The idea that this war criminal would allow himself to be manipulated by a naive kid and then turn the tables to turn the kid to himself become a murderer is so stupid and incredulous beyond belief.
Todd wasn't naive in the slightest. He knew what he was doing, he just didn't foresee how it would effect him.
Why would he participate in killing this homeless guy? He could have just let the guy go. Now, he was setting himself up for life in prison. I finally had had enough. This movie was violent and disgusting.
As the film clearly shows, Todd had no choice. He had to help Dussander in order to keep him alive, as he believed Dussannder had written a letter that fully explained the extent of Todd's involvement with him and had deposited in a safe that would only be opened in the event Dussander died. Thus ruining the rest of Todd's life. Todd had no choice but to bury the hobo for Dussander.
Why would his parents knowingly let their kid go to the home of a stranger every day, even if they were getting divorced?
Dussander was no 'stranger' to the family, Todd's parents believed he was Edward Denker, and that Todd read books to him. They weren't getting divorced, as stated by someone before this was Dussander's ploy as he posed as Todd's grandfather.
Why would someone who is trying to hide his past, blow it by killing a harmless homeless man?
The killing of the homeless man, as with the (attempted) killing of the cat were representative of how Dussander could not hide his awful past from himself. If you have the read the book, it goes into much more detail of how Dussander thrived on controlling people, and having the power of life or death over people. So I think by killing the hobo he was trying to regain some level of his previous authority and it also how his odd relationship with Todd was affecting him.
Why would a kid let himself be manipulated to such an extent by this man, when it had gotten to the point of being much worse by being manipulated? This movie was just awful.
I don't think what you just put made sense. But I'll say that for a large portion of the time Todd and Dussander knew each other, Todd was manipulating Dussander. The balance slowly shifter to Dussander manipulating Todd, but by the time Todd realised it was far too late to do anything about it.
I hope I've cleared things up for you, I would encourage you to watch the film in it's entirety and also read the book, which is better than the film.
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goodpatron123
8 years ago
Fantastic response! To add to that:
The mom insisted on having "the stranger" over for dinner in the beginning, in order to meet and vet him.
We must remember that Nazis were not only against Jews, but homosexuals (& others), as well. Once Dussander realized the homeless man to be gay, it was extra incentive for him to execute. You could see his pleasure in his face. Also, he wasn't concerned with getting caught; he had every intention of taking care of the body, had he not suffered heart attack. Being that his victim was a nomadic homeless man, he naturally assumed no one would miss him/report him missing.
(SN- shout out to Elias Koteas- LOVE him!)
In regards to manipulation- as Dussander put it, "My boy... We are *beep* each other."
*Bonus 😊 I think Todd also finished off the homeless man in self-defense (in his mind). Remember Dussander told him he'd knifed him for the same reason.
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