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Valkyrie (2008) More at IMDb Pro »

Operation Walküre (Valkyrie) was an operational plan of the German Wehrmacht's Reserve Army, initially designed to be used in the event that disruption caused by the Allied bombing of German cities caused a breakdown in law and order, or a rising by the millions of forced laborers from occupied countries working in German factories. The conspirators of 20 July 1944, Stauffenberg and others from the Wehrmacht's General Staff amongst them, tried to modify the plan according to their needs, so that they would be able to quickly disarm SS troops, arrest the leading Nazis and take over control of German cities.

Also it means a minor female deities who served Odin in Norse mythologies.If you want to know more about them check out.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valkyrie

There is a quote by Stauffenberg, dated 18 July 1944: "Wir haben den Rubikon überschritten." ('We have crossed the Rubicon.'). The working title is probably referring to this. The Rubicon is a small river in Northern Italy. The Wikipedia says: <<"Crossing the Rubicon" is a popular idiom meaning to go past a point of no return; the river was a Roman boundary between Cisalpine Gaul and Italy. >> Julius Caesar crossed the river on his way to take Rome in 49 BC after having been asked to stand down and disband his army. This is where the saying originates.

It's simply part of his costume as Claus von Stauffenberg. In 1943 Stauffenberg was promoted to lieutenant-colonel and was sent to Africa to join the 10th Panzer (tank) Division. There, while he was scouting out a new command area, his vehicle was strafed on April 7th, 1943 by British fighter-bombers and he was severely wounded. He spent three months in hospital in Munich. Stauffenberg lost his left eye, his right hand, and the fourth and fifth fingers of his left hand. He jokingly remarked to friends never to have really known what to do with so many fingers when he still had ten of them.

The production company originally did not get permission to film inside the Bendlerblock (today's Ministry of Defense in Berlin). The speaker for the Ministry gave the following reason: "...this place of remembrance and mourning would lose of its dignity, were we to exploit it as a film set." This decision has been widely discussed in Germany. Critics have pointed out that the 2004 TV film "Stauffenberg" did get a permission to use the site. A number of people believe that the main reason for this was that Tom Cruise is a devout Scientologist. The German government does not recognize Scientology as a legitimate religion. The German authorities involved in the decision denied that this played a role in the decision (see also further down in this answer).

The Berlin Police also did not give permission to film at the barracks at Friesenstraße ("The Berlin Police has considered this application at length, but had to arrive at the conclusion that the interference with daily operations of the authorities located at the site would be very grave indeed. As such the application had to be rejected.") Source: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung online, 3 July 2007 (http://preview.tinyurl.com/3542k4)

As of 14th September, 2007, the Ministry of Defence has reconsidered its stance on the issue of filming inside Bendlerblock: After the author, Christopher McQuarrie, wrote a letter to the Secretary of Defence, F. J. Jung, explaining what was planned for the film, an on-site visit was agreed upon in which the production company, the Ministery of Defence, the government spokesman and a representative of the memorial located at Bendlerblock took part. Following that, the permission to shoot at Bendlerblock was granted. The speaker for the Ministry of Defence rejected the notion, that Tom Cruise's involvement with Scientology played any part in the original disallowing of filming. "This hasn't been brought into the debate by us. We were solely concerned about the place and about the treatment of the place." Source: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung online, 14 September 2007

See also the news articles page for this film: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0985699/news

A good overview of the public discussion in Germany can be found in the German-language newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, which put together a dossier containing all articles on filming "Valkyrie" and on the discussions: http://preview.tinyurl.com/2y2jct

Actually, no. None of the main architects of the "20th Juli plot" was even a member of the N.S.D.A.P., the Nazi party, but they were without a doubt conservative patriots. Their record as highranking military men shows that they disagreed with the Nazis when the tide of the war turned.

Two examples:

Ludwig Beck, Terence Stamp´s character, tried very early as Chief of the General Staff to deter Hitler from enlarging the Reich through military actions and left the Wehrmacht already in 1938. Since he knew that the Wehrmacht would not be strong enough to win a war against the Allies (including the Soviet Union) he tried to convince fellow officers to resign too.

Henning von Tresckow (Kenneth Branagh), initially a sympathizer of National Socialism due to their opposition to the Treaty of Versailles, allready condemned the 1934 "Night of the Long Knives" (the killing of several opposite Nazis). In 1936 he was appointed to the German General Staff's 1st department. Studying the possible scenarios of war, he recognized the risks and weaknesses in Hitler's desire to prepare for war. The 1938 Blomberg-Fritsch Affair (two related scandals that resulted in the subjugation of the Wehrmacht to Hitler) alienated Tresckow and others from Hitler. As a result, he sought out civilians and soldiers who opposed Hitler to build up a resistance.

