did anyone think the rape scene when the russians came in was gratuitous? Why did they only rape her and not the wife/the wife didn't seam nervous?
the implication was that Oskar slept with the 16 yr old girl?
How did the mother die?
why did Albert not care when the mother was sleeping with the cousin also?
I guess converting from Judaism was not good enough? How did the shopkeeper die?
I didn't understand where danzig was? In Poland?
thanks
The mother ate fish and fish was rotten.
That is very easy way to kill himself (but I still don't understand why she did it).
Danzig is Gdansk.
To answer your first question, no I didn't think it was gratuitous--in fact, millions of women were gang-raped by the Red Army on their push to Berlin, so if anything it was mild compared to the reality. My guess is that the Russian soldiers took pity on Maria because of her children, although that would be unusual.
Oskar seems to have had sexual contact with Maria, but the extent of that contact is unclear.
The Nazi pogrom against the Jews had more to do with blood and legacy than it did with the actual faith. People with any Jewish "blood" at all were at risk, to put it mildly.
Albert's apparent indifference to his wife's dalliances is hard to understand.
One of my family friends, Wolfgang Samuel, wrote a book called "German Boy", and he describes family members being raped by the Russians when they invaded Germany.
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Yes, Oskar slept with Maria, hence his belief that he is the father of her son. (This is stated more clearly in the book.) Keep in mind that Oskar himself is around Maria's age at the time, despite his stature.
I'm not sure that the fish was bad; part of her craving for fish was because she was pregnant again, but I think if the viewer can accept the main premise of the story (Oskar's ability to stop growing) then it's not too much of a leap for the mother to "overdose" on fish.
Alfred may have been willfully oblivious to his wife's affair, or he may have been preoccupied with other matters (i.e., in the eel scene, he's busy helping the fisherman while Bronski is fondling Anges). I don't recall the book ever saying for sure whether he was aware.
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- The version I just watched showed Oskar and Maria having sex (nothing graphic though, Oskar was under the sheets.)
- On the scene where Maria accuses Alfred for "premature ejaculation" he clearly says that he thinks love is something other than beastiality. He probably knew his shortcomings in that department and was OK with Bronski and Anges as long as his wife was happy.
On the scene where Maria accuses Alfred for "premature ejaculation" he clearly says that he thinks love is something other than beastiality.I'm not sure where you think bestiality comes into the film, but what he actually says is that love is more than "smuttiness".
I believe in the German he calls it "Schweinerei," which would be literally "piggery" (piggishness?) or "swinery," keeping in mind that the word Schwein has a much stronger connotation to German speakers than pig/swine does to most English speakers.
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She ate so much fish because she tried to force an abortion. She didn't want to kill herself, he wanted to kill the unborn.
shareI'm not sure that the fish was bad; part of her craving for fish was because she was pregnant again, but I think if the viewer can accept the main premise of the story (Oskar's ability to stop growing) then it's not too much of a leap for the mother to "overdose" on fish.
I think all of the other questions were answered, but Markus (the shopkeeper) poisoned himself. Oskar picks up a small bottle right next to Markus's hand, turns it to look at the label, and then sets it right back down. That was the poison Markus took.
Also, it was mentioned before, but worth mentioning again: Yes, Oskar and Maria had sex, but both were 16 (in the story), not just Maria.
I thought it was made clear from the beginning that Jan, Alfred, and Agnes all had an understanding of what kind of relationship they all had together and that they all liked each other. Alfred even told Agnes that it was ok if it wasn't his kid. At the party early in the movie, Jan is feeling up Agnes while she is playing the piano in full view of everyone. Didn't seem like they were trying to hide anything. They even fooled around in the bedroom with Alfred a couple feet away in the kitchen.
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