I can see why people find it implausible that Nelly goes along with Johnny's plan. But I think the movie lays out very solid psychological motives for her not to tell Johnny who she is and to go along with his plan. Below, I'll try to articulate as I see it.
Nelly is someone who went through hell. Her biggest fear is that the camp destroyed who she was, that she is never going to be old Nelly. When she has the reconstructive surgery, she asks to be exactly like she was (contrary to Doctor's and Lene's advice.) When she sees her reflection in the broken mirror after reconstruction she says 'I don't exist.' Looking at her old picture, she says 'This is me.' . All she wants is being old Nelly, finding Johnny and going back to their old life. She even puts herself in great danger looking for him. (The guy she mistakes for Johnny.) When she finally finds Johnny and he does not recognize her, as she later tells Lene, it was as if she was dead. Her biggest fears were confirmed; she was not the Nelly he knew and loved anymore. First night he does not recognize her, she gets overwhelmed and runs away. But she comes back to confront him next day, because she cannot just walk away, thought of Johnny kept her alive through the camp. When Johnny first brings her to his apartment, there is a small moment, it looks like she is about to say "Johnny it's me!", (Nina Höss is superb at communicating the unsaid.) but Johnny cuts her off. Just before he walks out of the door, she asks him 'Do I really look like her?', he coldly answers "No, but you will." After that, I think, it is very psychologically plausible she does not tell the truth. She cannot face with the possibility that she will tell Johnny and he will be disappointed with her post-camp self. Of course, this is preposterous if she really believes Johnny loves her, but remember she survived the camps, she is extremely traumatized, she thinks she "doesn't exist" anymore. After that, she stays with Johnny with mixed motives of both hope that he will recognize her at some point and hope that he will make her into her old self.
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AtZReviews
9 years ago
Very well said.
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MrEdnablackadder
9 years ago
Nelly was in denial as much as Johnny was: she wanted to believe he truly loved her and hadn't betrayed her, so she pursued the plan hoping to find out that she was right. Also, Johnny wanting her to be part of his ruse didn't automatically mean that he had given her to the authorities. Sure, using a stranger to impersonate your dead wife and collect an inheritance doesn't feel like a noble gesture, but he was a desperate man who'd lost everything. He may have been ready to do a petty thing for money now that his wife was officially dead, but that didn't necessarily mean that he'd been the one to hurt her in the first place. Probably Nelly wanted to think that one of the reasons behind his plan was his desire to have his (supposedly) dead wife back with in some form? Perhaps.
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