Dietrich Bonhoeffer is one of the most important theologians of the 20th century. He challenged the easy, cheap version of Christianity he saw around him and expected Christians to put their work where their faith was.
When Nazism began to rise in his native Germany, Dietrich stepped up in opposing it.
If you are looking for stories about faith in action, Bonhoeffer has both the words and the substance to back it up. He is an ideal subject for a faith-promoting biopic.
Which is why it’s too bad that this film is kind of boring.
Bonhoeffer: Pastor. Spy. Assassin. starts with our titular character, as a child, playing hide-and-seek with his brother. From there, it meanders. We see the effects of World War I, and we follow Dietrich as he travels to New York for seminary.
There are about 45 minutes of engaging film here. After returning to Germany, Dietrich is dismayed by the sermons he hears and decides he needs to say something. He is advised against it by his mentors.
This section of the film, where Dietrich has a clear purpose and clear opposition and has to navigate the best possible resolution, is thrilling. That feels like the kind of drama that made Sully, perhaps the most notable previous writing project by director Todd Komarnicki, so compelling.
But Bonhoeffer lacks the discipline to stay on track, quickly jumping ahead to after his opposition Confessing Church, had already been founded. The film continues giving us brief glimpses of his life, jumping into the action late and jumping away before we’ve fully appreciated them.
Part of what I struggle with in this film is that we often cut to seeing Dietrich near the end of his life, but we don’t get much sense of who he had become—he’s only ever sitting in a jail cell. As a result, the many vignettes of his life don’t show the audience how Dietrich became who he was. They just give us an incoherent hop around the timeline.
In terms of its artistic merit, Bonhoeffer is a bit of a mixed bag. Jonas Dassler plays Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and while he is certainly good enough, he doesn’t give the kind of magnetic performance that can paper over such a slow plot. The world-building here is really fantastic, and the broad cast does a lot of the work in building dozens of credible characters. David Jonsson, who plays Dietrich’s seminary friend who introduces him to the American Black Church, and Flula Borg who plays one of his fellow resistance fighters, are standouts.
The art department also helps capture a sense of the time and the impending presence of the Nazis without resorting to the trope of hanging up swastikas everywhere that these kinds of films often resort to. But technically, this is a tough film to watch. The lighting is uneven and often leads to washed-out scenes that made me think there was an open window shining onto the screen.
Thinking about this movie, I can’t help but long for the movies it could have been instead. A film more focused or more curious. But this is the second film about the life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer in as many years, and for now, it’s far and away the best version of Bonhoeffer’s life put to screen. Given what an important and inspirational figure he is, that means that no matter the film’s shortcomings, I am glad we have Bonhoeffer, and suggest it to anyone who would otherwise not know about his life. I just hope we haven’t yet seen the definitive cinematic treatment of Dietrich Bonhoeffer.
This film teaches that being a good Christian is worth it on its own merit. That is a priceless lesson. The team behind the film has packaged that lesson in a serviceable product, even if it’s far-from-perfect.
In terms of children, I wouldn’t recommend it for most kids, even older ones. Like I said this is a tough sit, even for adults. And despite making the right choices, Dietrich is executed in the end, a lesson that is unusually complicated for preteens and below. The movie is also full of smoking which I imagine will be a turn-off for many parents.
Two and a half out of five stars. Bonhoeffer opens nationwide on November 22, 2024.
The post Dietrich Bonhoeffer on Screen: A Heroic Story, A Mixed Film first appeared on Meridian Magazine.