Satisfactory Movie Endings

 A friend of mine complained that she has watched many movies and streaming TV series that did not provide satisfactory conclusions to the stories. She urged me to write about ones that ended well. So, before analyzing the next film, here are a few well known motion pictures that have noteworthy endings.

The Shawshank Redemption

I’m not talking about how Tim Robbins’s character Andy escapes from Shawshank Prison and acquires the corrupt warden’s money, although that is something the audience has reason to cheer about. I want to focus on the very end of the film when Morgan Freeman’s Red has finally received his release from incarceration. He has become what he calls an “institutionalized” man, meaning he has spent so much time behind bars, he doesn’t know how to deal with the outside world. But, Andy left him a note and some money so he could join him on a beautiful beach in Mexico, restoring boats for tourists. Earlier, Red spoke about how dangerous it was to hope in prison, because those dreams would just be crushed. Now he can finally allow himself to look forward to something. He says, “I hope I can make it across the border. I hope to see my friend and shake his hand. I hope the Pacific is as blue as it has been in my dreams. I hope.” Some of the best lines ever spoken at the end of a movie.

Casablanca

How could I not include the ending to this movie. It’s not just because of the rounding up of the “usual suspects” line that allows Humphrey Bogart’s Rick to escape arrest for shooting Major Strasser. And yes, the surrendering of Ingrid Berman’s Ilsa to Paul Henreid’s noble Victor as Rick gives his “hill of beans” speech is a wonderful scene of romantic aching. But the ending filled with baptismal rain is a scene of redemption for Rick and Claude Rains’s (appropriate name give the scene) Louis Renault. United now, their “beautiful friendship” will go on to symbolically point toward the movement away from isolationism to battling the Nazi threat before them.

The Maltese Falcon

This film contrasts fantasy with reality, as film noir characters dealing with the seedy underbelly of life seek escape by acquiring an almost mythical object that they hope will transport them away from their dark realm. When Gutman (Sydney Greenstreet), Cairo (Peter Lorre), and Brigid (Mary Astor) realize that the black bird they have sought is a fake they come crashing back to the real world. Brigid must take “the fall” for her crimes, and she boards the elevator, going down, of course, to be arrested. The elevator grating looks like prison bars, so she already appears imprisoned. Humphrey Bogart’s private detective, Sam Spade does not buy into the delusionary vision of the others (his last name reminds one of calling “a spade a spade,” a saying that appreciates facing facts). The quote he uses to describe the phony falcon is perfect for the film. He borrows it from William Shakespeare’s The Tempest, as he says the object is, “the stuff that dreams are made of.” The stress here is on the imagined ideal world versus the harshness of transient mortality.

When Harry Met Sally …

At the end of all Hollywood romantic comedies, one person either runs, takes a cab or airplane, whatever, to reconnect with that individual’s love interest, leaving the audience with the fairy tale “They lived happily ever after” ending. This film is no different in that way. Harry (Billy Crystal) is alone on New Year’s Eve and finally decides he wants to be with Sally, so he runs to the party where she is. What’s great is the speech, by screenwriter Nora Ephron, he gives that finally wins her over, which, in my opinion, is the best dialogue about loving another person. Harry delivers it not in a sweet manner, but like he’s delivering an argument to make a point. It’s almost like he wishes the illogical truth weren’t so, but he can’t escape it. He says, “I love that you get cold when it’s seventy-one degrees out. I love that it takes you an hour and a half to order a sandwich. I love that you get a little crinkle right there when you’re looking at me like I’m nuts. I love that after I spend the day with you, I can still smell your perfume on my clothes. And I love that you’re the last person I want to talk to before I go to sleep at night. And it’s not because I’m lonely. And it’s not because it’s New Year’s Eve. I came here tonight because when you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible.” Doesn’t get much better than that.

The film actually ends, appropriately, on the couch where throughout the film couples briefly state how their long relationships began. Harry and Sally now are included among those others.

The Graduate

This whole film appears to be about protesting the false values of the white upper-middle class, with Benjamin (Dustin Hoffman) realizing the banality and hypocrisy of his world, and revolting against it. The conclusion of the film has him driving and running (there it is again) to unite with his love, Elaine (Katharine Ross). He is a Christ-figure, presenting a crucifixion image as he bangs on the glass partition of the church’s second floor as Elaine is about to be wed to a clone of the established order. When she calls out to him he springs into action, wielding a crucifix (director Mike Nichols stressing the Christian symbolism). They run off, supposedly toward that fairy-tale ending.

But wait. Despite taking action here, throughout the film, Benjamin looks like he is passive, letting the world’s current carry him along. We first see him on a conveyor belt at the airport, and he exits the building through the wrong door. He floats in the family pool, and later appears to be running in place as he approaches the church. Is he really able to escape the forces around him holding him back? When he and Elaine get on the bus to take them away, the looks they present are not joyful, but appear to show what is to follow is a letdown. They may be wondering: What do we do now? They are leaving on a bus (again, passively being carried forward), but Simon and Garfunkel’s “Sounds of Silence” plays, as it did in the beginning, repeating its pessimistic message, implying that, in the long run, no progress has been made.  

