Post by Erika on Apr 2, 2008 12:31:00 GMT -5
Germany honours Red Baron war hero
Wednesday, April 2 2008, 12:20 BST
By Simon Reynolds, Entertainment Reporter
Germany has broken a national taboo by releasing a film about World War I pilot the Red Baron, The Times reports.
The adventure film honours war hero Manfred von Richthofen, who shot down 80 British, Canadian and Australian aircraft between 1916 and 1918.
“There are strong voices in Germany that still say we should not be doing this,” said Nikolai Müllerschön, Red Baron’s writer-director.
However, Müllerschön added that his film “makes a clear statement against war. Richthofen says that the world has been turned into a slaughterhouse.”
The German government had been reticent to talk about the Red Baron after the Nazi party endorsed him as a national hero in World War II. Germany has since acknowledged Count Claus von Stauffenberg’s attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler in several films. The story is also the focus of the upcoming Tom Cruise film Valkyrie.
Actor Matthias Schweighöfer, who plays the Red Baron, said: “He is the forerunner of today’s megastars.”
The film also stars British actors Joseph Fiennes (Running with Scissors) and Lena Headey (TV’s The Sarah Connor Chronicles).
Source
Wednesday, April 2 2008, 12:20 BST
By Simon Reynolds, Entertainment Reporter
Germany has broken a national taboo by releasing a film about World War I pilot the Red Baron, The Times reports.
The adventure film honours war hero Manfred von Richthofen, who shot down 80 British, Canadian and Australian aircraft between 1916 and 1918.
“There are strong voices in Germany that still say we should not be doing this,” said Nikolai Müllerschön, Red Baron’s writer-director.
However, Müllerschön added that his film “makes a clear statement against war. Richthofen says that the world has been turned into a slaughterhouse.”
The German government had been reticent to talk about the Red Baron after the Nazi party endorsed him as a national hero in World War II. Germany has since acknowledged Count Claus von Stauffenberg’s attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler in several films. The story is also the focus of the upcoming Tom Cruise film Valkyrie.
Actor Matthias Schweighöfer, who plays the Red Baron, said: “He is the forerunner of today’s megastars.”
The film also stars British actors Joseph Fiennes (Running with Scissors) and Lena Headey (TV’s The Sarah Connor Chronicles).
Source
