viewer into wondering who this "Dietrich" is ... then experiencing his personal struggles and turmoil ... then taking shallow breaths as he poses for a picture in the Tegel prison courtyard in a jacket and tie -- gentleman to the end. The closing fog- bound color photography of Flossenburg (the concentration camp where Bonhoeffer was hanged literally days before the allies arrived) is chilling. The perfect coda.