MovieChat Forums > The ODESSA File (1974) Discussion > 'He was dead before he hit the ground'

'He was dead before he hit the ground'

posted 16 years ago by bobo-29
18 replies | jump to latest

When Peter Miller (Voight) is reading the diary of the elderly man who committed suicide at the beginning of the film, he recounts Maximillian Schell shooting a Wehrmacht Officer at Riga docks during the last days of the war. Just as you hear the elderly gentleman's voice stating "he was dead before he hit the ground" you see, in a B & W reenactment, the Wehrmacht Officer being shot, hitting the ground with his eyes open and giving one last twitch before dying and closing his eyes. Obviously, not dead before he hit the ground.

[–] bill-520 15 years ago

This should probably be added to the "Goofs" section.

[–] leforcat 15 years ago

Can you really enjoy any film at all? Why don't you stick to some scientific journals instead......

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[–] bigbluecheese 15 years ago

Hah! We're just watching this and I said the same thing! He's clearly still alive when he's on the ground!

PININ' for the FJORDS?!?!?!? What kind of talk is that?

[–] rebkad 15 years ago

If he wasn't dead before he hit the ground, that makes it an even more serious offence. As a fellow officer, he should have been rushed to hospital etc. Obviously, as one had just shot the other, it was much less likely, but it emphasises how cold-blooded he was, how uncomradely - the exact opposite of what the drinking songs and the 'brotherhood' is supposed to be celebrating.

This film is sharper than you'd think!

[–] pinbackwiggly 15 years ago

I guess I noticed, but I offer forgiveness. I enjoyed the movie regardless. :)

[–] bmacsys 15 years ago

Come on. It is a figure of speech. Don't take it literally. It just means he died quickly.

[–] Jack_1515 13 years ago

I agree, it was a figure of speech...

[–] lthrsmith 15 years ago

You can't trust the diaries of elderly men. They tend to exaggerate and glorify the past.

[–] franklinlj 14 years ago

Maybe he was dead, and you just saw reflex action?

[–] Wakanohana 13 years ago

The camera close-up was from a few feet away. The eyewitness who wrote the diary/journal years later could have been close, but probably not close enough to see whether an eye twitched... or whether this was the reflex of a dead man.

[–] nvasapper 13 years ago

There was nothing in Salomon Tauber's account that remotely glorified what he and the other prisoners went through at Riga. And as far as any exaggeration- it has been well documented that the figure of 80,000 victims exterminated there by gassing and shooting, disease and starvation is accurate.

[–] alexbunardzic 12 years ago

I was present in person during that incident and I can vouch that the old man was not lying. The guy was indeed dead before he hit the ground.

[–] calcaylor 12 years ago

Funny, Alex. Tauber might not have been present and told the story as relayed to him by others he found credible. I don't recall (maybe I have forgotten) Tauber said he actually witnessed the event.

But I would say that the disconnect between what you heard read and what you saw on the screen is a confusing discrepancy that only distracts the viewer, and not, as I theorized when I was watching it for the first time, some plot device.

.*´¨¨)
¸.•´¸.•*´¨)
(¸.•´ Think heavenly, act locally...

[–] Quintpalm2 9 years ago

How interesting, Alex. How were you present at a fictitious event?

[–] jdus-1 8 years ago

Since we're being technical here, let's see....I was a deputy coroner and crime scene investigator. When does death occur? No one really knows. I have been on cases where people died from electrical disturbances in the heart muscle that killed them so quickly they appeared to be wide awake and staring. I had one old fellow who died standing up shaving, slumped against the sink, knees locked, and didnt fall down. I had another guy die on a treadmill, fall and his face came to rest on the still-running mat and not bleed (meaning his heart had stopped and was producing no blood flow). In the movie the man was shot in the torso twice. Generally, a person dies of a gunshot due to loss of blood, which can take 4-5 minutes, depending on the hole. One shot can kill instantly if it's to the head. A shot to the heart could do the same if it disrupts the electrical rhythm of the heart muscle. Even if someone has their head blown off, or decapitated, electrical impulses still run through the body, causing twitching and movement, even though the person is considered "dead" in general terms. Therefore, a person can be "dead", but still show signs of movement.
Enjoy the movie and dont sweat the small stuff.

[–] Jefbecco-1 8 years ago

Well done sir. Excellent post.

[–] 8 years ago

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[–] johnmiller (3328) 4 years ago

As Monty Python would say: "He wasn't dead, he was just resting."