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Tom Cruise vs. Germany: It's a Tie Game

For those of you keeping score, Germany appears to be ahead in the ongoing match between the former Weimar Republic and Scientologist Tom Cruise. Cruise wants to film his World War II epic, Valkyrie in Berlin, in various official government buildings. The grandson of the man whom Cruise will portray in the film is furious that Cruise is desecrating the memory of his father, a hero who tried his best to assassinate Hitler. Germany first banned Cruise from making the film at all because he's part of Scientology, because it is a banned cult. But now, he can make the film in Germany, but won't be allowed to film in any official buildings. Got all that?

After considerable confusion about whether or not the pic would be granted the necessary permits, and the role Cruise's high-profile association with the Church of Scientology was playing in the decision, the Finance Ministry has declined producers of the film permission to shoot at a Defense Ministry building where German officer Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg, played by Cruise in the film, was executed for attempting to assassinate Adolf Hitler.

The site, known as the Bendlerblock building, is now a memorial to Stauffenberg and other conspirators of the failed plot, which was codenamed "Operation Valkyrie." Singer's pic continues to enjoy plenty of support from the local community, however. Writing in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, the director of "The Lives of Others," said Cruise's star power would make the neglected story of Stauffenberg's heroism known to the entire world. Cruise, in the role of Stauffenberg, "would do more to promote Germany's image than 10 World Cup soccer championships could ever do."

Execs at Studio Babelsberg, which is partnering with United Artists on the production, have also said the project would be a great benefit to Germany. German officials, however, appear to be sticking by their decision. A Finance Ministry spokesman said the memorial, a "place of remembrance and mourning, would lose dignity if we were to exploit it as a film set." Another request to shoot at a Berlin police station was rejected after "intensive review," according to a spokesman for the Berlin police department. "The adverse impact to the facility would be so grave that the request had to be denied."

Singer's film has suffered a storm of criticism and indignation here due to Cruise's involvement in Scientology -- an organization the German government views as a dangerous, profit-based cult with totalitarian aims. Stauffenberg's son, Berthold von Stauffenberg, has also blasted the project, saying Cruise "should keep his hands off my father."

Cruise is soldiering on with the project. No doubt they will just recreate the Bendlerblock building with CGI. Or they could shoot the exteriors in Berlin and the interiors on a sound stage. Or, the German Finance Ministry spokesman might suddenly convert to Scientology and approvals to film anywhere Tom wants will mysteriously appear. It could happen.

Posted on July 3, 2007

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