Bonhoeffer (also known as Bonhoeffer: Pastor. Spy. Assassin.) is a 2024 German biographical historical drama/thriller film.
It chronicles the life of the famous German Lutheran pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer
, who participated in the anti-Nazi resistance and was executed in the closing weeks of the European part of World War II. Shown as a series of flashbacks, the movie highlights key moments in Bonhoeffer‘s life from his childhood in Bavaria through his arrest and eventual murder by the Nazis.
Jonas Dassler plays Bonhoeffer, and the film also has a supporting cast including August Diehl, Flula Borg, Moritz Bleibtreu and Clarke Peters.
Tropes featured in Bonhoeffer include:
- All Germans Are Nazis: Bishop Bell tells Bonhoeffer that Winston Churchill sees all Germans as ardent supporters of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party. Bonhoeffer tries to convince Bell this isn’t the case. Bell responds that he already tried to tell Churchill that but his arguments fell on deaf ears.
- Angry White Man: The motel owner in the case where Bonhoeffer tries to rent a room for himself and his African-American friend Fisher certainly qualifies as such a person.
- Apocalyptic Log: Bonhoeffer keeps one during his time as a political prisoner. Just before his death he arranges with a sympathetic German guard named Knobloch to have him return the diary to his mother.
- Artistic License – History: The murders of Bonhoeffer and his fellow resistance members took place at Flossenbürg concentration camp, and not outside a small home as shown in the film. The real execution was far more graphic than presented in the film, with Bonhoeffer and those killed alongside him forced to undress and hanged naked.
- Assassination Attempt:
- The German resistance tries to kill Hitler at an armory with an explosive device. However the attempt fails when Hitler senses that something is wrong and leaves the armory early.
- The failed July 1944 attempt to assassinate Hitler is used as an excuse to murder Bonhoeffer. note
- Badass Preacher: Both Bonhoeffer and his friend Martin Niemöller qualify. Both men take a stand against the Nazis.
- Bonhoeffer has the opportunity to sit out the war in the United States or the United Kingdom but refuses because he feels he can do more good in Germany.
- It takes Niemöller a bit longer to come around. He spends the first part of the film urging Bonhoeffer to keep his head down and go with the flow, but he eventually comes around and condemns Nazism from the pulpit. Later that evening, the Nazis come around to arrest Niemöller. note
- Cool People Rebel Against Authority:
- Bonhoeffer first rebels against his religious superiors, who by and large were little more than Nazi stooges by the time the events of the film take place. From there he moves on to opposing the Nazi government as best he can. He later joins the abwher since a number of people within the agency don't really like Hitler and the Nazis, but is unable to put a stop to Hitler on his own.
- As mentioned above, it takes Niemöller a bit to come around but he eventually does speak out against the Nazis from the pulpit, giving an early version of his famous "First they came for the..." speech during a sermon.
- Cool Teacher:
- Averted by Bonhoeffer's Professor at Union Seminary in New York City, who bores the daylights out of his students.
- Bonhoeffer later volunteers as a Sunday School teacher at Abyssinian Baptist Church, where he uses unorthodox methods to impart his knowledge to the children of the congregation.
- Corrupt Church: The movie shows how the existing German church was co-opted and corrupted by the Nazis and clergy in league with them.
- Does This Remind You of Anything?: After Bonhoeffer returns from his seminary studies in the United States, his family warns him of how angry the country has become. They also warn him how one man has twisted the suffering of the average German citizen to his benefit.
- Foregone Conclusion: Since this movie is based on Bonhoeffer‘s life, it’s a given the movie would end with Bonhoeffer‘s murder.
- Great Offscreen War: In the first part of the movie World War I is happening in the background. As the Bonhoeffer family estate is well away from the front lines it is largely untouched. However, Bonhoeffer’s elder brother Walter leaves to defend his country, with tragically predictable results.
- The Heretic: One of Bonhoeffer‘s students at the underground seminary points out how he had been excommunicated by the official church.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Shortly before his death Bonhoeffer is given the chance to escape by Knobloch. He refuses even though he knows it'll result in his death soon afterwards on the grounds that: (a) he'd never make it out of Germany; (b) it would result in the deaths of his family members; and (c) it would also result in reprisals against Knobloch's family.
- Kidnapped by an Ally: After returning to Germany from his first trip to the United Kingdom, Bonhoeffer is immediately kidnapped by German resistance members posing as Gestapo before the Nazis can arrest him, and smuggle him to an underground seminary where he can live in temporary safety.
- The Mole: There is one in the abwehr who informs the resistance of the full extent of Nazi atrocities. This leads the resistance to decide they have to take Hitler out as soon as possible.
- My Country, Right or Wrong: Bonhoeffer and his fellow resistance members love Germany and subscribe to the often forgotten part of the saying. Namely, “if wrong, to be set right.”
- Never Split the Party: Niemöller and some of Bonhoeffer's other colleagues initially resist splitting off from the official reichskirche, feeling that they could work within the church to make things better. It's not until they see how deep the corruption is that they finally decide to split off and form Germany's Confessing Church.
- Never Trust a Title: The title implies that Bonhoeffer took an active role in assassination attempts against Hitler and other Nazis, which was not the case in the movie.
- Paint It Black: At one point Bonhoeffer asks how long it'll be until the entire country is painted black.
- Realpolitik: Part of the reason Churchill refuses to help the German resistance in the lead up to World War II is because he fears no matter what any help the British provide will be tracked back to them, and this would give the Nazis the justification they need to declare war on the United Kingdom.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here!: Increasingly disgusted with Bishop Müller's pro-Nazi sermon, Bonhoeffer gets up and leaves in the middle of the sermon.
- Sinister Minister: Bishop Müller is clearly such a clergy member, as his sole reason for being in a pulpit soon becomes to prop up Hitler and the Nazis. He later walks out in the middle of a sermon Bonhoeffer gives condemning the co-option of the existing church by the Nazis. note
- To Be Lawful or Good: This is something that Bonhoeffer and his friends and allies struggle with throughout the film. If they take the lawful tact they could live in safety through most of the Nazi regime. However, if they take the good tact they’ll be in danger from the entire Nazi government. Bonhoeffer and Niemöller both decide to be good even though it’s not lawful.
- Translation Convention: Many of the Germans in the film are mostly shown speaking in unaccented English. However, untranslated German is used by Nazi guards when they are yelling at people, due to the harsh sounds of the German language when it is used in that manner.
- You Are Too Late: Most of Bonhoeffer's friends and family in Germany at first see little threat in the Nazi movement. However the movement continues to grow, and by the time people wake up to that fact it's too late as Nazism has taken over the country.
