THE JULY 1944 bomb plot to kill Hitler is widely known, but there was an earlier attempt on the Führer's life, a story explored in the film 13 Minutes, from Downfall director Oliver Hirschbiegel.
In 1939, carpenter Georg Elser, played here by The White Ribbon’s Christian Friedel, planted a homemade bomb behind Hitler’s lectern at a Nazi Party meeting. However Hitler left the meeting earlier than planned, with the explosion detonating 13 minutes later. With the blast occurring at the beginning of the film, Hirschbiegel uses the Nazis' subsequent interrogation of Elser to reveal in flashback as to why and when this ordinary, but courageous, strong-willed man concocted his plan.
The film will be screened by the Galway Film Society in the Town Hall Theatre this Sunday at 8pm. Tickets are available from the Town Hall on 091 - 569777 or www.tht.ie
