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And that is precisely the film's point: the Holocaust intimates the palpable presence of God's absence. How could God's Chosen People be so egregiously abused? Why did the Church not take dramatic action when it heard reports of genocide? How might we explain the failure of numerous attempts on Hitler's life? Who is out there that might cleanse us of the cleansers?
Tom Cruise, that's who. At least, that is what the recent film Valkyrie suggests. The contrast between the European-made Amen., with all its moral ambiguities, and the American made Valkyrie, with its Mission Impossible leading man, is telling. The difference parallels that of the directors. Costa-Gavras (born Constantinos Gavras in 1933, in Greece, but long a resident of France) is best known for his gritty political thrillers Z (1969), State of Siege (1973), and Missing (1982). The director of Valkyrie, Bryan Singer (born 1965), achieved fame with comic book films: two X-Men movies (2000 and 2003) and Superman Returns (2006). His superhero for Valkyrie (2008) is Claus von Stauffenberg, a colonel recruited by German officers to join the famous 1944 plot to assassinate Hitler. Significantly, like the X-Men heroes, Stauffenberg bears physical disabilities, having lost an eye, a hand, and additional fingers in the war. Tom Cruise plays him with austere rectitude and control, undaunted as brain and marrow of the cause.
To be fair, Valkyrie adheres dutifully to the historical record—more so, in fact, than Amen., which generated controversy when it showed Vatican leaders breezily dismissing reports from the fictional priest. Valkyrie, however, delivers the facts without emotional or psychological depth. Amen.'s Gerstein is traumatized by his role, torn between his commitment to Christ and his allegiance to Germany, between his horror over ethnic cleansing and his fear that exposing Nazi atrocities will lead to his death. In contrast, Stauffenberg demonstrates the same moral stolidity as Professor Xavier (read "Savior") in X-Men, unswervingly maintaining his commitment to undermine evil.
Valkyrie does not invite us to agonize over God's apparent absence when guardian angels (devils?) repeatedly protect Hitler from harm. It offers us absence only to reinforce Stauffenberg's superhero status. When someone greets him with the "Heil Hitler" salute, Stauffenberg mimics the stiff-armed gesture to maintain his cover. A close-up shot, however, magnifies the absence of a hand at the end of his extended limb: a perfect synecdoche of his character. Though going through the motions of supporting Hitler, the hand of Stauffenberg is elsewhere, joined with those of other noble Germans attempting to cleanse Germany of the Nazis.
The difference between Amen. and Valkyrie is summarized by their endings. Gerstein, captured by Allied forces, dies in jail. But, as with Jews behind walls, we don't see the death; a prison guard reports it. We exit the film baffled: did Allied soldiers, or perhaps disgruntled Germans, kill Gerstein because he was an ss officer? Or did fellow ss officers kill Gerstein because he betrayed Hitler? The official account, that he committed suicide in prison, has been questioned. The ambiguities of Gerstein's death match the ambiguities of his life.
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