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

 SPOILER ALERT! The plot will be discussed.

John Ford’s Western The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) presents the choice for the frontier individual to either rely on the law to deal with those that break society’s rules, or to take matters into one’s own hands and pick up a gun to get justice. In this film, Ransom Stoddard (James Stewart), being a lawyer, wants to go through the legal system to deal with the criminal, Liberty Valance (Lee Marvin). Tom Doniphon (John Wayne) represents the option to handle problems individually when the law offers little satisfaction. The film addresses the value of democracy and the threats to the process, which sustains the movie’s relevance.

The story begins at Tom’s funeral and the older Ransom (Rance)(does the name suggest he paid with part of his integrity to get things done?), now a U. S. Senator, and his wife, Hallie (Vera Miles), are paying their respects in the western town of Shinbone (a name that implies a hard and spare lifestyle).  Link Appleyard (Andy Devine) greets the couple at the train station. He used to be the town’s marshal. While Rance talks to the local newspapermen, Link takes Hallie on a ride to the desert. That area has stayed the same, showing how nature remains constant where cactus roses grow, but the world of people changes. They go to the dilapidated ruins of a building where Tom used to live. The locals don’t even know about Tom, which shows how recorded history leaves out the significant acts of some people.

Tom’s African America friend, Pompey (Woody Strode, who was in Spartacus) is at the funeral director’s place, mourning. Rance is angry that Tom’s body is not wearing his boots, spurs, and gun, like a true cowboy. Rance just wants to keep his grief private, but the intrusive editor of the local newspaper, Maxwell Scott (Charleton Young) insists on an explanation for the Senator’s presence for the funeral of an obscure person. Rance decides that the past should not be forgotten so he tells his story, which is presented as an extended flashback.

The camera focuses on the dusty old stagecoach that brought the young recent law school graduate Rance to Shinbone. The image is a sort of time machine that transports us into the past. Rance says he took Horace Greely’s advice to “Go west” and “seek, fame, fortune and adventure.” Just as he speaks those words gunshots go off as the stagecoach is held up by Liberty Valance’s gang, wearing masks, showing how some adventures are not positive ones. Rance voices his outrage, and the response he receives is a beating from Liberty (an ironic name showing how destructive individualism can be if not held subject to laws that protect society as a whole). Liberty laughs at Rance’s suggestion that he will go to jail. When he grabs one of Rance’s law books, he rips out pages, showing how little respect he has for the power of the legal system. He whips Rance, saying he is inflicting “Western law” which comes down to a type of Social Darwinism, where only those that can inflict the most violence survive.

Tom rescues Rance and brings him to Hallie for help (Wayne uses what becomes his signature word, calling Rance “pilgrim” often, which is a traveler with a religious connotation that suggests that Rance is on a righteous crusade, not a vengeful one). (For me Wayne’s voice and delivery of lines is often over-the-top and takes me out of the story. Sorry fans). Tom’s decency is shown by offering to pay for Rance’s food since the lawyer was robbed of everything. Tom also compliments on how pretty Hattie looks, and there is an indication that he might propose to her someday. Rance says the man used a silver-tipped whip on him. Tom recognizes it as Liberty Valance’s weapon, and says Rance better start carrying a gun, suggesting that is the way to deal with men like Liberty. Tom says, “I know those law books mean a lot to you, but not out here. Out here, a man settles his own problems.” Later, Burt Reynolds’s character in Deliverance says rhetorically in the wilderness, “Where is the law?” Ford’s film takes place at a time when there was little policing of the savagery of humans, and the NRA motto of the only way to stop a bad man with a gun is a good guy with a gun was the way of the West.

Unfortunately, law and order in Shinbone comes in the out-of-shape form of the freeloading Link Appleyard, whose cowardly attitude and soft body may indicate the lax enforcement of the authorities in these parts. Andy Divine’s high-pitched, stuttering voice adds to the lack of the character’s toughness. When he finds out that Liberty is involved in Rance’s robbery and beating, the Marshall just wants to run away. He says, “The jail ‘s only got one cell, and the lock’s broke, and I sleep in it.” It’s a funny line, but it shows the sad state the law-abiding citizens of the town are in. Tom introduces himself to Rance and says Rance doesn’t look like a person who can handle a gun, especially against Liberty, who he says is the toughest fellow around, “next to me.” We have the macho image of John Wayne in full force here.

 Rance is helping out in Hallie’s restaurant kitchen since he is getting food there. He reads his law books and thinks he has a loophole to arrest Liberty under the local jurisdiction. Hallie is embarrassed because she cannot read his book. When he offers to teach her, she counters by saying he’s there wearing an apron and washing dishes, which implies his education hasn’t helped him on the frontier. She has a point, but she realizes that reading would enrich her life as she could read the Bible.

