Bill Nighy: 5 Awesome Performances And 5 That Sucked
2. General Friedrich Olbricht - Valkyrie (2008)
As Colonel Claus von Stauffenbergs co-conspirator in their plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler (from within his own cabinet, no less), Nighy was gifted the rare opportunity to show a range beyond cold & menacing and humorous detachment. He displays a certain fervent nervousness, as a man without the ballsy confidence necessary for taking down a fascist dictator. After their assassination plot fails, Olbricht tragically gains his dignity and confidence... at the very last moment of his life. About to take his turn before a firing squad, von Stauffenberg tells him to look his executioners in the eye so that they remember him. Olbricht does so, in a quietly triumphant moment thats authentic and earned thanks to Nighys engaging performance. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ii2oZmAUjmw
Cinephile since 1993, aged 4, when he saw his very first film in the cinema - Jurassic Park - which is also evidence of damn fine parenting. World champion at Six Degrees of Separation. Lender of DVDs to cheap mates. Connoisseur of Marvel Comics and its Cinematic Universe.
