A Redenção: A História Real de Bonhoeffer

Well clarified the passion and resolve of B and the confessing church. Loved the flashback model, the cast was well selected, the film moved along well. Loved the portrayal of B's relationship with his brother Walter and the depth of family connection and love. Being that the plight of the Jewish people under Hitler was a central focus I was surprised there was no mention of B's twin sister being married to a Jewish man and moving to England. Well done over all. I shed tears and wish I will one day be as courageous as B if faced with such choices. Thanks for producing this film. I recommend it.

"Bonhoeffer" is a movie with an important message for the United States in 2024 -- sadly! The importance of standing up to the forces of evil, repression, hatred, discrimination and fascism cannot be said loudly or often enough.

As a "bio pic," the film takes historical liberties in retelling the life of theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer, but does a credible job of portraying his deep faith, the fervor of his Christian convictions, and his dedication to the anti-Nazi struggle which ultimately cost him his life. Pastor Bonhoeffer was indeed a mid-century hero, and this film presents him as such.

The movie's biggest shortcoming was in failing to capture and represent the great drama and conflicts that underlaid Bonhoeffer's personal relationships and passionate religious/political commitments. Emotionally the story fell flat (for me) at key junctures, even to the extent of lacking much affect at points of high drama. As a result I didn't feel as connected or engaged to the title character as I wanted to be.

Nonetheless, I recommend this film; it deserves wide viewership.

Well-filmed and acted. However, the film spent an inordinate amount of time on Bonhoeffer's 1930 trip to New York and his supposed fascination with gospel music and jazz. In point of fact, his later prison letters reveal the lasting influence of the traditional Lutheran chorales and the hymns of Paul Gerhardt on his theology and piety. There was no mention whatsoever of his engagement to Maria von Wedemeyer (eighteen years his junior), with whom he exchanged dozens of letters during his imprisonment (1943-1945), and later published as 'Love Letters from Cell 92.' It was Maria's grandmother who funded the Confessing Church's seminary at Finkenwalde where Bonhoeffer championed a kind of 'new monasticism' for the seminarians-with traditional chorales and an ordered praying of the psalms. A plot line that wove Maria into the end of Bonhoeffer's life would have raised some compelling questions-such as, Why get engaged if the/your world is about to end? All that being said, it is good that a film of Bonhoeffer was produced, bringing his story of fighting for truth to a wider audience.

I agree with other reviews that found two major faults with this movie.

AUTHOR. The movie tells us (in the scripts) that B wrote many many books about faith. Yet the movie itself never shows him writing or publishing or discussing any books. The most we see is B writing his thoughts in a journal.

ASSASSIN. Yes historically there were many failed plots to assassinate Hitler, and in fact the movie shows us such a plot. But there are no facts in the movie to show that B was ever arrested or charged with this. It's a very serious gap in the story.

BOTTOM LINE. I'm sorry, but I think B deserves a better script and a livelier story. The movie Valkarie with Tom Cruise (a non religious story) that depicts a failed assassination attempt on Hitler is a good example.

The Bonhoeffer movie could have used a lot more action to break up what were tedious conversations about faith in the face of evil.

I love Angel studios productions. But this was strenuous to keep up with, the bouncing back and forth in time was difficult to follow, and truthfully I fell asleep several times. I wanted to like it, but just couldn't recommend this one. I did not previously know this person, and this movie did not help me understand his importance to history. Scattered, broken, no continuity. It would leave your head spinning but so slow its all you can do not to nod off. Acting was good, characters believable, but the storyline was just too broken. Too hard to keep up with. Not enough reasons to understand and care about the main character.