Vikings (2013-14)

Directors: Ciaran Donnelly & Ken Girotti            Writer/Creator: Michael Hirst
Music Score: Trevor Morris                              Cinematography: Jack Atcheler
Starring: Travis Fimmel, Clive Standen, Katheryn Winnick and Jessalyn Gilsig

The History Channel series Vikings that was so tremendous last year has definitely suffered from the sophomore slump. But perhaps that was inevitable. The production values, the acting, and most especially the storyline were incredibly compelling in their inaugural season. This year they seem to have been far too influenced by the success of Game of Thrones and completely given over to intrigue rather than character development. It’s too bad because, on it’s own last year, it was such a fascinating insight into a culture that has rarely reached the screen with anything like realism. And the potential for that to continue was something I had looked forward to with great anticipation. The first season also benefitted greatly from the short-term contract of the magnificent Gabriel Byrne as Earl Haraldson. His presence drew an audience in that might have been on the fence initially, and by the midpoint in the season they were actually hoping for his departure to make way for the ascension of Travis Fimmel as the famed Ragnar Lothbrok.

The real Lothbrok was a semi-mythological Viking warrior who is reputed to have led the invasions West that began the raids that would last for two hundred and fifty years. He is supposed to have had five sons who are actual historical Vikings. In the first season Fimmel is married to the breathtaking Katheryn Winnick. They are farmers as well as warriors and she supports him, giving him a son, young Irish actor Nathan O’Toole, and a daughter, Ruby O’Leary. But as Fimmel pushes Byrne to head West for new lands, Byrne’s conservatism takes hold and his fear that it will lead Fimmel to command the loyalty of the warriors causes him to deny his wishes. At the same time Fimmel’s brother, Clive Standen, becomes jealous of his brother’s success and causes Standen to betray him in looking for power for himself. The final battle between Fimmel and Byrne is realistic and riveting, and the raid on England is terrific in its surprise for the invaders. One of their captives is George Blagden who plays a monk who winds up converting to the Norse religion. He is actually one of the best parts of the second season. Two of the other standouts are Gustaf Skarsgård, son of the great Stellan Skarsgård, as the boat builder for Fimmel, and Jessalyn Gilsig as Byrne's widow and common law wife of Standen.

As stated above, the second season is primarily a story of shifting loyalties. This, of course, began at the end of season one with Winnick losing her baby and Fimmel being seduced by Alyssa Sutherland. Another interesting aspect of the second season is the leaps ahead in time. Winnick leaves Fimmel and when she returns a few years later their son is now played by the older Alexander Ludwig. Fimmel also has to broker a peace between the king, Donal Logue, and his rival Thorbjørn Harr who has taken on Standen as one of his warriors. But that’s just the beginning. More of the action takes place in England as the Viking royalty ban together to secure more fertile land to live on, and intrigue with the English princes is just as vicious. Ultimately, this isn’t nearly as interesting as the first season that was so focused on the characters. And as more of the action takes place in Britain it would appear that season three of the show will definitely be drifting more toward a Game of Thrones storyline, and that’s disappointing. It was the unique aspect of the show that made it so interesting, and copying something else makes it seem much less so. I just hope Vikings can get back to the character driven stories of the Norse people that were so compelling that first season. But time will tell.

JFK: A Presidency Revealed (2003)

Writer: David C. Taylor                                   Cinematography: Harrison Moore
Film Score: David Cottrell                               Editor: Patrick J. Donnelly

The History Channel has had a dubious reputation for producing documentaries because of their seeming right-wing agenda. They have, however, done some interesting work at times. One of the most impressive was their film on the Soviet space program, History Undercover: Soviet Space Disasters. As far as JFK goes, their program on the assassination was pure government propaganda in perpetuating the lone-gunman theory with Oswald as the killer. In fact, when they used the Zapruder film on that program they completely left out the headshot because it shows him being thrown backward by the gunshot from the grassy knoll. JKF: A Presidency Revealed makes the same assertion and claims again that Oswald was the shooter, even though the FBI tests on him showed no gunshot residue on his face that would have been consistent with firing a rifle. But it’s only a minute of the show. As for the rest of the program, it’s a very good look at the presidency of one of our greatest presidents.

