I found the movie compelling, more so than the other commenters to be sure.
While doubtful about the actual subcharacters bare any resemblance to real people, the main plot of the kaiser and/or his wife wishing to be restored is true. Himmler and Hitler wishing to eradicate the last of the monarchy's support was true. Churchill's offer for safety was true, maybe even the restoration of the German monarchy if they won. And of course most terrifying of all is that Himmler's statements made during the dinner scene were factual. He did watch children die from injections as they were testing the final solution, and we know they tested to eliminate German children that suffered from any medical defects. Crippled, autistic, downs syndrome, deaf, any handicap children were supposed to be voluntarily killed by their own parents by turning them into hospitals. it was grotesque and it might have been the most important scene in the movie.
It seemed a little slow here and there, but it is very hard to tell a story about someone who lost everything. Meike lost her father and husband. Brandt believed he had last his humanity or at least was part of those that had. The Kaiser, his wife, the colonel had lost their country. Each of them was restored, maybe not the way they wished to be, but eventually the way isn't always the way you wish for.
Plummer per usual get plaudits—he deserves them, per usual. And yet the story is such drivel. I'm only disappointed Plummer agreed to take on the role.
Alan Judd's novel, "The Kaiser's Last Kiss" (2015) might be an intriguing and worthy read. However David Leveaux's film adaption white washes despicable characters and events, dumbs down the love interest, while merely signaling at their internal struggles and era of turmoil.
There have been hundreds of war films made over the years, many of them serviceable but unremarkable. This, unfortunately, is no exception to the glut of films before it, but it still well made, with good performances from all.
Plummer is superb as the kaiser. McTeer and Daniels are terrific as his wife and adjutant, respectively. James is very good as the maid/spy. The weak link is Courtney as Brandt, the conflicted German officer. His performance isn't particularly impressive and his character starts out in such a deep moral hole that it takes forever to begin to build up any sympathy for him, and even then it's an ambivalent sympathy, at best. I'm a huge fan of the era from a fiction point of view and this is a solid entry overall, and only a casting decision and a couple of scenes keep it from becoming a permanent addition to my library.
Shout by FinFanBlockedParent2017-06-03T15:15:59Z
The real highlight is the cinematography. The story itself, while not uninteresting, is kind of a typical romance-that-should-not-be wrapped around events that are to be described as histrocial fiction.
Worth watching but nothing extraordinary.