Tom Cruise role in German film called a “slap in the face”

Tom Cruise sparked controversy in Germany by combining two very touchy subjects- Scientology and the Nazi party. The Defense Ministry banned Cruise from filming a movie on German military site. In the movie Cruise is playing Colonel Claus Graf Schenk von Stauffenburg who plotted to kill Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler, but failed.

When word spread that a Scientologist would be portraying Stauffenburg the German Government voiced a strong opinion. They don’t acknowledge Scientology as a religion, but as a “commercial enterprise” that takes advantage of people.

Social Democratic lawmaker Klaus Uwe Benneter said Stauffenburg “ is to be played by an actor whose sect, through dubious methods, attempts to lure people and make them pliable. This is a slap in the face to all upstanding democrats, all resistance fighters during the Third Reich, and all victims of the Scientology sect.”

On the other hand many believe that the German government is making a big deal out of nothing. A spokeswoman for Scientology said she was “shocked” and it was “a call to discrimination” of religious beliefs that politicians would speak out against Tom Cruise playing Stauffenburg.

The head of the German company, Carl Woebcken, which is set to co-produce the movie, said “Basically, some politicians are using the popularity of Tom Cruise to become popular themselves. This is not a Scientology film, it is a Bryan Singer film, and Bryan Singer id Jewish….and they want to make this film to show that during the Nazi regime there was heroic resistance. The personal beliefs of Tom Cruise have to be separated from his skills as an actor. He is one of the best, if not the best, actors in the world for heroic roles and that is why Bryan Singer approached him.”

The German federal agency that tracks extremism has put Scientology under surveillance for nearly a decade. Scientologists have tried to end the surveillance saying they have the right to freedom of religion.

"The Defense Ministry ... says that if a Stauffenberg film is done, it has to be authentic, and for exactly that reason United Artists wants to do the film in Berlin in the original places," Woebcken said. "Otherwise they could have done the film anywhere in the world."

The film named, “Valkyrie”, is due for a 2008 release.

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