MovieChat Forums > Inkheart (2009) Discussion > Anyone notice the Nazi theme?

Anyone notice the Nazi theme?

posted 15 years ago by tbessie
15 replies | jump to latest

It seemed to me they threw in a bunch of Nazi themes - the guy filming on an old-style camera, the action happening at some castle/concentration-camp in the alps, the searchlights, the book-burning, etc. Not to mention the villains' black leather/Nazi chic-like outfits.

Was this part of the original book, or a theme the director decided to add, do you think?

I couldn't find mention of it in the subjects of discussions here, so it may've been discussed already.

- Tim

[–] khieri 15 years ago

Well, given that the book's author is German and threw in the references to book-burning and deliberate ignorance as (I'm quite sure) references to the Nazis, I would say it's kind of a recurring theme throughout the trilogy, actually.

On the other hand, evil's pretty much universal and everybody knows what to expect from villains in black leather.

JMcK

[–] tbessie 15 years ago

I really should read the books. :-)

- Tim

[–] PoppyTransfusion 13 years ago

evil's pretty much universal and everybody knows what to expect from villains in black leather

Good observation!

I'm a fountain of blood
In the shape of a girl

[–] libbugu 14 years ago

I thought it looked very Nazi-esque, especially the final scenes, with Capricorn filming his dastardly deeds. (Although it was hard for me to get past the actor playing Capricorn being the same guy that played the editor in 13 Going on 30 so I couldn't QUITE equate him to Hilter!)

'I shall pray for your soul.'
'I shall wait for your shoes.'

[–] Supaman1 14 years ago

what about thinking of him as Smeagol from LOTR?

[–] carolfantaccini-1 14 years ago

It's very hard not to. ;)

I think of Smeagol even when I see him dancing to "Thriller" in that movie where a 13 year-old girl suddenly becomes 30 and she's Jennifer Garner...

[–] nefertiri-3 14 years ago

You can't be serious, can you? Why does everyone reduce Germany on a couple of freaks that ruled over nearly hundred years ago? 'Oh, hey, it's a german book, there must be references to the Nazis' - yeah, sure... Do I have to search for references to the Iraq or Vietnam War in american books now? Or associations with Napoleon in french books?

[–] rikerbot 14 years ago

I think the fact that they tortured and massacred millions of people in an attempt to extinguish an entire race has a habit of sticking in people's minds.

Oh, and the fact that they tried (and almost succeeded) to TAKE OVER THE WORLD.

I'm sure your delicate sensibilities may have been offended by this completely innocent question, but you seem to care WAY more about the Nazi party than the OP.

[–] thealmondsshadow 14 years ago

I think the fact that they tortured and massacred millions of people in an attempt to extinguish an entire race has a habit of sticking in people's minds.

Oh, and the fact that they tried (and almost succeeded) to TAKE OVER THE WORLD.

I'm sure your delicate sensibilities may have been offended by this completely innocent question, but you seem to care WAY more about the Nazi party than the OP.

Hahaha. Amen to that.

Some books should be tasted, some devoured, but only a few should be chewed and digested thoroughly

[–] CheshireCatGrin4 14 years ago

I'm German. And while I understand why people immediately think of Nazis when hearing Germany, brutality, racism, hatred, burning books... this thread and your sarcasm also offended me.
I do not want do forget about Holocaust, the horrible crimes against humanity and WWII, I have learned about these things since I was old enough to think for myself, visited Auschwitz and Buchenwald several times, met survivors of concentrations camps, talked to them, and was shocked, ashamed and very very saddened by what I saw, heard and FELT.
As much as I would like to change history, I can't and since I was born 40 years after WWII ended, I can only try to never let something like that happen again.

Assuming that Germans would forget, or even worse: try to relativate the Nazi crimes with alluding to other horrible crimes (think Franco, Ku Klux Klan,Pinochet, colonization and its effects on Native Americans,...), is probably normal for people from other countries, but it's nevertheless offending. Because I won't forget. Don't worry. AND I am not a Nazi just because I was born in a country that for you means Naziland.

However, since this world and human thinking are based on stereotyping and generalizations, I guess I'll have to live with that.

"increase
delete
escape
defeat
it's all that matters to you" (Silverchair)

[–] rikerbot 14 years ago

I was just replying to nefertiri's post. Nefertiri claimed that the OP only thought there were Nazi references because it was a German book, which is idiotic.

For the record, I would never equate "German" with "Nazi", and I was only being sarcastic to make a point.

I didn't mean to offend anyone with my post.

[–] cmertes-1 10 years ago

Well, as a German I can tell you that the Third Reich is still very prevalent in contemporary culture and the public mind. While I personally believe that (West) Germany did a better job of culturally processing its history than many other countries (probably because of the magnitude of the crime, because they lost the war and because the 1968 generation happened no so long after the war), the process will still take much more time and there is even currently a significant backlash against a modern, post-Nazi and cosmopolitan Germany under way that permeates all social strata. So I predict progressive authors will continue to try to process the Nazi crimes in their works for a very long time.

Long story short, while the argument "she's German, therefore she writes about Nazis" is clearly false, "she's German, therefore any similarities to the Nazis are likely to be deliberate references" is a very fair assumption IMHO.

[–] 14 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Shuggy 14 years ago

Actually, when I saw the book-burning, in the context of a story about the power of the written word, I thought of Farenheit 451.

"Skxawng!" at http://www.cafepress.com/ahua/7004431";

[–] Royalcourtier 9 years ago

Book burning was also carried out by Americans. These are not references to Nazis.