Good Ruler, Bad Person

Bernie Ecclestone has today been forced to apologise after his comments about Ex German Dictator Adolf Hitler, Ecclestone commented that "the leader had a great ability to get things done". He was subsequently rapped, Jewish Chronicle editor , Stephen Pollard described Ecclestone as "either an idiot or morally repulsive". The full Sky News story is available here.

I can see where Bernie Ecclestone has gone wrong here, I think its a simple misunderstanding. Hitler was a very evil person who persucuted thousands of jews for no crime, however despite this Adolf Hitler was a very charismatic and intelligent bloke. He managed to convince the majority of the German population to follow him and his destructive policies. In the 1930's Germany was in a similar state to what the world is today, it faced a deep economic crisis and it's industrys were in turmoil. Hitler came in and rebuilt the economy and did alot for Germany. But he did alot wrong. Hitler had a strong personality, a personality and the strengths that could have been put into doing so good, unfortunatly through his own doings he used it for evil, an evil which will never be forgotton.

I think Hitler was a ruler, not a leader. He ruled his people well by bringing them to power, but he did not lead them to be decent humans. Nor did he bring himself to be a decent human being. Despite what history says, you have to admit to what a great ruler he was, and the huge amount of charisma and political talent he possessed.

Many saw evil, They dared to stop it.

World War II has always been an interest of mine, it's just something that fascinates me; I can read hundreds of articles and such to do with it for hours upon hours. I think it's just the incredible fact that humans could do this, and this could happen, you just physically can't imagine it.

Anyway, that's the main reason why I wanted to go and see Valkyrie when it was coming out. It's a true story about the courage of a group of men who could see what was happening under Hitler's regime, and their subsequent attemps to put an end to it and find some truce to World War II. Now I won't go deep into history, but the film follows these men, and specifically one of these men; "Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg" as they take part in the fifth and final attempt to assasinate Adolf Hitler.

Many reviewers of this film seem too interested in Tom Cruise, and his performance, which is not what the film is about. These sorts of films must be very hard to direct, because from the start the audience know the ending, and that can ruin the way. But the writers and directors of the film did brilliantly to keep the tense atmosphere, and pack the film with strong performances and tasty actions scenes.

This film is a true depiction of World War II, and a group of mens brave fights to bring back a Germany that they can remember. An utterly fascinating story which is easily watchable, even for those of us who aren't great movie buffs. A must watch

A small fact for you: The entire cast and crew started every night of filming on Bendler Block with a moment of silence in memory of Stauffenberg.

Another thing I noted, not related to the film, but how much money have the Beeb got to be advertising in cinemas. Too Much!