'Valkyrie', Hollywood's latest film to digging into Nazi Germany, is publicized as a thriller rather than an issues' film - it is based on the true story of a German colonel, Claus von Stauffenberg, who attempted to assassinate Hitler.

Tom Cruise plays the colonel - sporting an eyepatch and an aristocratic curl in his forelocks - who sets off to the business of plotting to kill Adolf Hitler, supported by a whole lot of other resisters including typists as well as fellow-generals. A plan is hatched to eliminate Der Führer and take Germany by coup.

The assassination plan and government transition after the coup, both devised by Stauffenberg, with the help of other dissident, was a bold and politically strategic move.

The mission July 20, 1944, failed when despite a bomb planted in Hitler's presence, the Nazi leader survived. The coup was suppressed by army loyalists, and Stauffenberg and others had to face the consequences, with their best-laid plan leading inevitably to their ruin.

Director Bryan Singer has succeeded in bringing out an appreciable fusion of history and conspiracy in this thriller. An appealing dramatization of a historic episode and exceptional performances by the international cast, supporting Cruise - Tom Wilkinson, Terence Stamp, Eddie Izzard, Bill Nighy and Kenneth Branagh - has resulted in a story that would fascinate the audiences!