The life story of filming famous personalities is always delicate.are like an Instagram filter for history: more dramatic, heroic or tragic. As soon as a new film comes to the cinema about a historical figure, the usual debate breaks down: "It wasn't like that," the historians call outraged. "That violates memory," scold the descendants. And somewhere a screenwriter mumbles: "People, it's a film, not a history book."The biopic is currently hitting Dietrich Bonhoeffer.The film has been since this weekBonhoeffer: Pastor. Spy. AssassinAbout the theologian, who turned to National Socialism as a resistance fighter during the Second World War, to see in German cinemas - and the waves of outrage are already high.Even the descendants distance themselves significantly. Where is the problem?
Debate about Bonhoeffer film: Is the resistance fighter wrongly presented?
Dietrich Bonhoeffer is now considered one of the best known and most influential German theologians. He was a resistance fighter in the National Socialism period. He paid with life for his conviction - that is already worth a film.
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Who was the resistance fighter Dietrich Bonhoeffer?
Dietrich Bonhoeffer was an Protestant theologian and decisive opponent of the Nazi regime. Born in Breslau in 1906, he joined social justice early on and was committed to discrimination against the Jews. In the 1930s he became a leading voice of the confessing church, which against the equalization of the churches by theput. Bonhoeffer called on not only to "connect the wounds of the victims under the bike, but also to fall into the spokes" - an appeal for active resistance to injustice. Finally, he joined the resistance group around Admiral Wilhelm Canaris, who planned the attack on Hitler on July 20, 1944. Although Bonhoeffer was not wearing a weapon himself, he supported the resistance through theological justifications and as a courier for contacts abroad. Dietrich Bonhoeffer was arrested in 1943 and was murdered in the Flossenbürg concentration camp shortly before the end of the war.
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Bonhoeffer was murdered by the Nazis - this scene is also available in the film
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Devisos Sauer: Care through right circles?
It is particularly controversial that Angel Studios, a production company with an evangelical background, the filmBonhoeffer: Pastor. Spy. Assassinmarketed in the USA under questionable conditions. They applied to him with the slogan "The fight against tyranny now begins" - in the middle of the election campaign of. In addition, Bonhoeffer was shown on American posters with a pistol in hand, a picture that contradicts his actual conviction. The descendants of Bonhoeffer sharply criticized this presentation in an open letter: the film rotates the story and stylized Bonhoeffer into an "evangelical saint". They accused the studios that the film abuse the theologian's legacy for right -wing political purposes. The proximity to Trump supporters and Christian nationalists who use Bonhoeffer as a symbol of an alleged resistance to the US Democrats are particularly problematic. They criticize that Bonhoeffer's legacy is increasingly falsified and abused by right -wing extremists, anti -democrats and religious agitation.
Bonhoeffer: Is the biopic worth it?
The filmBonhoeffer: Pastor. Spy. AssassinTalks Bonhoeffer's life with a lot of pathos and a pinch of kitsch, which makes him difficult to digest in places. Dramaturgically, he fluctuates between family history, theological reflection and resistance drama, but never finds a clear line. After all, director Komarnicki succeeds in showing the problematic role of the German Church in National Socialism. But in particular Bonhoeffer's time in resistance is interpreted with great creative freedom: he appears as an indomitable Christian who advises deeply with conspirators - and is ultimately even willing to give up his principles and to consider violence against Hitler. An intolerance that causes discussions.
Even the film cast distances itself
In addition to Bonhoeffer-Expert, who describe the US marketing as a glorification of violence that does not correspond to Bonhoeffer's own actions, the actors Jonas Dassler and August Diehl also made it clear in a statement that it expressly distances itself from the capture of the film, in which Moritz Bleibtreu also has a role, through radical groups. They emphasized that the film has no connection to a controversial Bonhoeffer biography of Eric Metaxa, which Bonhoeffer rejects for evangelical ideologies.
Photo: cinema star
In the USA, the film about Dietrich Bonhoeffer has so far been little well received.
Bonhoeffer stood for freedom, not for extremism
The debate about the film shows how dangerous it can be to reject historical figures for current political purposes. In her protest letter, Bonhoeffer's descendants called not to be fooled by radical interpretations. "Dietrich Bonhoeffer stood for freedom and charity. Don't let yourself be misleading," they write. During the filmBonhoeffer: Pastor. Spy. Assassinis marketed in Europe with a more neutral representation, the debate about its historical accuracy and political captivation remains.
Das BiopicBonhoeffer: Pastor. Spy. Assassinhas been seen in selected program cinemas since March 13.
