497e39180f The story of the final seven months in the life of German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel. Hoping to ward off an allied Atlantic coast invasion in France before the eastern front cracks, Hitler transfers the popular &#39;desert fox&#39; field marshal Rommel to take command of Wehrmacht army group B under Western commander von Rundsted. Realizing the Atlantic Wall is too weak and long to boost sufficiently in probably mere months, Rommel comes up with an alternative, digging in his armored divisions, but the Führer is stingy with vital resources and men, while refusing to consider any &#39;political alternative&#39;, even after D-day and the the Soviet break-trough render the situation desperate. In his Normandy castle HQ, Rommel enjoys aristocratic luxury, complete with host-translator countess La Rochefoucauld and a grand German home estate, but is appalled when his devoted adjutant, general Speidel, proves the blind crimes of the SS. Telling the truth diminishes Rommel&#39;s credit with Hitler, and he agrees obstinate pride destines Germany for its worst disaster, yet Speidel finds him unwilling to join an assassination plot after which he should take command and settle with the Western Allies against Stalin. So the conspirators concoct a devious plot, staging what they hope to achieve, but after an initial triumph over the SS, the news of Hitler&#39;s survival wrecks the dynamic, and Berlin chains arrests and torture-obtained &#39;confessions&#39; to round up all suspects, even innocent Rommel, who was even medically disabled at the time by a shell on the Normandy front. This movie has the German stamp of quality: Good acting, good attention to details (uniforms, military equipment), great scenery and great sense of authenticity. If you are interested in history, this movie will take you in the atmosphere of those days. And it will do that so good that you&#39;ll have the impression that you see the actual events taking place. However, it lacks the story. Yes, the events did take placethey were presented, but the subject had tremendous potential: Hitler was a crazy and was obviously leading the entire country to disaster. Edwin Rommel could have been representative to all generals around the world who were torn apart between the sworn allegiance to their country and the resistance to the lunatic currently in charge. This could have been the symbol movie for all other military in similar cases: The STASI police, who let the Berlin wall fall although in other occasions they shot everyone who fled into West Berlin. The Romanian generals who refused to shot their own population, although they were ordered to do so by Ceausescu. And all other crazy dictators like Antonio Salazar, Rafael Trujillo, Mohamad Gadaffi, Saddam Hussein, Mobutu Sese Seko, François Duvalier or Kim Jong Il, they all had honest generals in their army serving their countries. Maybe not many, but some of them had problems with their conscience in one way or another and they were forced to make difficult decisions.<br/><br/>Same with Rommel here. Yes, he betrays the Fuhrer, but Hitler is not Germany. Yes, he could be killed if he fails. He will probably be killed too if they&#39;re on the losing side of the war. But this maniac would rather give cyanide pills to all Germany than to surrender. What&#39;s the right thing to do? To whom does a military sworn allegiance to? To the leader or to the people? Instead of exploiting all this drama, the director of this movie chose to make this film a documentary. ROMMEL 2012<br/><br/>This is a well-made television movie about the last few months of German Field Marshall, Erwin Rommel. The film was shown on German television in Nov 2012. <br/><br/>This one starts several months before the allied invasion of June 6th, 1944. Rommel is in charge of putting the defences of the French coastline into shape. He does not have enough men or material to fortify the entire coast. So he must make an educated guessto where the Allies will land. Most of the German Staff officers are sure it will be in the Calais area, Rommel though is leaning towards Normandy. Rommel, Ulrich Tuker, has to deal with his nominal superior in France, Field Marshall, Von Rundstedt (Hanns Zischler) and Adolf Hitler. (Johannes Silberschneider)<br/><br/>Hitler keeps interfering with Rommel&#39;s plans for the placement of the important armoured Panzer Divisions. Rommel wants them near the beaches for immediate counter-attacks. Hitler and the General staff think otherwise.<br/><br/>Rommel&#39;s chief of staff, General Speidel, (Benjamin Sadler) is approached by members of a group planning to overthrow Hitler and his mob. They want Speidel to broach the idea to Rommel of joining the plot. Rommel listens but is rather reluctant to join. <br/><br/>Rommel heads back to Germany to visit his wife on her birthday. Needless to say this happens to be June 6th. He has to rush back to France to take charge of the defenders. Of course Rommel is proved right about the location of the invasion. He is also proved correct about the Panzer Divisions being kept too far behind the front. It takes them days under constant air attack to reach the coast. <br/><br/>The German forces put up a stiff resistance, particularly against the British and Canadians. The losses though are difficult to replace and it is rapidly becoming a losing battle of attrition. Rommel now decides that Hitler does indeed need to be replaced. He agrees to join the coup, but not if there is an assassination of Adolf. <br/><br/>His offer to join goes nowherehe is badly wounded the next day in a strafing attack by RAF Spitfires. <br/><br/>The July plot goes forward and there is an assassination attempt on Hitler. The coup collapsesHitler survives the attack. The ringleaders of the plot are soon rounded up with most being shot immediately. The rest are in for a severe bit of questioning by the Gestapo and Security forces. <br/><br/>Rommel, (Tuker) has been recovering in a hospital in Germany. He knew nothing about the attempt on Hitler&#39;s life. He is however soon implicated in the plot. Adolf is not amused, but for political reasons wants to avoid a public trial. Rommel is offered a way to save his wife and son. He will take cyanide and his death will be said to have been from his wounds. He will get a full military funeral etc. Rommel agrees. <br/><br/>This is a nicely made bit of television with excellent period detail, solid acting and good direction. Well worth a watch.
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