Tom shows up and has a cactus rose for Hallie, so we now know why she wanted one at the opening of the story. Rance has his hands on Hallie’s shoulders when Tom walks in as Hallie was announcing the news that Rance was going to teach her to read and write. Tom shows some jealousy by using slight sarcasm about how Rance is now protecting the ladies at the restaurant. Hallie’s affections seem to become divided between the rugged individualism of Tom and the scholarly morality of Rance. Tom sees Rance’s attorney sign he painted and tellingly says that if he hangs it up, he will have to defend it with a gun, and he’s not the type. Again, there is the idealism of Rance countered by the harsh practicality of Tom.

Tom sits down with the dining Dutton Peabody (Edmond O’ Brien), the newspaper editor at that time, who is also a drunk. He’s as hungry for a story as he is for steak and potatoes. He wants to know if Tom has popped the question to Hallie. Tom is not about to be rushed. Meanwhile, Pompey planted the cactus rose, and Rance asks if Hallie has seen a real rose. She says no, but she hopes that she will someday. Their remarks show how she has aspirations beyond the boundaries of this town, and Rance may be the man to help her on her way.

Liberty bursts in with two of his gang, and, as expected, Link rushes out. Liberty goes to a table and sees that the steak is “just right” for him, and wants those men seated to vacate the table, pulling the chair out from under one cowboy. He’s like a bullying Goldilocks. Rance volunteered to wait on tables because the place is so busy, and men did not perform that task back then. Liberty plops his whip on the table, so Rance knows for sure that it is Liberty who whipped him. Liberty laughs at Rance as he enters the room with plates of food and calls him the new “waitress.” There are a number of these emasculation scenes. If one tries to use one’s brains instead of fists, and if a man is trying to be helpful and courteous, he is considered weak. The cliche being invoked here is the one of a man being whipped by a woman, which is supposed to illustrate how weak he is.

As Rance walks past Liberty, the man trips him and the food spills to the floor. Rance is ready to rush Liberty, which would be a suicide move. Tom comes to the rescue, because at this moment, in this place, the law and civilized action can’t win. Tom tells Liberty that it was his steak on the floor and Liberty must pick it up. There looks like there is going to be a shootout, with Pompey pointing a rifle from the kitchen. The outraged Rance yells why is everybody so “kill crazy” there. He picks up the meat to diffuse the situation. Liberty takes a drink of whiskey outside, then smashes the restaurant window with it while he and his men start to fire off their weapons as they ride out of town.

Tom rhetorically asks, “Well now, I wonder what scared them off?” Dutton adds to Tom’s sarcasm, saying, “You know what sacred ‘em? The spectacle of law and order – here, risin’ up out of the gravy and mashed potatoes.” More emasculation. Rance admits that it was a gun that was needed to drive Liberty away. However, he points out the stupidity of getting killed over a piece of steak. He tries to assert his individual strength by saying that he fights his own battles. Despite his gruff manner, Tom was trying to prevent Rance from getting killed. Editor Dutton sees Rance as newsworthy and wants to exploit him. He offers to let him hang his attorney-at-law shingle in front of the newspaper office, which can draw Liberty’s fire, literally. Rance rejects Tom’s advice on two counts: he’s neither leaving nor picking up a gun to fight Liberty. The film suggests that at this point putting one’s faith in the law seems like idealism.

The cattle barons are trying to push small homesteaders out of their business. Statehood would protect the less powerful and the barons are fighting against it. Here we have the theme of using democracy to fight those that use their power to destroy the lives of others. Rance reads about what is going on in the newspaper, which stresses the importance of freedom of the press. Rance now is teaching the townspeople, with Hallie helping him out, how to read and write (including Latino children, which points to how immigrants are an important part of the democratic process). They are learning American history, too, and Nora Ericson (Jeanette Nolan), a German immigrant, says the United States is a republic, which means the people are the “bosses,” and if there is a dislike for what the “big shots” in Washington are doing, the people can vote them out. The disdain for elitism is evident here and promotes a type of populism. It’s appropriate that the Black man, Pompey, responds to a question about how Thomas Jefferson wrote that “all men are created equal.” He apologizes for forgetting some of the words, and Rance’s remark that many people forget the equality part allows the film to take a shot at racism.

Rance tells those at the lesson that having a strong representative to fight for their interests is important, so getting out the vote is vital. Tom has been away doing horse trading and he bursts in telling Pompey he needs him working. Tom is the pragmatist who knows that Liberty is working with the cattle barons and hiring guns to ensure the rich men’s interests. Tom acknowledges the nobility of what the newspaper and Rance believe in, but he says that promoting it will bring about bloodshed. Tom says the hired gunmen tried to ambush him, but he killed one of them. Dutton goes off to write the story, and Tom warns that if he prints that information he’ll get himself killed. Here we have the dilemma of the responsibility of the press versus whether news sometimes helps create trouble. While they talk, the camera shot shows the U. S. flag in the background and a portrait of George Washington. The images stress how the history of the nation and democracy are on the line. Tom warns that the gunmen will be there on election day to intimidate the voters. Tom tells Hallie to get out of a school that can turn into “a shooting gallery.” But Hallie strongly asserts her independence by telling him he can’t tell her what to do because he doesn’t “own” her.

