Predictably, Bonhoeffer’s portrayal in the film has triggered a vigorous historical debate. The docudrama is compelling, although extensive creative liberties were taken with regard to his involvement in the July 20 plot (the subtitle refers to him incorrectly as an “assassin”), and the nuances of Bonhoeffer’s theological views—and the tensions between his pacifism and his resistance activities—are left entirely unexplored. Some reviews, such as Joel Looper’s in First Things, have been scorching, and fair enough: the “based on a true story” disclaimer was definitely warranted.
The film has given Bonhoeffer scholars cause once again to accuse conservatives of ‘hijacking’ Bonhoeffer; many insist that, in his bestselling biography, Eric Metaxas portrayed Bonhoeffer as an American evangelical rather than the complex German theologian that he was. And indeed, Bonhoeffer’s theological views were, in many instances, far from orthodox.
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