Press Association, 23 January 2009

Kenneth Branagh has said it was important to bring the story of "Valkyrie" to the English speaking world.

The actor stars alongside Tom Cruise in Bryan Singer's World War II thriller about a group of German officers who plotted to assassinate Hitler and overthrow the Nazi government.

Branagh said: "I think it's interesting, although there have been German language accounts of this story I think it's going to be interesting for the English speaking world to see a film version that tells us about Stauffenberg who was hero to the German people.

"The people involved in this story were definitely part of a significant resistance movement that does tell us that not every member of the German army was a Nazi or a member of the National Socialist party. That there was a separate German military tradition that was in some ways very intellectual, very academic and that philosophically intellectually disagreed with Hitler.

"Although their voices were often suppressed they were vocal and they were heard, if not loudly in the latter part particularly of the second world war. I think that this film is a very interesting realisation of that secret part of the war, there was resistance in Germany and this film tells you a little bit about what it was."

"Valkyrie", which also stars Bill Nighy, is released on January 23.