Rance dismisses the school and when he erases what he has written on the blackboard, “Education is the basis for law and order,” it’s as if ignorance of what holds civilization together is winning. He is becoming cynical as he tells the protesting Hallie that “when force threatens, talk’s no good anymore.” Rance leaves and Dutton confesses to Hallie that a while back he lent Rance a gun and the lawyer has been going outside town and practicing how to shoot. He is compromising his ideals for Tom’s view of reality.

Hallie asks for Tom’s help, and he catches up with Rance and takes him to his house under construction. Tom says that he plans on marrying Hallie once he has his house fixed up for her. But, because Hallie shows so much worry for Rance, Tom believes that she and Rance have feelings for each other. Tom engages in more humiliation as a way of showing Rance how his being in a shootout is futile. He tells the lawyer to hang up some paint cans to be shot at, but instead Tom fires at them, spilling paint on Rance. He is trying to show how fast a gunslinger can be and that, although he says he doesn’t like “tricks,” Liberty indulges in them. Rance is angry about this further attack on his manhood and punches Tom so hard he knocks him down, saying he doesn’t like tricks, either. The look on Tom’s face reveals some admiration for Rance’s toughness.

Election day comes, as Rance explains to the crowd of men at the bar, to elect two delegates to a state convention to determine whether the territory south of the Picketline River should become a state. (Dutton says humorously that declaring booze off-limits on this day “is carrying democracy too far.”). Only white men can vote at this time, as the film stresses by having the women and Pompey stay outside. Rance emphasizes that statehood means that their ranches will be protected from an open range policy where the rich interests have no legal constraints from taking over the smaller lands of the farmers. Rance nominates Tom, despite their differences. In a way, Rance is trying to draw Tom into the legal framework of democracy. But, Tom refuses, saying he has other plans. We know he means marrying and settling down with Hallie, which shows his focus is on his individual wants, not social ones.

Then Liberty shows up, who, unlike Tom, whose intentions are honorable, is an agent of chaos. He doesn’t live in the area but says wherever he wants to live is his address. He sees a newspaper headline that says he killed two homesteaders, which shows Dutton has showed a great deal of courage to publicly indict Liberty. The men nominate Rance to be a delegate, with Tom seconding the motion, showing he has gained some respect for the man, acknowledging Rance’s legal background and that he can throw a “punch.” Liberty gets a member of his gang to nominate him. One of the townspeople nominates Dutton, who wants no part of it. He says he must stay outside of politics so he can “build” up politicians, and “tear” them down. He says he is the people’s “conscience,” and “the watchdog that howls against the wolves.” Dutton might be overdramatizing his role in society, and he’ll do almost anything for a drink. However, he does state the purpose of the free press, which, if silenced, allows liars and bullies to escape being held in check. Liberty, not wanting to confront Tom, tells Rance that he has to stop hiding behind Tom’s gun, and Liberty will be waiting for him in the street for a gunfight. Tom offers to get Rance out of town, but at this point we’re not sure if Rance will leave.

The drunk Dutton, laughingly blowing on his whiskey jug mistaking it for a candle, is trying to find the courage to continue his work at the bottom of a bottle of booze. He alters Horace Greeley’s quotation, saying to his shadow (of himself?), “Old Man: go west. And grow young with the country.” His version stresses the newness of the frontier, its uncorrupted nature which brought about it being dubbed the New Eden. The West here is a type of Fountain of Youth to rejuvenate the jaded. When Dutton returns to the newspaper office, Liberty and his men are there. They beat Dutton almost to death and destroy the premises. Liberty also shoots Rance’s lawyer sign. The scene symbolizes how lawlessness can destroy the fair rules that rein in destructive behavior so that the average citizen can live a life without fear.

After seeing what happened to Dutton, Rance tells Marshall Appleyard to let Liberty know that he will meet him outside for a showdown. He is giving into the violent practicality of the times. Hallie tells Pompey to get Tom, while Link calls for the doctor to help Dutton. At the saloon, individuals are now starting to voice their anger at the card-playing Liberty. Even the cowardly Link says that if Liberty shoots the inexperienced Rance, it will be murder (Rance’s lack of gun shooting skills is stressed by his still wearing a restaurant apron).

Outside, Liberty toys with Rance, shooting near him, but then wounding him in his right hand, sending the gun to the ground. He picks it up with his left hand, and when Liberty threatens to shoot him “right between the eyes,” Rance gets a shot off. Liberty is hit and dies. Rance looks at his gun and drops it, looking defeated morally despite surviving.

