Today's church needs Bonhoeffer's example and teaching, and Doblmeier's project makes a worthy contribution to our understanding of this great man.
Comment
11/01/06
Bonhoeffer (2003)
72 %
Reviews Counted: 32 Fresh: 23 Rotten:9 Average Rating: 6.6/10
Runtime: 90 mins
Synopsis: One of the few clear voices of resistance to Hitler in 1930s Germany was also a rare dissenter from the tacit collaborators of the era's Christian churches: theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer, whose efforts are chronicled in this film from director Martin Doblmeier. A pacifist, author, and... [More]
Genre: Education/General Interest
Starring: Klaus Maria Brandauer
Director: Martin Doblmeier
Reviews
Bonhoeffer doesn't probe as deeply as one might like into the details and implications of his theology, but is an invaluable study of a man of conscience.
10/06/04
To its credit, the film examines Bonhoeffer's life and thought in an expressly theological light… [His ideas] are as integral to the portrait as his resistance work.
08/22/04
Bonhoeffer follows the life of one prominent churchman as he develops an ethics to nourish the anti-Nazi resistence.
08/08/04
A solid and respectable piece about a man of enormous integrity and courage.
12/30/03
There is more to the philosophy and faith of Dietrich Bonhoeffer than a 90-minute documentary can begin to cover, but this is a powerful and timely introduction.
11/28/03
With this much intrigue and planning, passion and conviction, political and religious controversy, this story should have been riveting, but it's not.
11/26/03
Top Critic
Though we get little sense of Bonhoeffer the man, the film remains a fascinating account of the evolution of his revisionist thought, which led to a theological justification of collective and, if necessary, violent resistance to tyranny.
10/09/03
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09/27/03
Director Martin Doblmeier has assembled an impressive array of archival material and recent interviews.
09/19/03
When its subject is as fascinating as Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a movie doesn't need bells and whistles.
07/22/03
Bonhoeffer is PBS-dry at times, but its portrait of a latter-day martyr is undeniably poignant and thought-provoking.
07/17/03
Whatever form the movie takes, it's right and fitting that such a life gets our attention.
07/11/03
There is both spiritual and historical substance in the things said, and such obvious reverence for the subject, that the film ultimately has a charming charmlessness.
07/11/03
It never quite escapes the classroom and church group, and it seems a little too content to view Bonhoeffer as a martyr.
07/11/03
“Bonhoeffer” is a sometimes-fascinating piece of historical work, especially for the amateur scholars interested in all things about the rise and fall of the Nazis, but loses steam when it shifts to the courageous, bland life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer.
07/10/03
The documentary "Bonhoeffer" is certainly interesting due to its subject, but not very cinematic or emotionally engaging
07/10/03
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