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In Reply to: Re: :Downfall" - the Hitler's final days posted by jamesgarvin on August 29, 2005 at 12:45:44:
Yes, those are good observations, and I would only like to amplify one point - that of turning the Nazi into comedy characters to be ridiculed, played practical jokes on and defeated easily.That has been my long standing irritation with the American war films. I come from a very different background, where no such lighthearted treatment would ever be possible, and where you learned early on how truly anti-human the Nazi were - perhaps one of the very few truths that the society had allowed to exist and be told - to their advantage, to be sure.
Therefore my continuous disdain for many American war films, where the depth of true evil is hard to notice.
Whether I made that point before Ebert is immaterial... sufficient to say that is a correct observation.
One minor correction - Hitler invaded Russia not in winter, but in June. His plans called for the campaing be completed before the cold weather.
Follow Ups:
"One minor correction - Hitler invaded Russia not in winter, but in June."Then if the campaign failed given better weather than I thought, it was even dumber than I thought. Perhaps he should have started in the Winter, then met with good weather when the troops are more tired. But then he was a madman, reasoned decisions are not par for the course. In any event, the world was better served by his mistakes.
"I come from a very different background, where no such lighthearted treatment would ever be possible, and where you learned early on how truly anti-human the Nazi were"
I think that most American war films were not designed to educate, but to entertain. Of course, these things are not mutually exclusive. John Wayne leading the troops, etc. I think possibly the reason is that WWII was not fought on these shores, and Americans did not see first hand the horrors of Hitler.
The comedy aspect probably arose with Mel Brooks. I saw an interview with him in which he explained himself thusly: he was stationed in Europe towards the end of the war. Being Jewish, he had relatives who were exterminated. He joined in an effort to kill Hitler. He was in Europe when Hitler committed suicide. Not being able to kill Hitler, he decided that the only way to "get" Hitler was to make him a joke, people lauhing at him.
Yes, I have read something about that, and I can sympathize with his desire to deal with it in that particular way... except I think it did not work in the long run.
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