Ok, first off, how'd you feel about Gerhard? His death?
Dresler? What do you think happened to Dresler?
And did anyone else assume that Mr. Krauzenberg would make the ULTIMATE sacrafice for the couple when they first read the cover and outline?
My wife said to me, "He's going to let the Steinbergs go in place of he and Mrs. Krauzenberg." I wasn't sure, but I knew he'd find some way to help them. I think it's a stretch to think that some Nazi underling would go to those lengths to help Jewish resistance forces to escape to Switzerland. And what DID become of Dresler??? Seems like he was caught in the power struggle between Himmler and Eichmann. THAT part of the plot I actually enjoyed and believed. I'm sure there were a lot of Nazi pissing contests going on during WWII.
As to the film's ending, I thought it was WAAAAYYY too Hollywood! I kept waiting for the hammer to fall...or should I say Himler. I didn't expect him to let anyone out of Germany, least of all Jewish resitance participants! LOL @ another posters "Himmler's List" message. Right, Himmler the good guy! And the scene with Gerhard chasing the Steinbergs down on the last train platform before Swiss freedom was simply cheesy Hollywood fare. I couldn't stomach it OR the final scene with the happy Jews back in Germany. Seriously????
When is Hollywood ever going to get real about the Holocaust? Happy compliant Jews, rescued despite their own naivite....blah, blah, blah...the Holocaust did NOT have a happy ending people!!!!
Gerhard was a simpleton who was in love with a woman he hardly knew while married with an expectant wife. Why he killed himself over her supposed death I don't know. Weak willed I suppose. As for Dresler the stepping on of the family photo told me he wasn't going to make it. I didn't assume they'd make a sacrifice because honestly I got the feeling they thought they were better than them even after finding out they were Jews too. My little Nazi? Really! Reverse racism add money. The look on her face when they said they were Jews too. Priceless. They couldn't even tell. Hmmm.
"I don’t mind being in a man’s world as long as I can be a woman in it"~Marilyn Monroe
I must have missed something because the film never states he loved or even had deep feelings for Ingrid. I just felt he though she, or maybe they, were good people and he just maybe fancied her a bit. Most soldiers had fantasies of other women they may come across because of being away from there own loved ones for such a long time. I still am not sure why he committed suicide.
The film may have wanted to imply he would get to know her or he had some plan/s for her later on but I did not see it. One last point, since he knew he was going to the front and it is implied he could not kill people when ordered maybe he felt he should just end it for himself instead of having to face being a coward or a man who could not shoot women.
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You are very harsh on Gerhard ... I think he just could not take it anymore ... especially with the fact he is being sent to the Russian front which almost certainly meant death. Hungry in the spring of 44 was a nasty place. In just a few months over 600,000 people where sent to Auschwitz. And so what if he loved or fancied her ... did you not ever feel that way towards someone that you would never be with? Back when you were young???
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