13 Minutes (2015 film)
13 Minutes | |
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Directed by | Oliver Hirschbiegel |
Written by |
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Produced by |
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Starring | Christian Friedel |
Cinematography | Judith Kaufmann |
Edited by | Alexander Dittner |
Music by | David Holmes |
Production company | Lucky Bird Pictures[1] |
Distributed by | NFP marketing & distribution |
Release dates |
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Running time | 114 minutes |
Country | Germany |
Language | German |
13 Minutes (
It was screened out of competition at the
Plot
In November 1939, after planting a home-made bomb inside a column of a Munich
The German security services find incriminating evidence on Elser and link him to the assassination attempt. They believe Elser must have been working with a group of conspirators and proceed to torture Elser. They also round up members of his family from his home village, including Else Härlen (Katharina Schüttler), a married woman Elser has been seeing.
When Else is brought before Elser, he fears for her life and tells
Through flashbacks it is learned that Elser came to despise the Nazis and saw that Hitler needed to be removed to save Germany. Following his arrest, Elser was kept in concentration camps for five years and was shot a few days before American forces liberated Dachau concentration camp, a few weeks before the war ended. In his last days he hears that Arthur Nebe has been killed for his part in the July assassination plot.
Elser is now regarded as a
Cast
- Christian Friedel as Georg Elser
- Katharina Schüttler as Else Härlen
- Burghart Klaußner as Arthur Nebe
- Johann von Bülow as Heinrich Müller
- Felix Eitner as Eberle
- David Zimmerschied as Josef Schurr
- Rüdiger Klink as Erich
- Simon Licht as SS Obergruppenführer
- Cornelia Köndgen as Maria Elser
- Martin Maria Abram as Ludwig Elser
- Michael Kranz as Franz Xaver Lechner
Critical reception
The film has been received generally positively by critics, holding a 76% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The site's critical consensus reads, "13 Minutes explores an oft-neglected corner of World War II history with just enough craft and narrative momentum to offset a disappointing lack of subtlety."[5] The review in The Guardian newspaper noted the film as "...a heartfelt study of a man who tried to kill Hitler". The newspaper was also very complimentary about Christian Friedel's performance as Elser.[6]
However, the entertainment magazine Variety was less impressed, saying "... the absence of subtlety combined with predictable dollops of sentimentalism once again trivialize events in the name of making them understandable".[7] In The Daily Telegraph's review, the reviewer noted the film as having an "...overbearing sentimentalism and lacquered, Oscar-hungry sheen".[8]
References
- ^ "13 Minutes by Oliver Hirschbiegel". Beta Cinema. Archived from the original on 22 December 2015. Retrieved 14 December 2015.
- ^ "Berlinale 2015: Competition Complete". berlinale.de. Archived from the original on 27 March 2015. Retrieved 28 January 2015.
- ^ "Germany Picks Final Eight Titles to Vie for Oscar Submission". IndieWire. 13 August 2015. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 13 August 2015.
- ^ Roxborough, Scott (27 August 2015). "Oscars: Germany Picks 'Labryinth of Lies' for Foreign Language Category". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 27 August 2015.
- ^ "13 Minutes". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Retrieved 10 October 2021.
- ^ Bradshaw, Peter (16 July 2015). "13 Minutes review – a heartfelt study of a man who tried to kill Hitler". The Guardian. Retrieved 28 March 2016.
- ^ Weissberg, Jay (12 February 2015). "Berlin Film Review: '13 Minutes'". Variety. Retrieved 28 March 2016.
- ^ Smith, Patrick (16 July 2015). "13 Minutes review: 'Subtle it is not'". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 28 March 2016.
External links
- 13 Minutes at IMDb