Escape From Germany - Movie Review

There is a new LDS movie out called Escape from Germany by filmmaker T.C. Christensen. I just saw it this evening and I would like to take a few minutes to review it. We spent the day working in the yard. In the early evening, we discussed what we would like to do for the evening. Seeing this movie has been on a short list of things we would like to do and tonight seemed to be the right night to see it. So we purchased our tickets and went to the Watergarden Cinema in Pleasant Grove, Utah to see it. Everything seemed to be falling apart when we arrived. There were too many things to hold between popcorn, drinks, treats, and napkins, along with a few agitated children. We couldn’t get to our seats quickly enough. Luckily that didn’t spoil the movie.

The movie started with scenes of Nazi soldiers marching in the street. This was followed by the main character Elder Seibold played by Paul Wuthrich being assaulted by a Nazi soldier just before he met his new companion. I felt this adequately established the setting for the movie. The movie makes it appear as though once arriving at their apartment, they learn they needed to get out of Germany.

There were some things I really loved about this movie; and a few I questioned. I’m sure for the sake of telling a story there were embellishments. This movie is obviously about Elder Siebold and his commission to get all the unaccounted-for missionaries out of Germany. He was to operate almost like an American secret agent ducking in and out of obscurity traveling alone so he did not draw anyone’s suspicion. I guess I questioned if in the very beginning, Elder Siebold was such a trusted and amazing missionary, why didn’t he want to do this? Most missionaries I have ever met would give an arm or a leg to stay in the mission field longer. They made Elder Seibold seem a bit put off by the assignment. Then they had to make him pivot from someone reluctant to accept this assignment to someone who was receiving inspiration in the assignment. Honestly, the transition didn’t make sense to me. A Nephi-type missionary who was more willing to “go and do” seems more plausible to me. They would also seek the Lord’s inspiration faster and likely receive it faster. The effort to seek inspiration could have been illustrated stronger.

I may need to see the movie again, but this is how I perceived it. And don’t get me wrong, I loved the story, I’m just saying some elements of it could have made more sense to me. So, you have this Elder sets out to find these elders almost through compulsion rather than voluntarily. They don’t show him really seeking the Lords guidance until he is finding the task difficult. Once he has some success and his attitude changes the movie felt more balanced to me.

What did I love? The story overall was excellent. The actors were excellent. The cinematography was excellent. I loved how it showed him following the spirit (once he started to try). I loved how he relied on inspiration to figure out where to go, when to get off the train and when to stay on. I loved how they whistled a tune that was only familiar to church members. I loved how at the very end, he got off the train and tried to whistle, but could not. He knew it was time for him to return. This last decision was subtle, but once the end of the story played out, you knew what it was.

What didn’t I love? To start, they painted him as unwilling at first. Then he just did it. It seemed the majority of the time he found missionaries, they were all asleep. The concept seemed reminiscent of Garret Batty’s Freetown movie. Also a great movie by the way. And, the elder, making all the statements about Hitler-loving LDS principles, was remeniscent of Singles Ward with all the statements about LDS folklore and people who have supposedly baptized members of the church. It still worked. At the end of the movie, they said those were all true statements. Either way, the good far outweighs the bad in this movie.

On the way home my son said, Dad, I didn’t like that movie. I asked why. He said it was because the people were so mean in the movie. My son is young. He still does not have a complete understanding of just how evil the Nazi regime was. The abuse that is shown is repeatedly focused at one Jewish family that appears to be traveling the same route as the missionaries. We had a short discussion about it so he realized it was a necessary part of the movie and extremely mild compared to the actual violence that took place.

Questions?

Was the church really warned 3 days in advance before the military? (Link 4 Below)
Did Elder Seibold volunteer or was he chosen for this task?
Is the story about the agent told by the Mission President true?
Did the mission president really steal a train?
Did Elder Smith really say what he did about when the war would end?
Did Elder Seibold really refuse to give money to the police and ask to talk to the military? (Source 3)
Was Elder Siebold really given a get-out-of-jail-free letter by a Nazi general?

In the end, does it really matter? No. It is always nice to know how true a story is. I almost started crying at the end seeing that Elder Siebold made it to Denmark or Holland or wherever he was going. They did well capturing and conveying the miracles behind this story. This movie was so good that the audience silently stayed and watched all the credits. The theater was small but 3/4 full. I stood up to go and realizing no one else was leaving, sat back down to watch more of the credits. I would watch it again, I would buy it, and I would encourage everyone to go see it.

There is apparently a book written on this called: Mine Angels Round About: West German Mission Evacuation 1939 by Terry Bohle Montague but I did not buy or read the book. If you have an interest in the story this might be a good resource. I’m sure the author dug deeper into the topic and found more supporting material.