MovieChat Forums > Rescue Dawn (2007) Discussion > was Dieter naive?

was Dieter naive?

posted 15 years ago by Esmacious
10 replies | jump to latest

I've seen various comments (outside IMDb) along the lines that Dieter (as portrayed in the film) was naive and didn't know what he was getting himself into when he was sent to Vietnam/Laos. I think this view comes partly from scenes like the one where he's taken into the Vietcong village to be given the propaganda letter and we see him smiling at the women and children when most people would either be trying to play the hard man or just crapping themselves.

To me, he's just someone who will always try to connect with others around him, even if it's his enemy - not out of self-interest but just because he sees them as human beings first and Vietcong second. I love the way he expects the same treatment back - like when they are on the journey to the prison camp and they tie him up and shoot around his head and he says "don't you EVER do that to me again!" as if he's standing up to the playground bully.

Anyway, this isn't exactly a question but I wondered if anyone else has any thoughts on this?

[–] Nova_UB313 15 years ago

Dieter was German, which should explain a great deal.

More science, less fiction.

Karlrobert Kreiten--http://tinyurl.com/n938vj

[–] tootle-2 15 years ago

Dieter was German, which should explain a great deal.

Huh? I don't get it. Could you elaborate please?

To the op: Yes, I think Dieter is naive but in a positive way. Similar to a child without much experience and understanding, he seems to be very ingenuous and straightforward. Although this could make a person appear a bit vulnerable, I think it goes with an optimistic and open mind which helps so. to stay hopeful and survive in such hard times.

[–] StoneGriffin 14 years ago

Dieter being German means that there is a cultural 'disconnect' with a sense of being an American. not that he does not love his country nor is not patriotic nor loves his comrades. He does. But there is a nuance to 'thinking like an American'. I discovered this strongly when I visit other countries or when I view other countries' cinema. The 'feeling' or sense of how things are are different from culture to culture. I am convinced that Dieter was a young American by chance, but his mind was that of a European.

I most strongly ran into this when I compared how Japanese friends who are Americans view things and how Japanese friends who are from Japan view things. They fully understand the 'cultural' viewpoint of things, but how they are felt (to the heart and to the mind fully) cannot be fully appreciated.

Dieter, frankly did not react to things in a manner that I expected an American pilot would. I viewed him as a german Ex-pat (i.e. an accidental American). Everything seemed a little 'off'. This was strongly due to a German (Herzog) writing the script and directing the movie. Herzog doesn't get it. Sorry to say. He does not create realistic 'Americans' that seems natural to viewers that ARE Americans. Heck I've seen german cinema as well. ( and i really enjoy it) BUT ... The way people think in other cultures is very different and noticeable in their art.

Dieter was naive, but even then, he did not act like a Naive American. Hope this helps.

Dr. Kila Marr was right. Kill the Crystalline Entity.

[–] johnslegers 15 years ago

That's incredibly racist and reminiscent of British WW1 propaganda...

[–] Nova_UB313 15 years ago

I suppose my comment could be read the wrong way, and I'm sorry for not explaining properly.

I actually adore Germans, and find many of them to be not only smart, but industrious, self-starters, deep thinkers, intuitive, detailed, etc. Even warm and passionate, which is hardly attributed to Germanic peoples. So if there's a word to describe a love for German culture, the country and the gorgeous men in it, I'm that person. Much in the same way that some people go completely bonkers for all things British, including their unique brand of humor, and even their men with wonky teeth.

So I wasn't referring to negative connotations, but instead the lovely things that are instilled culturally. Most being things I admire in humans, things I want more of myself. Even things like German humor, which Dieter obviously had a lot of.

More science, less fiction.

Karlrobert Kreiten--http://tinyurl.com/n938vj

[–] johnslegers 15 years ago

Dieter, as portrayed in this film, was incredibly arrogant and naive at the same time... much like a 16-year-old know-it-all. I seriously wonder why Herzog chose to portray Dieter in such a fashion since it made him extremely unlikable to me... although I do get the impression that this is exactly what your average American is like...

[–] Happy_Warrior 15 years ago

There was nothing unlikeable about him. You were not paying close enough attention to what was on the screen.

"Arrogant," "Naive," these words do not describe who Dieter was, at least Dieter as Herzog saw him. They say more about the viewer than the character. The character can't be reduced in that way. He remains mysterious to the end.

If he is naive, well, his naivete worked. He thought he would live "just because" - instead of rationalizing it through, he just chose to have faith that he'd make it out alive. Some of the other POWs thought they were doomed because, well, objectively speaking, that's what it looked like. The deck was so stacked against them that, technically, it probably made more logical sense to see it their way than see it Dieter's way.

But they still died or still were trapped and he escaped from Laos.

When you say the way Herzog portrayed him was unlikeable, don't you realize what you're saying? You're complaining that he doesn't correspond to your pre-existing cliches of what you think a movie hero should be like. The fact that many people who succeed in real life really AREN'T normal and AREN'T likeable in the standard Hollywood hero way apparently doesn't matter to you.

[–] dumpfile1313 9 years ago

That's incredibly racist and reminiscent of European communist propaganda.

[–] sutats 13 years ago

I've always wondered about Dieter's intrepidity.

If every movie and story about war is to believed you'd almost certainly be fearful for every moment of your life in captivity but it's marvelous how Dieter seemed to get on with life so nonchalantly.

He almost seemed as though he was certain that he was not going to get even the slightest scratch on him at all from his captors.

www.sutats.com

[–] dyahrmarkt 13 years ago

Watch Herzog's doc "Little Dieter Needs to Fly". You'll discover this is much more of a character study than anything else - it is precisely Dieter's eccentric, "naive" quality that allows him to survive. He's quite an oddball.

Please nest your IMDB page, so you respond to the correct person.