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Movies / On DVD / Bonhoeffer
Bonhoeffer

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Bonhoeffer (2003)

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Reviews Counted:32

Fresh:23

Rotten:9

Average Rating:6.6/10

Runtime: 90 mins

Genre: Education/General Interest

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... 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 leader of the Confessing Church, Bonhoeffer wrote and preached against the Nazi regime, using a radical new theology rooted in a mixture of traditional Christian thought, the African-American gospel of Harlem's Abyssinian Church, Gandhi's pragmatic nonviolence, and a clear-eyed response to the Nazi racism in his native Germany. Doblmeier examines Bonhoeffer's journey from novice theology student to coconspirator in a major plot to assassinate Hitler using the documentary style popularized by Ken Burns: narration accompanying slow pans across still photographs alternating with talking-head interviews with both his contemporaries (including several of Bonhoeffer's surviving students) and his spiritual/philosophical inheritors, such as South Africa's Bishop Desmond Tutu. [More]

Starring: Klaus Maria Brandauer

Starring: Klaus Maria Brandauer

Director: Martin Doblmeier

Director: Martin Doblmeier

[See More Credits]

Reviews for Bonhoeffer

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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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N/R

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Full Review Source: Urban Cinefile | comment Comment
10/18/08
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
09/03/08
Robert Koehler
Robert Koehler
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Today's church needs Bonhoeffer's example and teaching, and Doblmeier's project makes a worthy contribution to our understanding of this great man.

Full Review Source: Christianity Today | comment Comment
11/01/06
CT Staff
CT Staff
Christianity Today

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Boston Herald | comment Comment
07/16/05
Paul Sherman
Paul Sherman
Boston Herald

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Christianity Today | comment Comment
12/06/04
Jeffrey Overstreet
Jeffrey Overstreet
Christianity Today

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.

Full Review Source: Mixed Reviews | comment Comment
10/06/04
Martin Scribbs
Martin Scribbs
Mixed Reviews

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.

Full Review Source: Decent Films Guide | comment Comment
08/22/04
Steven D. Greydanus
Steven D. Greydanus
Decent Films Guide

Bonhoeffer follows the life of one prominent churchman as he develops an ethics to nourish the anti-Nazi resistence.

comment Comment
08/08/04
Martin Scribbs
Martin Scribbs
Low IQ Canadian

A solid and respectable piece about a man of enormous integrity and courage.

Full Review Source: One Guy's Opinion | comment Comment
12/30/03
Frank Swietek
Frank Swietek
One Guy's Opinion

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.

Full Review Source: Dallas Morning News | comment Comment
11/28/03
Jane Sumner
Jane Sumner
Dallas Morning News

With this much intrigue and planning, passion and conviction, political and religious controversy, this story should have been riveting, but it's not.

Full Review Source: TheMovieChicks.com | comment Comment
11/26/03
Cherryl Dawson and Leigh Ann Palone
Cherryl Dawson and Leigh Ann Palone
TheMovieChicks.com

A heroic odyssey that is illuminated with admirable clarity.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | comment Comment
10/09/03
Kevin Thomas
Kevin Thomas
Los Angeles Times
Top Critic Icon 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.

Full Review Source: L.A. Weekly | comment Comment
10/09/03
Ella Taylor
Ella Taylor
L.A. Weekly
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Sydney Morning Herald | comment Comment
09/27/03
Sydney Morning Herald

Director Martin Doblmeier has assembled an impressive array of archival material and recent interviews.

Full Review Source: Oregonian | comment Comment
09/19/03
Marc Mohan
Marc Mohan
Oregonian
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Boston Phoenix | comment Comment
08/02/03
Boston Phoenix

When its subject is as fascinating as Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a movie doesn't need bells and whistles.

Full Review Source: St. Paul Pioneer Press | comment Comment
07/22/03
Chris Hewitt (St. Paul)
Chris Hewitt (St. Paul)
St. Paul Pioneer Press

Bonhoeffer is PBS-dry at times, but its portrait of a latter-day martyr is undeniably poignant and thought-provoking.

Full Review Source: Minneapolis Star Tribune | comment Comment
07/17/03
Colin Covert
Colin Covert
Minneapolis Star Tribune

Whatever form the movie takes, it's right and fitting that such a life gets our attention.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
07/11/03
Desson Thomson
Desson Thomson
Washington Post

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.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
07/11/03
Philip Kennicott
Philip Kennicott
Washington Post
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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