Tom shows up at the kitchen where Hallie is tending to Rance’s wound. He witnesses Hallie comforting Rance, holding him, kissing his forehead, and sobbing over what could have happened to him. Tom says he is sorry he didn’t arrive in time, and after seeing the affection between the other two, leaves slamming the door. When Liberty’s gang members say Rance murdered Liberty, Tom disarms them and knocks them down. Tom yells at Link to do his job and arrest the two outlaws. Lance then wants to take credit for the apprehensions. It is a foreshadowing of who should really be getting credit for an action. As the town celebrates the demise of Liberty, Tom stands up for Pompey at the saloon when the bartender doesn’t want to serve his Black farmhand. Pompey doesn’t drink and says they have work to do back at home. Tom is now drunk, upset by losing the affection of Hallie, and the business he has in mind back at his ranch is anything but constructive. He sets fire to his house, the one he was adding onto in anticipation of living in it with Hallie. Pompey rescues him from the fire.

After recovering from their ordeal sufficiently both Rance and Dutton attend the statehood convention. Major Cassius Starbuckle (John Carradine), who has become a politician, says he had a speech but does not want to indulge in “oratory.” So, he crumples a piece of paper that is supposed to contain his prepared words. But, a delegate unravels it and it is blank. Thus, the Major is a deceptive character, who puts into a nomination another politician to represent them in Washington. After he speaks, a cowboy on a horse rides in supporting the nominee and does rope tricks. The whole scene satirizes the political process which is seen as a theatrical display with little substance.

Dutton calls the Major “the cattleman’s mouthpiece,” so he is representing the big business interests. He extols the average working person and places in nomination a surprised Rance, who he says is a model for the proper legal way to bring law and order to the frontier. The manipulative Major asks what kind of lawyer is he who killed “an honest citizen,” which is a ludicrous statement considering Liberty’s evil nature. But he indicts Rance for taking “the law into his own hands” and that he “has blood on his hands.” He continues by saying that Rance has, “the mark of Cain” on him. It is an ironic accusation, since Rance wanted nothing to do with killing a fellow brother of the human race when he set out to bring Liberty to justice in a civilized manner.

Tom shows up at the convention and follows the exiting Rance, who says he is going back east because he can’t build a reputation on killing a man. Tom then reveals what really happened and we get a flashback which shows that he is the man who shot Liberty Valance. He’s willing to keep that secret so that Rance can be elected and usher in a righteous change in the way the law is practiced in the territory. The movie suggests that the birth of a decent nation entails undergoing some painful events. Tom says that Hallie is now Rance’s girl, and since he taught her how to read and write Rance has the responsibility to give her something to read and write about. He puts the responsibility of creating decency on Rance’s shoulders.

The story returns to the present. Rance went to Washington and went on to become the governor of the new state and its senator. Nobody remembers Tom now, as his ways faded away. He knew it was time for change and he accepted that inevitability since we are told at the beginning of the movie that in recent times he no longer carried a gun. Rance has told the truth about Tom now to the new editor, Scott, who rips up the notes he was taking and throws them into a stove. He says he is not going to print the story Rance related. Scott says, “This is the West, sir. When the legend becomes fact, print the legend.” The implication is that it is detrimental to people to invalidate the myths they needed to believe in.

Back on the train, Hallie admits that she placed the cactus roses on Tom’s coffin. The plant symbolizes the kind of man Tom was – thorny with an appealing side. Now Rance feels his time has come to give up politics after achieving what he wanted, and he wishes to return to Shinbone and maybe open up a law office, which was his original plan. She says he should be “proud,” because he helped in changing the territory from a “wilderness” into a “garden,” a sort of hybrid that combines what is natural with cultivation. Hallie says her “roots” and her “heart” are still in this place in the West, which suggests that a person should stay grounded by keeping connected to one’s origins.

The train conductor lets Rance know that they have made accommodations for him because nothing is too good for the “man who shot Liberty Valance.” Sometimes the legend is mightier than the truth.

The next film is My Darling Clementine.

Europa Europa

 SPOILER ALERT! The plot will be discussed.

Director/writer Agnieszka Holland had a similar experience as her main character in Europa Europa (1990). They were both caught between two worlds. Holland is from Poland, and her father was Jewish, but her mother was Catholic. One’s Jewish nature derives from the maternal side, according to Orthodox standards, so she was not officially a Jew by that standard, and the community adhering to that rule did not accept her as one of their own. But, bigotry has no such boundaries, and racists targeted her. The main character in the film, Salomon (Solly) Perel (the story is based on his memoir), played by Marco Hofschneider, is a Jew trying to survive during the Nazi occupation of Poland.

The opening shot, which is probably a dream sequence, shows Solly as a boy, which can represent the innocence of youth. He is under water wearing a military jacket and swastika armband, suggesting the corruption of that youthfulness. He is holding onto an adult soldier at the same time trying to get away from the man, while attempting to get above water. The image summarizes the predicament of hiding one’s identity to survive, and trying to find one’s place of belonging. As Amy Taubin says in her essay, “Border States,” Solly says that he was born in Germany and his parents were Azriel (Klaus Abramowski) and Rebecca (Michele Gleizer). The announcement establishes who Solly is, and his story becomes dealing with the suppression or embracement of that heritage. The title of the film suggests the duality of a world that embodies diversity but also embraces the hate of what is different.

