People with even the most cursory knowledge of World War II are likely to know that Adolf Hitler was not assassinated by a secret squad of dissenters from within the Nazi ranks.

But the makers of Valkyrie, a thriller about the plot to kill Hitler that opens Thursday, say the fact that general audiences know the conspiracy failed is actually a boon to their movie.

''Of course people are going to know the outcome,'' says Tom Cruise, who plays Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg, the German army officer who led the plan to assassinate the dictator. 'But we're dealing with this story in a way that is not historical drama. When we were making the movie, I was constantly telling my friends `This is not a documentary. This is not the History Channel.' This was a great storytelling challenge: To get the audience to be part of the resistance and put you on the edge of your seat, even when you know the ending. Hopefully, you become so enveloped with the story that there are moments you forget the ending.''

''I see it as an asset rather than a detriment, people believing they know how it all ends,'' says Christopher McQuarrie, who co-wrote the Valkyrie script with Nathan Alexander. ``You're aware of the fate of these characters as you get to know them, and the more you start to like them, the more tension you feel. Some people writing about the film have given away the end, almost gleefully, but they're actually doing our job for us. You think it would take away from the movie, but it's actually the central anchor that gives it great suspense.''

Structured like a ticking-bomb thriller, Valkyrie recounts how Stauffenberg, disillusioned by the mounting transgressions against humanity enacted by Hitler's forces and concerned with what would remain of his beloved Germany after the war, joined a growing group of silent dissenters within the Nazi party and hatched a plan to carry out a coup against the leader.

It's the particulars of that plot that will be new to most viewers. Coincidentally, many of them were ideal movie material, such as a long, tense sequence depicting Stauffenberg's attempt to place a suitcase bomb underneath a table with the Fuhrer standing a few feet away.

''When I read the script, it wasn't what I expected at all,'' Cruise says. 'Page after page, I kept thinking `Is this true? This can't be true.' Some moments seemed to be pure cinematic convention, yet they really happened.''

VISIT TO BERLIN

McQuarrie began working on the script for Valkyrie in 2002 after visiting Berlin, where a tour guide took him to the Bendlerblock, or Headquarters of the Army, where Stauffenberg's saga reached its end.

''He explained to me what had happened there,'' McQuarrie says. ``I knew a little bit about July 20, 1944 [the day the plan was carried out] -- that there was a German colonel with one eye and one hand, and that there had been an attempt on Hitler's life, but that was it.''

When McQuarrie returned to the United States, he suggested a movie about the plot to co-screenwriter Nathan Alexander. ''We didn't have a specific goal in mind other than a movie that centered on the events of July 20th,'' McQuarrie says. ``We started with a broader scope and as we went on, we realized Stauffenberg was the natural center for the story.

``The biggest challenge was to take something that was a very complex and intricate military coup and make it understandable to people in 2008. And the other thing was to deal with characters who were not Nazis, even though they were wearing the uniform. How do you get the audience to sympathize with characters that they perceive to be stereotypical Nazis?''

Join the discussion

The Miami Herald is pleased to provide this opportunity to share information, experiences and observations about what's in the news. Some of the comments may be reprinted elsewhere in the site or in the newspaper. We encourage lively, open debate on the issues of the day, and ask that you refrain from profanity, hate speech, personal comments and remarks that are off point. In order to post comments, you must be a registered user of MiamiHerald.com. Your username will show along with the comments you post. Thank you for taking the time to offer your thoughts.

     Showing: Oldest first Newest first Most-recommended first Least-recommended first

@Nyx.AuthorDisplayName@ wrote on @Nyx.PostedAtTime@:

@Nyx.repliedToText@

@Nyx.replyAnswerText@

Reply to this Comment @Nyx.Recommender@ @Nyx.AbuseReporter@