Bernd Schuller/Thimfilm
MOVIE REVIEW
13 Minutes (2015)
A lone individual assembling his bombs without obvious radicalization or a network of coconspirators tests the character of all nations, even when that nation is Nazi Germany and has already thrown its character into the trash. Oliver Hirschbiegel‘s willingness to look the Third Reich in the eye — proven in “Downfall” — carries over into “13 Minutes,” the less showy story of Georg Elser’s failed attempt to assassinate Hitler motivated by nothing more complex than basic unease: no allies, mania or contingency plans involved. No wonder the gentlemen poking hot wires under Elser’s fingernails can’t figure him out.