There is a scene showing Solly’s circumcision, which his voice-over says he remembers. Perhaps that memory is so strong that it keeps him grounded as to his Jewish identity. The story jumps forward to Solly’s bar mitzah, when he is considered an adult male in Jewish tradition. It coincides with the Nazi attack on Jewish homes in his town. It is a horrible way to leave behind childhood and be thrust into the horrors of the adult world. We hear The Blue Danube in the background in Solly’s home, a contrast of German beauty with its brutality. Solly is taking a bath when the onslaught occurs, and he is naked as he jumps out of his bathroom window after the glass shatters. He hides in a barrel. Symbolically it looks like he is being reborn into a different life. The only clothes he can get, courtesy of a young girl in the neighborhood, is that jacket with the Nazi armband, which ushers in his new life. When he returns inside his house he sees that his sister has been killed.

The story is a picaresque tale as Solly travels through several places. The family leaves for Poland. He rides a bike and he crashes into a storekeeper holding the shop window. Again, we have glass shards. Solly’s world is shattering, but is he also part of the forces causing that destruction, given his future life? The family lives above a movie theater and the enamored female cashier, Basia (Nathalie Schmidt) lets him in for free. The film may suggest that movies allow one to escape the present madness by going into a world of imagination. Taubin says that Solly’s good looks along with some luck allow him to endure throughout the Holocaust. For example, he was to run the errand that his sister undertook, which led to her death.

Solly’s father sends him and his reel and real brother, Isaak (Rene Hofschneider), away as the Germans invade Poland. Solly narrates that the Poles at the time preferred Hitler to Stalin. A Russian soldier rescues Solly during a river crossing, and Solly is now cut off from his family, and therefore his roots, since he is separated from his brother. Solly winds up in a school for orphaned boys where he says he was turned into a good Russian Communist boy. In a way he reflects the cultures he passes through. Director Holland mentions that he is like Zelig in the Woody Allen film. He receives a letter from his father that says not to forget who he is. And that is his challenge.

The Russians don’t care about his being Jewish, only what social class he is from. Since his father owned a shop, they consider him bourgeoisie, one of the enemies of the workers. Again, a young woman, one of the teachers, defends him. The film shows how Solly will do what it takes to survive, even if it means turning in a fellow Polish student, Zenek (Andrzej MasTalerz), who is anti-Stalin, when the youth attacks him for being Stalin’s “puppet.” He also follows the party line as he gives a speech about religion being “the opiate of the people.” That same Polish student shows his ugliness by being anti-Semitic, and the Communist school official condemns him for his racism. But the attractive schoolteacher then mocks the Polish boy for his Catholic beliefs, showing how his prayers will not bring candy from the sky, but Stalin’s followers can drop candy from the ceiling. The stress here is that materialism eclipses spirituality. There is a picture in the background of Stalin, which makes one recall the large pictures of Hitler (dictators are narcissists who want to be seen as having God-like power). Children are in attendance during this scene. The director implies that all indoctrination is dangerous. Taubin writes that fascism is based upon hating the “other,” while Communism had loftier goals. It is the subversion of those ideals by corrupt leaders that Holland is targeting. The film is not didactic in praising one view. It shows the failings of all humans.

The candy raining from the sky is replaced by the roof collapsing as the Germans attack, deflating the euphoria of the moment and showing how quickly the materialistic world can switch from bounty to deprivation. As the school’s population become refugees and are attacked by planes, Solly runs for cover and the truck carrying other students and the schoolteacher drive away. She throws him an apple, an interesting reversal of the teacher-student relationship.

The occupying Germans capture Solly. He is originally from Germany, so his fluency in the language helps him. There is a shot of Solly looking up at the sun, and there is a suggestion that he gets some divine inspiration. He tells the German soldiers he was in an orphanage school. Taubin says that Solly “intuitively understands that his survival in part depends on his allowing those around him believe anything what suits their fantasies about themselves.” The women he encounters engage in this activity, and no so do the Germans. He says his name is Josef Peters so he will not have a Jewish-sounding name, and his captors assume that the Russians killed his parents. He speaks Russian as well, so he can be useful as a translator, and actually identifies Stalin’s son, which endears him to the Germans. He is like Chance in Being There, where others imprint their beliefs onto him. There is also a bit of Brecht’s Mother Courage here, who adopts whatever country she is in to survive.

