Komarnicki starts way back when Bonhoeffer was a boy in short-pants, as biopics often do, but in his case, they were lederhosen. However, there is good reason to show the young Bonhoeffer grieving his beloved older brother’s death in WWI. We also see his rigid, upright father Karl starting to question Germany’s militant propaganda. Flashing forward several years, we find Bonhoeffer a bright seminarian, studying abroad in Harlem, where he discovers jazz and the charismatic preaching style of Rev. Adam Clayton Powell, Sr. His American friend Frank Fisher also introduces him to both racial injustice and the organized campaign to defeat it.
Altogether, Bonhoeffer receives quite an education that convinces him the staid German Lutheran Church needs something like another Reformation, to reconnect it to the common people. However, when he finally returns home, he discovers his church is even worse than he remembers it. In his absence, the German Lutheran establishment has been thoroughly coopted by the Nazis, whose approved priests literally spew propaganda from the pulpit.
When the prodigal seminarian rises his homecoming sermon, Bonhoeffer gives a fiery condemnation of what he justly describes as militant blasphemy. Obviously, it is a Rubicon-crossing moment for him, but also for his friend, Pastor Martin Niemoller, who will soon top Bonhoeffer’s sermon with his own blistering indictment. Soon thereafter, the Gestapo arrests Niemoller, launching Bonhoeffer’s career as an underground organizer, international consciousness-raiser (or truth-telling propagandist), and Resistance collaborator.
Admittedly, the “Spy” and “Assassin” parts of the subtitle greatly overstate matters, but they are highly marketable buzz-words. “Pastor. Rebel. Martyr” probably would have been more accurate. Regardless, Komarnicki deserves some sort of honor for staging what most the top two most electrifying homilies ever immortalized on film. Ironically, even though this film tells Bonhoeffer’s story, the quote many viewers will recognize will be Niemoller’s “First they came for…” poem.
Fortunately, both Jonas Dassler and August Diehl do the words of Bonhoeffer and Niemoller full justice. Dassler’s slow-building performance aptly suits the film, because his scholarly reserve steadily blossoms into a rather forceful, if still bookish, charisma. Likewise, Diehl nicely portray the guilt-driven zeal of Niemoller.
Moritz Bleibtrau’s unshowy supporting turn as Karl Bonhoeffer might be overlooked by many less-thorough critics, but it is quite poignant in subtly quiet ways. Plus, Clarke Peters adds a lot of old school religious energy as Rev. Powell. However, all the National Socialists are rather undistinguishable and interchangeable. Perhaps Komarnicki did not want to elevate any of Bonhoeffer’s tormentors, but the film would benefit from a stronger antagonistic figure.
The impulse to protect Bonhoeffer’s image and reputation is understandable, but arguably, much of this criticism misses the forest for the trees. No filmmaker is likely to give equivalent screentime to Bonhoeffer’s theology. Frankly, Komarnicki’s depiction of Bonhoeffer is shockingly resonant, especially when he condemns the Nazi clergy for sacrilege, because they hailed Hitler as a “prophet.” Scenes like that will stay with viewers—and not so many films can make a similar claim. Highly recommended for thoughtfully handling themes of faith and sacrifice, Bonhoeffer: Pastor. Spy. Assassin opens this Friday (11/22).
