If there's all these denials about Metaxas' involvement in the film, why does the final line of the credits state "With special thanks to Eric Metaxas". Someone had to make a decision to add that to the credits. I don't know how those editing features work. I presume it was there before Angel Studios decided to distribute the film so the director and producers must have been a part of the decision about who to credit for the film. The film itself is subpar. It's historically mixed up at a number of points. It shows Bonhoeffer at Union Seminary in 1936 whereas he was there in 1930. Being there in 1936 and not 1930 really confuses the relationship between Bonhoeffer's experience of US racism and German antisemitism. It also suggests that Kristallnacht occurred when Germany was fighting the Soviet Union in the Ukraine not to mention that the bomb plot in the film is not the one in which Bonhoeffer was accused of involvement.
Thanks for sharing the historical details. Bonhoeffer isn't my area of study so I am dependent on historians of that period or those who have studied his timeline. Regarding the "special thanks," I asked Todd Komarnicki about that and will include his answer as a postscript to the post. Thanks for jogging my memory on that point.
Saw your postscript. It's true there are a lot of people thanked in the credits but I'm fairly sure the very last clause is "with special thanks to Eric Metaxas" so it does single him out in ways others aren't. (this is from memory. The credits are only on the screen for a few seconds)
"While Metaxas may not be getting compensation for his marketing efforts, it seems likely that his book sales have benefited from the attention the movie has received."
Indeed, I think it's reasonable to assume that Metaxas's prime motivation for aggressively promoting the film is to boost sales of his own book.
As to whether this is a film that deserves to be seen and assessed on its own merits, sadly I think it's already been tainted by association with Metaxas (and by the statement of concern issued by Bonhoeffer's descendants.)
I haven’t seen the movie yet. I don’t know when I will. However, I saw the trailer and thought it made Bonhoeffer look like some kind of a studly Jason Bourne and I just couldn’t get up enough interest. Add to that Metaxas’ shilling and the myth of Bonhoeffer is actually participating in an assassination plot against Hitler… I guess I have my doubts.
And all of this denial of association with Metaxas in spite of the “special thanks” at the end and his promo code and everything I just am not buying it.
Haven't seen the movie, but I did see Bonhoffer: Agent of Grace when it was on PBS some years back. I wonder how the two movies compare? The scene I recall from Agent of Grace was Bonhoffer tearing down the Nazi flags in a German church saying "These don't belong here" - the scene has stuck with me all these years later especially when I see American flags in Church sanctuaries.
I have been unable to see the movie as I live abroad, however, when I read Metaxes' book, long before the movie became speculated upon, I also did not associate it with the White Nationalist movment at all. I did see Trump World in it but with no Bonhoeffer today. It is a pity Metaxes is who he is. Bonhoeffer certainly was not. Strange, that.
You're definitely not missing a quality cinematic experience. But I agree that it would take a fair amount of cultural gymnastics to turn it into a white nationalist film although it's clearly aimed at evangelicals given the dig at Union Theological Seminary and the false (near as I can tell) claim that the Nazis replaced Bibles in churches with a Nazi Bible with 12 commandments including one to swear allegiance to the Fuhrer. Evangelicals would do better to contemplate the fact that the author of the Greek NT dictionary on most of their pastor's shelves (Gerhard Kittle) was a strong supporter of Hitler, wrote and talk supporting Hitler's Jewish policy, and would likely have been tried at Nuremberg had he not died beforehand.
If there's all these denials about Metaxas' involvement in the film, why does the final line of the credits state "With special thanks to Eric Metaxas". Someone had to make a decision to add that to the credits. I don't know how those editing features work. I presume it was there before Angel Studios decided to distribute the film so the director and producers must have been a part of the decision about who to credit for the film. The film itself is subpar. It's historically mixed up at a number of points. It shows Bonhoeffer at Union Seminary in 1936 whereas he was there in 1930. Being there in 1936 and not 1930 really confuses the relationship between Bonhoeffer's experience of US racism and German antisemitism. It also suggests that Kristallnacht occurred when Germany was fighting the Soviet Union in the Ukraine not to mention that the bomb plot in the film is not the one in which Bonhoeffer was accused of involvement.
Thanks for sharing the historical details. Bonhoeffer isn't my area of study so I am dependent on historians of that period or those who have studied his timeline. Regarding the "special thanks," I asked Todd Komarnicki about that and will include his answer as a postscript to the post. Thanks for jogging my memory on that point.
Saw your postscript. It's true there are a lot of people thanked in the credits but I'm fairly sure the very last clause is "with special thanks to Eric Metaxas" so it does single him out in ways others aren't. (this is from memory. The credits are only on the screen for a few seconds)
"While Metaxas may not be getting compensation for his marketing efforts, it seems likely that his book sales have benefited from the attention the movie has received."
Indeed, I think it's reasonable to assume that Metaxas's prime motivation for aggressively promoting the film is to boost sales of his own book.
As to whether this is a film that deserves to be seen and assessed on its own merits, sadly I think it's already been tainted by association with Metaxas (and by the statement of concern issued by Bonhoeffer's descendants.)
I haven’t seen the movie yet. I don’t know when I will. However, I saw the trailer and thought it made Bonhoeffer look like some kind of a studly Jason Bourne and I just couldn’t get up enough interest. Add to that Metaxas’ shilling and the myth of Bonhoeffer is actually participating in an assassination plot against Hitler… I guess I have my doubts.
And all of this denial of association with Metaxas in spite of the “special thanks” at the end and his promo code and everything I just am not buying it.
Haven't seen the movie, but I did see Bonhoffer: Agent of Grace when it was on PBS some years back. I wonder how the two movies compare? The scene I recall from Agent of Grace was Bonhoffer tearing down the Nazi flags in a German church saying "These don't belong here" - the scene has stuck with me all these years later especially when I see American flags in Church sanctuaries.
I have been unable to see the movie as I live abroad, however, when I read Metaxes' book, long before the movie became speculated upon, I also did not associate it with the White Nationalist movment at all. I did see Trump World in it but with no Bonhoeffer today. It is a pity Metaxes is who he is. Bonhoeffer certainly was not. Strange, that.
You're definitely not missing a quality cinematic experience. But I agree that it would take a fair amount of cultural gymnastics to turn it into a white nationalist film although it's clearly aimed at evangelicals given the dig at Union Theological Seminary and the false (near as I can tell) claim that the Nazis replaced Bibles in churches with a Nazi Bible with 12 commandments including one to swear allegiance to the Fuhrer. Evangelicals would do better to contemplate the fact that the author of the Greek NT dictionary on most of their pastor's shelves (Gerhard Kittle) was a strong supporter of Hitler, wrote and talk supporting Hitler's Jewish policy, and would likely have been tried at Nuremberg had he not died beforehand.