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BONHOEFFER

Do Christians cause more trouble when they take their faith seriously or when they just go through the motions? Complacency countenances evil but also avoids intolerance and persecution, whereas a more hands-on approach to faith motivated both the Inquisition and Dietrich Bonhoeffer (Philip Seymour Hoffman should play him if the story is ever dramatized), the German theologian who was executed for plotting to assassinate Adolf Hitler.

That’s one of the questions bruited but never really explored in Martin Doblmeier’s respectful but uninspired documentary. A distinguished compilation of talking heads (surviving friends, students, the sister of his fiancée, as well as contemporary theologians, historians, and figures like Archbishop Desmond Tutu) intercut with archival footage, a voiceover narrative, and readings from Bonhoeffer’s own writings (by Klaus Maria Brandauer) tell the story of the pacifist believer in the literal truth of the Sermon of the Mount who made the transition from detached contemplation of an insidious evil to active participation in its defeat. How and why he made such a choice and what he felt remain mysteries, but his dilemma is now, and always will be, urgently relevant. (91 minutes)

BY PETER KEOUGH

Issue Date: July 11 - July 17, 2003
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