13 Minutes

Oliver Hirschbiegel stepped out of the bunker into the shadows to depict the motives of one of many would-be assassins who, despite their efforts, let Hitler fulfill the adage: “if you want something done right, do it yourself.” The act of a pacifist lone wolf, long exhibiting signs of conspiracy, isn’t the central theme here. Rather, it’s the human disillusionment with the events around him and the bubbling courage of an individual to do something about it. A lot of people could have spared themselves the nerves, worries, and even their lives if old Alois had, during a sudden tension in the summer of 1888, dealt with this defective batch with a few hand movements over the corner of a kitchen cloth. But can we be sure that someone with similar views wouldn’t have taken his place, someone who might have made fewer mistakes leading to defeat? Maybe it was all meant to be. Even the bomb, which the target didn’t wait thirteen minutes for. (11/11/2022)

The well-known German director Oliver Hirschbiegel has made a nice tribute to an extraordinarily brave man with a high standards of morality, who was just one step short of making a significant impact on the course of world history. A brave man is not one who fears nothing. He is the one who, in spite of his fear, is determined to act. And that is exactly the kind of man woodworker and watchmaker Johann Georg Elser was. (80%) (02/24/2023)