I may be missing something here:
First the actors manage to lure Hitler's guard out of the theatre. Now Hitler is unguarded, but nothing comes off it. The actors leave as well. Then, to the surprise of everybody, the railway station blows up. Then the actors leave with Hitler's plane. What exactly was the intention behind the theatre act?
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Last movie watched: To Be or Not to Be (8/10)
I just watched this film for the first time and absolutely adored it, but this section confused me at first too. For me, I think the Inglourious Basterds echoes were so striking that I actually started anticipating the plot of To Be or Not to Be, even though it wasn't exactly the same. Namely, during the climax at the theater, I thought the troupe was going to somehow try and kill Hitler or something. As such, when the sequence ended so quickly, I was admittedly confused (though I loved the Shylock payoff, as well as everyone getting to play their roles from the play at the start of the film). Upon watching the film again, I realized that I was projecting things onto the plot that weren't there, and their goal is actually quite simple: to escape from Poland. During the "planning" scene, Joseph is upset with his cohorts' intervention because he "had a plane arranged and everything [for escaping], but Mr. Rawitch had a burning desire to act again." The group decries that "in 24 hours they'll know everything, and then we're caught like rats in a trap." This is their final problem, and the following sequence shows us their solution.
Ultimately, they stage the confusion at the theater so that, in the midst of the chaos, they can step in as Hitler and his officers and safely vacate the premises and ultimately escape Poland entirely without being noticed. Later, when they're in the car, they see a railway station being blown up, indicating that they succeeded in their overall goal of protecting the underground movement. Again, because I was thinking of Inglourious Basterds, on my first viewing, I thought this was the theater blowing up and that we had somehow missed out on it, but it's actually unrelated to their escape. I think it's simply a way of showing that the resistance is still in full effect, and it's all thanks to our theater troupe for stopping Professor Siletsky from meeting with the Gestapo. They saved the resistance and they made it out with their lives to perform Hamlet another day.
The film is so densely layered with its complex web of intrigue and duplicities that it's easy to get a little lost in the fray, but I personally think that makes it even more fun to watch multiple times. So many details to appreciate!
"I grew up watching TV and I turned out TV." - Homer Simpson
Thanks for the explanation.
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Last movie watched: Shaun of the Dead (5/10)
Fwiw I did not at all even think the plot would involve attempting to kill Hitler, since at the time it was made no such attempt had been made. One would be made later. This is after all in general terms a work of historical fiction, but the broad outlines of historical truth must be given their due, even in a comedy.
But in terms of the narrative itself, yes the focus was purely on escaping to England. I would also add they had no real time to plan for an assassination attempt. While the guards in the hallway were pulled off from protecting Hitler, there were still plenty of German soldiers in teh theater itself. How many were armed and that sort of thing was not even addressed by the film.
Was that man in the theater, followed by all the guards when the Jewish guy came out of the bathroom, was that really Hitler or an impostor? Because later in the car it certainly looked like Bronski.
shareanthonylchamberlain says > Was that man in the theater, followed by all the guards when the Jewish guy came out of the bathroom, was that really Hitler or an impostor? Because later in the car it certainly looked like Bronski.It was the actor portraying Hitler; the same guy who later goes in to retrieve Maria after Tura's mustache goes missing. The script is well written; everything is so well explained. I'm really surprised that so many people seemed to have missed so much.
Good explanation.
shareI thought the point was to rescue the one who got caught with the fake beard.
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