Germany has till now refused to let Tom Cruise and his crew use a national shrine to film Valkyrie, his new movie about an assassination attempt against Hitler, but apparently all it takes to get them to change their minds is a politely worded letter. Think that will work with my car insurance company?

It isn’t definitive yet, but a spokesman for the Finance Ministry told Reuters that the filmmakers will most likely be allowed to use the Benderblock Memorial inside the Defense Ministr. The memorial is the site of the execution of Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg and his co-conspirators, who were killed after a failed assassination plot against Hitler. Filming is generally not permitted at Benderblock, because of a bad experience with a German filmmaker before.

If you weren’t aware, the debate over filming sites may have little to do with Germany’s history and everything to do with the film’s star. Cruise plays Stauffenberg, and the Defense Minister, Franz Josef Jung, will not let the crew use any military sites as long as he is the lead role. Also, Stauffenberg’s eldest son has stated publicly that he doesn’t want Cruise to portray his father. This may or may not have to do with Scientology, which German government does not recognize as a legitimate church.

Can’t imagine why.

However, the co-producer of Valkyrie (not Cruise) wrote a letter to the government, which described a sequence from the beginning of the film. In the letter, he explained that he felt it showed how the democratic government of Germany rose above the barbarism of that time. The Finance Ministry apparently has the last say in filming rights and is reportedly close to allowing the filmmakers to use the memorial.

I, personally, can’t wait to hear Tom Cruise’s German accent.