Back at the German camp, Solly is offered food. He takes a bite of sausage, but then spits it out. Is he upset that he is not keeping kosher? The Polish student Zanek is a captive there and shouts out in Russian that Solly is a Jew. Solly translates exactly what Zanek says, and a German soldier, not understanding Russian, tells him to confront Zanek, who he slaps him which makes it appear that Solly is offended by being called a Jew. Zanek jumps over the fence separating them and then runs off as soldiers close in on him. A truck then hits Zanek, killing him. Solly faints, as if overwhelmed by the consequences of his action, which means that the preservation of his own life can lead to the death of another. Later the company captain interviews Solly and tells him that the war is not against Russia, England, or France, but is a “holy war” against the Jews. Solly also witnesses the dead body of a young Russian girl who was hanged. Solly says in his voiceover that he was so confused by these German soldiers who treated him well but were capable of such hatred. He wonders if what separates them is a little “foreskin,” which implies that Solly wonders if he, too, could be capable of atrocities. These scenes add to the weight of guilt Solly is carrying because of his trying to keep surviving among haters.

There is a surrealist scene inserted here that shows Stalin and Hitler dancing (representing their prior accord), with candy falling from the ceiling (as happened in the previous scene at the school), and young ballerinas gathering up the sweets. Zanek is there with a large gash in his body. There are then menacing looks exchanged between Stalin and Hitler, possibly suggesting the new animosity between them given the Nazi invasion. Holland does not show that this is a dream sequence, but Zanek’s appearance suggests it is one of Solly’s dreams.

Solly encounters Robert (Andre Wilms), a gay German soldier who was an actor. They bond, sharing their love of literature and film. Solly asks him if it is difficult playing other people, to which Robert says, “Much easier than being yourself.” This simple exchange reveals Solly’s concern over his pretending to be a Nazi. But, Robert’s words stress how difficult it is to be one’s true self (if one can even know what that is), which in both their cases could lead to dire consequences. Solly takes a bath in a barn, which reminds us of the scene at the beginning of the film. He is surprised by Robert who reveals his gay orientation by reaching for Solly’s genitals. Solly jumps out of the tub and Robert sees that Solly is circumcised, and thus, a Jew. (Solly just can’t have a relaxing bath). He promises to keep his secret, since he has one of his own, and sympathizes with Solly being ethnically closeted. It is darkly comic that it is Solly’s penis that keeps forcing him to identify himself as Jewish.

Preparing for Christmas, Solly tells Robert that his sister loved the holidays, while he hated Passover, getting nauseous from eating eggs. When Robert asks if he prays, Solly repeats the line from Marx about religion being the opium for the masses. Is that what he really believes now, or has he adopted what he has been exposed to while denying his past to stay alive? Robert asks if he would be able to play a Jew. Jokingly, Solly says Robert looks too stupid, to which the laughing Robert calls Solly a racist, since Solly comically referenced a Jewish stereotype about all Jews being clever.

In the trenches, Russian enemy fire kills Robert. Solly mourns the loss of all those he cared about and no longer wants to keep playing a phony. He says he wishes to be with his “own kind.” But he can’t seem to escape the charade. On a phone line belonging to the Russians he says he wants to come over to their side since he is a Jew who attended a Russian school. They tell him to approach them holding a rifle. However, the German soldiers arrive in larger numbers and the Russians surrender. The Germans think Solly was attacking the Russians by himself. They praise him, and the captain, who has never had children, wants to adopt him. Again, others project what they want reality to be onto Solly.

The captain sends Solly to go to a Hitler youth school. What follows is another darkly humorous scene. On the train to the school he is in the company of an older German woman. She has a cigarette lighter in the form of a bullet, a scary image subverting a harmless object into a threatening one. After handing identification papers over to a German soldier, they must darken the room most likely to evade being seen and targeted. The woman remarks that Solly has the same birthday as Hitler, and has the same “dark hair.” Again, we have a woman drawn to Solly, and she seduces him, calling out “Mein Fuhrer!” while having sex. The double nature of Solly, of Germany, and maybe humankind is suggested by the comparison.

It is funny to hear Solly introduced as a pure-bred German to the Hitler school students. He must raise his arm in the Nazi salute and swear allegiance to the enemy of all Jews. He observes a student coming out of the shower with his underwear on. Could this fellow also be a Jew is disguise? Solly practices saluting and clicking heels in front of a mirror. As has been often noted on this blog, mirrors can reflect the underside, or doppelgänger, of a person. But then, Solly starts dancing, which undermines his attempt to perform as a programmed puppet of the Third Reich.

The film shows us the craziness of the Hitler school. They are ordered to perform the smallest details, including to use a fork and a knife in the proper hands. They are told to stay healthy, as if that is a command that can be obeyed. The swimming pool has a huge swastika painted on its bottom which shows how Nazism permeates their every moment.

There is a lecture from Goethke (Erich Swartz) about how to recognize a Jew that is so outrageously racist it succeeds in being an effective satiric scene. Besides exaggeratingly describing physical stereotypes, he even believes that “Jewish blood is totally different from ours.” Goethke says that by understanding these racial differences, the students will never be deceived by a Jew pretending he is something he is not. The irony here is that he says these words in the presence of Solly, who is a handsome young Jewish man successfully adopting the Germanic role. He even picks Solly from the class and, after using varying measuring devices, and declares Solly is authentically Aryan. He says, “The Nordic man is the gem of this earth,” whose “body is perfect.” I guess he doesn’t include women. Again, we have some kind of fantasy being projected which is totally not grounded in reality.

