Bonhoeffer, a sweeping, WWII-era drama about a courageous theologian-turned-spy, is currently in theaters. It comes from Angel Studios, known for catering to faith-and-family audiences.
One of the most influential Protestant figures of the 20th century, German Lutheran pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945) comes alive in a moving drama revealing his history-making life.
“His character and his story is so rich and so deep and connects us as human beings across political divides,” said writer-director Todd Komarnicki. He is best known for his screenplay for Sully, the story of the Hudson River miracle landing which starred Tom Hanks as the pilot.
Now Komarnicki has spent six years working on this lavish $22M biopic.
A pastor who preached nonviolence, Bonhoeffer nonetheless became a spy for the German resistance. He was ultimately arrested and tried for his involvement in a failed assassination attempt on Hitler.
The film uses those pivotal final days, with bombs falling and bridges out across Germany, as a framing device for the imprisoned Bonhoeffer to review his life as he is shuttled to various camps.
“I wanted the movie to be a journey with Dietrich on his path, as he was about to walk the plank,” said Komarnicki. “He had one last moment to understand fully who he was, what he'd been called to, and the kind of courage that we're all called to.”
Yet the film has not been without controversy—almost entirely related to its marketing.
Does Bonhoeffer distort real-life events?
When Angel Studios—distributor of last year’s controversial hit Sound of Freedom—acquired Bonhoeffer, its team positioned it as a thriller with the tagline, Pastor. Spy. Assassin.
The movie poster released in June even featured Dietrich holding a gun, a stretch that some scholars considered a red flag. Bonhoeffer was tried on charges of involvement in an assassination plot, but did not pull the trigger and had reticence about his complicity.
“I understand why the poster can rub people the wrong way,” said Komarnicki. “I wasn't a champion of ‘Assassin’ appearing as it appears. But honest people can have disagreements about things. And this wouldn't be the first time that that happened in Hollywood."
Pastor Joel Rainey, who serves as a Bonhoeffer Fellow at Hebrew College's Miller Center for Interreligious Learning and Leadership, commented on the controversy.
“The most inspiring part of Bonhoeffer's legacy is not that of an assassin, but that of a martyr,” said Rainey. “Killing for what you believe makes for a riveting movie, but a God-glorifying legacy requires being willing to die for what you believe.”
He added: “I did not want that message to be lost, and was thankful upon screening the movie to learn otherwise.”
Weeks ago, the current descendants of Bonhoeffer’s siblings released a joint letter. It primarily criticized Eric Metaxas, whose popular 2009 Bonhoeffer biography has been widely criticized for certain inaccuracies. But that letter also briefly referred to the film as “history-distorting.”
Komarnicki said he respects family members’ right to speak out in defense of “their beloved Dietrich and what he meant in the world.” But the director wished they’d take time to watch the film, which the studio has offered freely.
“I think if they saw Bonhoeffer, they would love the movie because it's an honest portrayal of him and not political,” said Komarnicki. “It doesn't take sides. It's not nationalistic. It's actually the opposite of that.”
Family life -- and lessons in Harlem
Filmed across Europe by Komarnicki and cinematographer John Mathieson (Gladiator II), the two-hour film careens between Bonhoeffer’s life at home and church. He is introduced as a child prodigy on the piano and of letters; by age 25, Dietrich had earned two Ph.D. degrees.
His tight-knit, upper-class family lived in the shadow of the Great War—their grief at a son killed in battle fighting for Germany, then their shock as Adolf Hitler rose to power. Soon they are swept up in the resistance.
The film keeps his family central as Dietrich (German actor Jonas Dassler) often seeks respite from his travels at the family home outside Berlin. Dietrich confides in his twin sister, Sabine (Lisa Hofer), and seeks counsel from his father, Karl (Moritz Bleibtreu), on moral quandaries.
Later, his brother-in-law, Hans von Dohnanyi (Flula Borg), draws Dietrich into the plot to overthrow Hitler.
Between those two points of his life, in fall 1930 Bonhoeffer travels to New York City to study at Union Theological Seminary—a pivotal year that alters the course of his life. He is at first bored by lectures steeped in the "social gospel," finding the teachings devoid of orthodox theology.
Yet a fellow seminarian, Frank Fisher, befriends Bonhoeffer. The African-American man takes the German scholar to worship in Harlem, at one of the nation’s most prominent historically Black churches.
“He met Jesus in Harlem,” said Komarnicki. “Jesus and jazz changed his life.”
During this era of Prohibition, Fisher took him to a speakeasy bar where the jazz riffs flowed as easily as the bootleg booze. Importantly, Bonhoeffer also saw racism firsthand, when his friend was denied entrance to a restaurant. He saw “the cost of othering,” said the director.
“When he got back to Germany, the Jews were being excised and singled out by the Nazi regime,” said Komarnicki. “Long before anybody else noticed, Dietrich was on the parapet and calling out to anyone who would listen: this could not stand.”
The questions Bonhoeffer leaves us with
Still, controversy around the film and its subject persists. Scholar Reggie Williams, whose book on Bonhoeffer's year in America is cited in the credits, has declined to endorse it.
In prison scenes, some of Bonhoeffer’s philosophy comes to the fore as he debates an imprisoned Nazi strategist who remained committed to Hitler. Viewers must grapple with the central question of Bonhoeffer, how a man of peace would participate in a violent plot.
Paul McCusker, a Catholic dramatist who wrote and directed the Peabody Award-winning audio drama Bonhoeffer: The Cost of Freedom, said he gets why the pastor remains controversial.
“Bonhoeffer wrestled with his own theology about why a man like Hitler had to be stopped using violence,” McCusker told me. “He acknowledged that it was a singular act against a singular person. He also put to God his dilemma, asking for forgiveness if he was in the wrong.”
He added: “But he was willing to suffer the consequences, even if he was in the wrong. And he did suffer.”
Beyond politics or history, Komarnicki believes the film leaves viewers with a critical question. “What have you done for the least of these? This is what Jesus asked,” he said. “It's what Bonhoeffer asked. And it's what the movie asks.”
Bonhoeffer is Rated PG-13 for violent content, thematic elements and some smoking.
Image: Jonas Dassler as Dietrich Bonhoeffer in Bonhoeffer/Angel Studios
Freelance journalist Josh Shepherd writes on faith and culture for several media outlets. He and his family live in central Florida.
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