HSK Exam - German anti-Nazi hero backs Cruise in film on plot to kill Hitler

ENTERTAINMENT / Movies






German anti-Nazi hero backs Cruise in film on plot to kill Hitler

(AFP)
Updated: 2007-07-11 09:37





Tom Cruise received backing for his contested plans to play the
mastermind behind a daring bid
to assassinate Adolf Hitler from one of the real-life hero's fellow
conspirators,
Philipp Freiherr von Boeselager, seen here in 2004 in Kreuzberg.[AFP]

Tom Cruise received backing Tuesday for his contested plans to play the
mastermind behind a daring bid to assassinate Adolf Hitler from one of
the real-life hero's fellow conspirators.

Philipp Freiherr von Boeselager, 89, told the German daily Bild that the
uproar in Germany over the Hollywood star's links to the Church of
Scientology in no way disqualified him to play Count Claus Schenk von
Stauffenberg.

"I think it is good that Cruise is playing Stauffenberg," Boeselager said
in an interview to be printed Wednesday.

"He is a good actor. But he must not be allowed to advertise for
Scientology with the movie."

Filming is to begin next week in Berlin on "Valkyrie," named after the
code name of the plot.

But the city authorities have restricted where the crew can film and some
German officials have expressed discomfort with the idea of Cruise, a
dedicated Scientologist, playing a national hero and martyr.

Germany considers the Scientology movement a commercial operation that
exploits vulnerable people.

Boeselager belonged to Stauffenberg's cadre of aristocratic military
officers who conspired to kill Hitler in 1944.

The group planted a bomb under a table in Hitler's eastern headquarters
in East Prussia.

But the Nazi leader escaped with slight injuries because an officer had
moved the briefcase containing the explosives behind a sturdy leg of the
oak table.

Stauffenberg was rounded up that night and executed by firing squad along
with other officers at the Bendlerblock, then the army headquarters in
Berlin and now a memorial to the German resistance.

Boeselager, who had acquired the explosives used in the attacks, said he
believed the Hollywood thriller had an important message to send to
international audiences.

"I hope that the German resistance will become more well-known thanks to
the film. People know so little about it in the United States."

In Germany, the group is under observation by the Federal Office for the
Protection of the Constitution and several state security watchdogs.

But it is no longer being monitored by the Berlin authorities after a
successful court challenge by the group.

The US-based Church of Scientology is also regarded with suspicion in
European countries such as France and Belgium.

"Valkyrie" is directed by Bryan Singer and co-written by Christopher
McQuarrie, the team behind the Oscar-winning 1995 thriller "The Usual
Suspects".

























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