MovieChat Forums > The Nanny (1966) Discussion > A problem with this film

A problem with this film

posted 9 years ago by Fresh615
8 replies | jump to latest

Performances great all around, very suspenseful, but...

Joey is telling his version of events to Bobby, the neighbor girl
and in this version of events we see his sister Suzie fall into the tub
and hit her head. This would break the rule of point of view. When Nanny comes home and accidentally drowns his sister, if he knew she was lying at the bottom of the tub, wouldn't this point to his guilt? It simply breaks a rule of film-making/story-telling.

When Nanny tells her story it is completely by the book from her point of view.

Nanny's real crime is that she left the children alone. When she comes back and accidentally kills Suzie, her guilt over her daughter's own death by illegal abortion causes momentary psychosis and she begins washing Suzie's dead body, talking to her as if alive. Joey sees her, goes to report her, but obviously Nanny reports him, saying it was all his fault.

[–] 9 years ago

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[–] cmashieldscapting 9 years ago

SPOILERS, OF COURSE.

According to Joey, Nanny said he pushed Suzie into the tub while playing which was how she died. She can't have believed that as she saw no such thing. Also, you're right about the point of view, Joey should not have known Suzie fell accidentally, which is why he naturally assumed Nanny killed her. They each accused the other of causing what was essentially an accident.

[–] 9 years ago

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[–] cmashieldscapting 9 years ago

It's true, Nanny acted wrongly and was trying to cover for herself, but Nanny was also possibly unstable for years and had just been driven over the edge. She flipped her lid. The insanity defense doesn't just excuse everything, but this makes you wonder...certainly some sort of dissociative behavior seemed to be at work.

[–] TheManInOil 9 years ago

Pff. "Rules". It was done because it made for the best way to tell the story. Whatever serves the story is paramount. That's a 'rule' that supercedes any other.

Anyway what we see is NOT what he described. He claimed the Nanny held her under and killed her deliberately, which is not the case. We're seeing what actually happened. The girl slipped and the Nanny was distracted - and the child died because of an accident. There's no malice in it.

[–] Fresh615 8 years ago

Joey never claimed she held Susie under.

I guarantee you that a different director/writer would have found a way to tell this without breaking Joey's POV.

[–] 8 years ago

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[–] Fresh615 8 years ago

It's simply a matter of POV. If you are telling the story, which Joey is, you can't be on the bedroom floor playing with the train and know that Susie has fallen and hit her head in the tub. It is bad storytelling. When Nanny tells her story, it is perfect, we follow her all the way from start to finish and do not leave her side. It makes sense. Joey's story does not. Bad direction.