The oath in the beginning of the teaser trailer is the so called Führereid. The Führereid was the name of the oath of allegiance of the German Forces to the Führer.

In August 1934, after the democratic-elected Reichspräsident Hindenburg died, Hitler declared himself Führer (leader), Reichspräsident (president) and Reichskanzler (chancelor). Since the Reichswehr was still following the old Prussian traditions and was only presummed to the will of the German people and its elected leaders, the Nazis founded the Wehrmacht in 1935 and issued a new oath which became known as Führereid:

German: "Ich schwöre bei Gott diesen heiligen Eid, daß ich dem Führer des Deutschen Reiches und Volkes, Adolf Hitler, dem Oberbefehlshaber der Wehrmacht, unbedingten Gehorsam leisten und als tapferer Soldat bereit sein will, jederzeit für diesen Eid mein Leben einzusetzen."

English: "I swear by God this holy oath, that I want to offer unconditional obedience to the Führer of the German Empire and people, Adolf Hitler, the commander-in-chief of the Wehrmacht, and be prepared as a brave soldier to risk my life for this oath at any time."

The oath was very effective: most of the army felt bounded to this oath and kept on fighting for Hitler even when the war was clearly lost. Not until Hitler commited suicide on April 30th, 1945 most parts of the German army surrenderd since they felt freed of the oath and their duties.

Apart from that the Schutzstaffel (SS) (not the German army!) had used a different oath that should bind them much closer to Adolf Hitler, since they were entirly founded by the Nazis and based on nationalsocialistic ideas.

German: "Ich schwöre Adolf Hitler unerschütterliche Treue. Ich schwöre ihm und den Führern, die er mir bestimmt, unbedingten Gehorsam. Adolf Hitler: Sieg Heil!"

English: "I swear unswerving loyalty to Adolf Hitler. I swear uncondtional obedience to him and to the leaders that he determines for me. Adolf Hitler: Sieg Heil (hail victory)!"

Sure there are!

The most comprehensive biography of Stauffenberg was published in 1992: Peter Hoffmann: Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg und seine Brüder. DVA, Stuttgart 1992, ISBN 3-421-06533-0. Hoffman, Peter (1995). Stauffenberg : A Family History, 1905-1944. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-45307-0 This is a 450 page scholarly work that covers pretty much every aspect of his public life, while still being eminently readable.

The Wikipedia has articles in German and English as well as a number of other languages (see link list with the German or English article): http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claus_Schenk_Graf_von_Stauffenberg (categorized as "excellent") http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claus_Schenk_Graf_von_Stauffenberg

An article on the perception of Stauffenberg and the July 20 plot from 1945 to today can be found at "einestages" (German-language history website): http://einestages.spiegel.de/static/topicalbumbackground/749/hans_michael_kloth_heiliger_unterm_hakenkreuz.html

For those historically-minded: The TIME magazine has its 1944 articles reporting on the assassination attempt online: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,775071,00.html Crack of Doom Jul. 31, 1944 http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,775148,00.html "Never, Never, Never!" Aug. 14, 1944

Sure there are! The best ones are German productions and therefor only available with German subtitles. Heres a small list of awarded and high rated war movies from the German perspective:

Stalingrad - About the battle of Stalingrad. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0108211/

Night of the Generals - murder mystery set alongside the same assassination plot as Valkyrie http://www.imdb.co.uk/title/tt0062038/

Downfall (Der Untergang) - About the last days of Hitler. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0363163/

Das Boot - About the U-Boat war. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082096/

Cross of Iron - About the Eastern front and the madness of war in general. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074695/

The Bridge at Remagen - Mainly about the western powers, but the film does contain a lot of scenes with German actors and protrays fairly good their destiny. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0064110/

Die Brücke - About a bunch of 16-year-olds defending a meaningless bridge in the last days of the Third Reich. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0052654/

Aus einem deutschen Leben - About the life of Rudolf Höß, commander of the KZ Ausschwitz. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075708/

Europa Europa - About Salomon Perel, a Jewish teenage who survived the war by joining the Hilter Youth. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099776/

Comedian Harmonists - Not a war movie but set during the Nazi era. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0128133/

Sophie Scholl - About the German resistance fighter Sophie Scholl http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0426578/

Rosenstraße - About several German women who fought for their Jewish husbands not to be deportated http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0298131/

Napola - About a young Nazi elite school (kinda..) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0384369/

Aimée & Jaguar - About a lesbian relationship during the Third Reich. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0130444/

Die Mörder sind unter uns - German Movie from 1946 (!) about a Jewish woman returning from a KZ back to Berlin to find the former Nazi camp commander. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0038769/

Edelweißpiraten - German Movie from 2004. A group of young men is planning an act of sabotage against the Gestapo.http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0240473/