Georg Elser - Einer aus Deutschland (1989) Reviews

• A forgotten part of history

  juergen-nieveler2005-06-06

  When thinking about German resistance against Hitler, most people can think only of one name: Stauffenberg. Klaus-Maria Brandauer reminds the world that a humble carpenter tried to save the world from the horror of WW2, all by himself. A great movie, full of suspense, with great actors - especially Brandauer himself. Especially impressive is the way Brandauer as director managed to show the atmosphere of Nazi-Germany immediately before the war, and atmosphere of fear and mistrust that forced Elser to go to extremes in hiding his plans.

• A fine movie

  I.K2000-01-08

  The movie tells the story of one Georg Elser, a German carpenter who plotted to kill Hitler in 1939 (although it has been suggested that the plot was actually staged by the SS). This was Karl Maria Brandauer´s premier work as a director and not bad, he also stars the leading part. This movie is a very exciting one and propably interests anyone who likes history.

• Fascinating Insight on a German/Austrian's Perspective

  alexanderjallan2001-05-04

  The film Seven Minutes partially dubbed in English and partially IN English (either that or great dubbing by actors Brandauer and American; Dennehy) is a great film. I may be inappropriately sticking my neck out here, but I believe this film, directed and stared by Brandauer has a very personal edge to it for him, relating to the actions of Hitler. Throughout the film it shows, in the late 1930s, Jewish citizens being taken away by the army or secret police (with rather stirring music). At this moment Klaus Maria watches on and seems to be a little shaken and quietly incensed by these actions. This film gives an insight into, how some Germans were clearly against what Hitler was starting to do to their country (those who, in reflection, weren't sucked into the propaganda of a powerful Germany). The love interest with Rebecca Miller and Klaus is nice and subtle with good humour in places. During all this, though, he is building a bomb using his skills as a clock maker, and awaiting Hitler's arrival to the Beer Hall (Munich), -where the story is set. During the building of the bomb and the placing of it, it is full of tension with Klaus appearing extremely determined and nervous with sweat. The acting of Brandauer is suitably magnificent. From what I've said, don't get the wrong impression it's a boring historical film (actually based on a true story of Georg Elser's attempt). It is full of suspense and can be watched as any other film of a suspense genre.

• a compelling true story of one brave man's brave attempt to stop evil

  mombasa_pete2006-09-29

  This film is brilliantly made, and should be seen by more people. It is very powerful in the way it shows one brave man's lone attempt to stop the Nazis in their tracks and Brandauer perfectly conveys the sense of silent outrage against the atrocities he sees rising around him. It is heartbreaking to discover that he was executed weeks before the liberation by the Allies, and that no memorial exists to commemorates him to this day. Everyone should see this film. Also, the fact it is filmed on location in Germany makes it very atmospheric and you can feel the climate of fear and suppression very plausibly more so than in many other films set in this era. Dennehy and LeVaillant are convincing as the Nazis.

• Facts plus fiction

  claude-alexander2013-11-06

  This review might be more about Johann Georg Elser than this particular movie. He is one of the shining lights in the darkest hour of German history, though Stauffenberg gets all the attention. People seem to forget that Stauffenberg gladly went to war and followed Hitler until he realised that the war would be lost. That's not a hero in my book. Elser, though, is. He decided that Hitler had to be stopped and tried to do so on his very own. As another reviewer on here saw fit to mention that Elser's bomb attack might have been staged by the SS, I feel forced to mention that these claims have been found unfounded some time ago (1964), when the Gestapo's interrogation files were examined. As for the film, well, I think the acting is pretty good, so is the directing, but it has to be mentioned that it is a bit strange at times. What I absolutely didn't like about this film was that it didn't follow the truth. It might be necessary to add a few things here and there to make Elser's story dramatic enough to fill a feature-length film, though. There is absolutely no evidence that Elser had a fiancée at the time. The same goes for many of the other entanglements we can see on the screen. Disappointing, really. I personally would have preferred a film much closer to actual events. There also exists another film about Elser from the 1960's, which might be closer to what I had hoped to see, but it seems impossible to get hand on that. tl;dr Elser was a fine man, Stauffenberg not so much. This film adds too much fiction to the real story.