Ultimately, if there's a flaw in the story — beyond whether you can suspend disbelief this much, which is your problem, not the movie's — it's sort of that it's a morality tale, a stern warning, a scolding, ultimately directed at long-dead people.
I mean, seriously, the odds of me running a genocidal camp while my children are still young enough to be negatively impacted are pretty small. I'm not even in the genocide field so, you know, I'd have to start as camp janitor or cafeteria worker or whatever. It's just too late in life for me to change careers.
Sorry, is that in poor taste? (If you have to ask...)
It's just that the writers are in a corner. There's very little actual death in the movie, but we can't whitewash the Holocaust. Therefore more difficult and challenging endings that respect the complexity of the situation are forsaken for a tidy, less-than-happy ending that really drives home how bad the Holocaut was.
You know, in case you hadn't heard. Or maybe needed the point driven home to you. (Last year's The Counterfeiters does a pretty good job.)
I guess my point is I hate Nazis as much as the next guy, but this movie feels like it's lecturing Nazis, and I just didn't think there were many in that theater. Even when it was sold out.
.jpg?t=20120527181101)
Article comments