That’s a bold statement, but one that is borne out by the evidence. Had a man been in office who had less fortitude, Nixon for instance, it is almost a certainty that the world would have been plunged into a nuclear war of some magnitude. On at least three occasions John F. Kennedy defied his military advisors and refused to follow the belligerent, right wing, military-industrial complex party line in order to do what was best for the country and the world. But it wasn’t an easy road. Coming into the office he took some brutal hits and initially his inexperience threatened to overwhelm him. Ironically, however, the Bay of Pigs debacle is probably more responsible than anything for his ability to distrust what the military was convinced had to be done and instead do what his moral compass led him to do. At the same time the youth of he and Jackie and their young children was transforming the white house and the country’s image of the presidency.

There are some good interview subjects for the documentary as well. Robert McNamara gives commentary on Kennedy’s foreign policy, but Teddy Kennedy also makes some nice observations on his brother’s presidency. I could have done without Oleg Cassini’s interview about Jackie’s dresses, but I guess that was part of her mystique. There was also a considerable discussion of Kennedy’s physical problems and several mentions of his dalliances with women. The other aspect of his presidency that comes out is his reliance on brother Robert Kennedy and the real teamwork the two engaged in--though not personally. It was rather surprising to learn that RFK was never invited once up to the residence, but perhaps that’s understandable given the amount of time they worked together during the day and spend together with family. As a bonus, two of the A&E Biographies are included, one on President Kennedy and the other on his father Joe. JKF: A Presidency Revealed does not have a conservative bias and finally offers an objective view of a great president, one that in retrospect deserves to be considered among our greatest.

Stauffenberg (2004)

Director: Jo Baier                                          Writer: Jo Baier
Film Score: Trevor Morris                              Cinematography: Jack Atcheler
Starring: Sebastian Koch, Rainer Bock, Enrico Mutti and Nina Kunzendorf

Stauffenberg is a German TV movie that was renamed Operation Valkyrie only after the American film Valkyrie with Tom Cruise was released and to capitalize on the publicity surrounding that film. This is obvious from the fact that the name of the operation is barely mentioned in this film. Of course Claus von Stauffenberg led the most publicized attempt to assassinate Hitler, planting the bomb himself at the Wolf’s Lair, and coming within a hair’s breath of taking over the government and making peace with the Allies. There have been numerous films dealing with the failed assassination tangentially, from The Desert Fox and Night of the Generals, to the TV miniseries Twist of Fate, but this was the first to deal primarily with the architect of the plan and the aftermath for him and his comrades who were assassinated themselves before they could divulge any more of the people involved in the conspiracy.

The film begins with a lengthy montage, starting with Sebastian Koch as the young Stauffenberg, eager to do well in the army and idolizing Hitler. In 1939 in Poland he still exhibits the master race syndrome in his attitude toward the conquered peoples, but by 1942 in Russia, hearing of the atrocities perpetrated by the SS, he begins to question the real purpose behind the war. From there the film jolts along in large chunks, first to Africa where he loses an eye and one of his hands, then to 1943 in the midst of planning the assassination, to 1944 when he leaves for Berlin to carry out the plan. The story to this point is very elliptical, probably relying on the German familiarity with the story, though it does leave quite a bit out. Once Koch has carried out the bombing he makes a narrow escape back to Berlin. Though the operation known as Valkyrie was supposed to have been set in motion, nothing actually happens until he gets back. Rainer Bock, second in command, lacks the spine to order the military occupation of Berlin in time which allows Enrico Mutti, head of the German Guard, to have his orders rescinded. With predictable consequences for the conspirators.

Ultimately the film is not as good as the American version. To be fair, however, they did have slightly different purposes. As the original German title shows, this film was more about the man than the operation. What is difficult to ascertain without further reading is exactly how much leadership Stauffenberg was given. Here it seems as if he is the leader of the conspiracy and running things to his specifications. In the Tom Cruise film from four years later it was clear he was simply running the assassination and that others higher up were in charge of Valkyrie. The production values are good for a television film, especially the scenes in Africa, and many of the building interiors would be the same ones used four years later in the American version. German writer-director Jo Baier has done primarily television films and does a decent job here directing, but his script leaves so much out that not only is the audience left out of the operational planning, but doesn’t really get a sense of the man either. Nevertheless, the film was given a German Television Award. Operation Valkyrie is an interesting take on the subject, but I would definitely recommend the American version over it.