"Elser" is a German movie from this year that runs slightly under 2 hours. The director is Oliver Hirschbiegel and you may have seen his Oscar nominee "Der Untergang" or "Das Experiment". This one here is his newest work and just like "Der Untergang", it is another movie closely related to Nazi Germany. Fred and Léonie-Claire Breinersdorfer is a father-daughter pairing and we will probably see more of them in the future. The woman has worked mostly on television so far, while her father has written the Oscar nominated "Sophie Scholl" among other films.

The lead actor is Christian Friedel, who you may or may not have seen in Michael Haneke's "Das weiße Band". Just like in that one, Friedel plays alongside Burghart Klaußner, who plays the biggest supporting character here. Of course, Friedel plays the title character in this one. Georg Elser was German resistance fighter who tried to assassinate Hitler long before Stauffenberg and yet the latter has many films (inclusing Tom Cruise's) made about him why Elser has almost none. I saw Klaus Maria Brandauer played him once roughly 25 years ago, but even that movie hardly anybody saw. So why isn't Elser more famous in film. I can only speculate here. Maybe there is not enough known about his life before or after the assassination attempt or maybe he simply is not an interesting character.

In any case, I just checked for Katharina Schüttler's character and I cannot find anything about a woman named Elsa in Elser's life. Also I cannot see how closely Nebe really was to Elser. Yes he probably played a role in a later assassination attempt, but did he really know and directly meet Elser? I guess it may be true that we simply do not know enough about the real Elser to make this a fascinating and authentic watch. About Katharina Schüttler, I kind of like her as an actress, but somehow I feel her characters, especially the historic ones, are frequently very similar, so that it looks to me that she keeps playing the same characters. I hope she will get out of that niche soon. I'm sure she has the talent. Burghart Klaußner is easily one of my favorite actors and I was certainly curious about him in this one as he also scored another German Film Awards nomination, but as a whole I was sadly fairly underwhelmed by him. I guess the character was not written interestingly enough for Klaußner to make a lasting impression like he did with Fritz Bauer recently. Johann von Bülow plays the epitome evil Nazi official, something we have seen a hundred times already in the same manner.

This is also generally the problem of the movie: The only thing somewhat innovative here is that the title character is fairly unknown today, but the story and everything they constructed around him was not innovative by any means. Of course, it's difficult to bring something new to the table with all these Nazi movies made, but Hirschbiegel has done it before, so I am a bit disappointed it became all so generic here. One interesting elaboration could have been for example why Elser wasn't killed right away after he confessed, but lived on for another 5 years. Pretty strange if you try to kill the Fuehrer isn't it? And maybe Neve should have gotten his own movie. He felt a bit wasted here. Still, all in all, not a bad watch by any means, just a mediocre script that does not do justice to the character of Georg Elser I am sure. Could have been a lot more this movie. Still worth a watch for everybody with an interest in German history of the 20th century.

Obviously this being based on an actual event (or events for that matter),this had to be made with great care. And you can feel the weight that lies upon this movie. But it never falters under it. It does stand its ground, which is a tough thing to do. Even tougher when you realize how many movies about Hitler have been made and what they all try to accomplish.

While it is based on something that happened, as with almost every other movie, it takes a couple of liberties. One of them being the time-line jumps. You may be in the "present" (that's late 40s for you),but the movie always skips back and looks on things that are being discussed or generally a look on the character and what he's been through. Not as much as some others obviously, having friends and what not, but still a more than engaging story that is worth telling indeed

In November 1939, Georg Elser's (Christian Friedel) attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler fails , and he is arrested . During his confinement , the man who recognized the danger emanating from Hitler sooner than many others recalls the events -by means of flashbacks- leading up to his plot and his reasons for deciding to take such drastic action . As it relates the background of the failed attack in the Bürgerbräukeller . As the exciting story takes us from his early years in the Swabian Alps - when National Socialism arrived in his hometown . Meanwhile , Gestapo detains his girlfriend Elsa (Katharina Schüttler). At the end takes us to his last days at the Dachau concentration camp .

This acceptable and intriguing movie deals with the resistance fighter George Elser , a man who could have changed world history and saved millions of human lives. His life and the famous event from how was orchestrated the dangerous , risked plot was professionally directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel . The film is correctly based on true events and real Nazis characters and well played by a fine plethora of German actors such as Christian Friedel , Katharina Schüttler and Burghart Klaußner as Nebe . The movie gives an actual , suspenseful, emotional portrayal of Georg Elser ; packing intense drama , thrills , chills , brutal tortures and portentous interpretations . There is a meticulous and cruelty description of tortures . Torture scenes being depicted in great detail and crudity , though it results to be shocking and excessive , displaying a detailed exploitation violence . Efficiently directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel , though with no originality ¨. At the beginning , Oliver directed some episodes of TV series as Kommissar Rex and Baby Rex . His greatest hit smash is , of course , the magnificent ¨Downfall¨ and working for Hollywood in : ¨The invasion¨ with Nicole Kidman and shooting ¨Five minutes of heaven¨ . His greatest hits were ¨The experiment¨ and ¨The downfall¨.

The picture is well based on historical events , these are the followings : on 8 November 1939 Elser carried out a failed attempt to assassinate Hitler and other high-ranking Nazi leaders , he , then is detained . A time bomb that Elser constructed and placed near the speaking platform failed to kill Hitler, who left earlier than expected, but killed eight people and injured over sixty-two others. Unknown to Elser, Hitler had initially cancelled his speech at the Bürgerbräukeller to devote his attention to planning the imminent war with France, but changed his mind and attended after all. As Hitler ordered Heinrich Himmler to put Arthur Nebe , head of Kripo (Criminal Police),in charge of the investigation into the Munich bombing. Himmler did this, but also assigned total control of the investigation to the chief of the Gestapo, Heinrich Müller. Müller immediately ordered the arrest of all Bürgerbräukeller personnel, while Nebe ran the onsite investigation, sifting through the debris. Nebe had early success, finding the remains of brass plates bearing patent numbers of a clock maker in Schwenningen, Baden-Würtemberg. Despite the clear evidence of the German make, Himmler released to the press that the metal parts pointed to 'foreign origin' . Himmler offered a reward of 500,000 marks for information leading to the capture of the culprits, and the Gestapo was soon deluged with hundreds of suspects. Elser was transferred from Múnich prison to to Berlin Gestapo Headquarters . His parents, siblings and their spouses, together with his former girlfriend Else Härlen, were taken by train to Berlin to be held in Moabit prison and then in the grand Hotel Kaiserhof . His mother, sister Maria Hirth, brother-in-law Karl Hirth and Else Härlen were also cruelly interrogated . Apart from Maria Hirth and her husband, who were considered accomplices and imprisoned for over one year, the family members and Else Härlen were allowed to return home . Elser was held as a prisoner for over five years until executed at the Dachau concentration camp.