Bonhoeffer: Agent of Grace (2000)

**_A Lutheran Minister in Germany resists the Nazis during WW2_**

“Bonhoeffer: Agent of Grace” (2000) focuses on what was going on behind-the-scenes in Germany from 1939-1945. It concentrates on Germans who opposed Hitler’s despotic policies, including references to the famous 20 July plot to assassinate der Führer in 1944, which brings to mind "Triple Cross" and “Night of the Generals” from the ’60s and future movies like "Valkyrie" and “Rommel.” Like those flicks and “Black Book” (aka “Zwartboek”), this is a good choice if you're in the mood for the décor and intrigues of WW2 minus the battles.

Be forewarned, though, that this is the most dramatic of them all and therefore dialogue-driven with few conventional thrills, which is understandable since the protagonist is a minister with half the story focusing on his time imprisoned by the Gestapo. Despite being television production, the acting is first-rate with Bonhoeffer being convincingly fleshed-out by Ulrich Tukur; and the Gestapo leader, played by Robert Joy, bringing to mind Christoph Waltz in the later “Inglourious Basterds.”

Winsome Johanna Klante is almost worth the price of admission as Dietrich’s young fiancée (when he was 35 in 1941, she was only 17). I also liked the commentary on justifiable lying: Was Bonhoeffer right to not tell the Gestapo the truth? Are you obligated to divulge the truth to morally compromised people with evil motives? For instance, if lying in a situation saves innocent lives, is it justifiable? An obvious example from the Scriptures is the Hebrew midwives who lied to the king of Egypt to save male babies in Exodus 1:15-21. Thus, God blessed ’em.

It runs 1 hours, 26 minutes, and was shot in Toronto, Prague and Berlin.

GRADE: B