Immersed in the Hitler school, Solly waivers in his earlier resolve to be authentic. He sings a song in praise of Germany’s supremacy after learning of a defeat to the Russians. He falls for Leni (Julie Delpy, of the later Richard Linklater “Before …” trilogy). He tries to pull back and secure his foreskin (and thus recede from his background) so he can have sex with her and not be discovered. But, he injures his penis and releases the foreskin. In contrast to this attempt to be assimilated, he can’t make the sign of the cross when meeting Leni’s mother (Halena Labonarska), and later draws the Star of David on a soaped-up window before rubbing it off. He fakes a toothache so he doesn’t have to undress for a physical examination. However, he must suffer the unanesthetized pulling of the healthy molar, with the scene looking like a sort of Nazi torture act.

While making out with Leni he must stop before it goes too far and he reveals the circumcised penis. When they walk in the woods he finds a massive gathering of Jewish gravestones that must have been removed from a Jewish cemetery by the Nazis. Leni says if she saw a Jew she would slit his throat. She calls Jews lice that must be exterminated. Solly can’t swallow the indignation this time and slaps her. Outraged, she says no one slaps a German woman. It isn’t the “woman” part of her declaration that is noteworthy, it’s the “German” word that is telling, implying her belief in the superiority of the race. After she runs off, he copies the depiction of the hands on a grave marker that resembles partly Spock’s “Live long and prosper,” signal, which Leonard Nimoy derived from his Jewish background.

Solly has a nightmare where he says he is back home joining his family at dinner. But he is wearing a Nazi leather coat with the swastika armband showing how he doesn’t belong. They all leave the room, locking him out so he can’t join them, depriving him of his true home. When he is allowed to enter the next room, his sister hides him, like Anne Frank, and Hitler (Ryszard Pietruski) is there, covering his genitals, because his sister says he must hide his being a Jew. We again have the double motif, as German and Jewish identities are blurred. Hitler turns into Robert, and he is shot in front of Solly, as he relives the horror of war.

Solly returns to where he lived in Germany to look for his relatives. He must travel through the Jewish Ghetto there. The trolley he rides on has soaped-up windows so passengers can’t see the atrocities the Germans have committed, where children are behind barbed wire fences and bodies are carried out of the area. He narrates that he traveled through the ghetto many times because he thought he saw a woman who looked like his mother, but he never finds her.

Back at the Hitler youth school, he must charge with a bayonet and stab a dummy that wears the Jewish Star of David. His attempts are feeble, and he is reprimanded by the instructor. He goes to see Leni, but she is away. Her mother is upset by her daughter’s enraptured devotion to Hitler. She became pregnant to have a child for the Fuhrer. But the mother has Italian blood on her side, so the child may not be pure Aryan. So, Leni plans to offer her child to Hitler. This act sounds like a pagan ritual sacrifice. Her mother says to Solly she doesn’t understand her daughter, who it is suggested has a cult-like attachment to the Nazi cause. Solly guesses that the father of the baby is his roommate at the school, Gerd (Ashley Wanninger). The mother knows that Solly would not have sex with Leni and wants to know the truth. He needs someone to confess to, and he tells her he is Jewish. She says she thought so, and, like the other women in the story, feels drawn to the boy, and promises not to reveal his secret.

Solly’s Certificate of Racial Purity (as if there is such a way to prove this fact, and which would probably require in-breeding), is not among Solly’s records. The commander says he will request it. Solly learns that Hitler has a “miracle weapon” that will be ready for use. The atomic bomb? Just as he thinks he no longer can hide who he is, the building Solly just left is bombed, and the commander is killed. It’s as if divine intervention occurs again to save Solly, but there is collateral damage once more. Gerd is killed in the attack.

The Hitler school students are sent to fight the Russians, but Solly can’t pull the trigger to shoot anyone. He runs off and surrenders to the Russians, claiming he is not a Nazi, but is Jewish. They do not believe him, as they show him pictures of those killed in concentration camps, and Solly would have been one of them. He says he didn’t know, and he is like other Germans who said they did not know of places like Auschwitz. The irony here is that when Solly finally feels he can embrace his Jewish identity, he is to be shot by a liberated inmate of a camp, which would mean a Jew killing another Jew. Solly’s brother, Isaac, from whom he was separated, and is a freed inmate, recognizes him and joyously and emotionally saves him.

Solly feels guilty since he learns his father and mother died in the ghetto and his brother was in a concentration camp while Solly was shouting, “Heil Hitler,” and courting the Nazi Leni. Solly narrates that he went all in concerning his heritage after reuniting with his brother. He went to live in Palestine, which later became the Jewish state of Israel, had boys who were circumcised, and lived openly as a Jew from that point forward.

The next film is The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence.