Tag Archives: Ernst Lubitsch

You Are What You Eat

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The scene that I wanted to dive deeper into is in the beginning of the film when Greenberg turns to Mr. Rawitch and tells him “what you are, I wouldn’t eat.”  What is interesting in this scene is that it is the first major clue that Mr. Greenberg, besides his name, is a Jewish character and is performing ethnicity throughout the film.  The line is inferring the Mr. Rawitch is a ham, which in the acting industry means that he is very dramatic and thinks he’s the most important character. Although Mr. Greenberg does not mention him being a ham, he gets the reference right away, signalling that the characters know that he is Jewish.  This is one of the three main hints that he is playing a Jewish character in the film and the one that sticks out the most to me. In this scene the camera is centered straight on at the two actors, but instead of Mr. Rawitch looking at Mr. Greenberg he is looking at the camera which reinforces what Mr. Greenberg is saying.  He is always trying to get screen time and or thinks he is better than the other characters and won’t look at them unless they make claims about him. After Mr. Rawitch comes back saying “How dare you call me a ham,” the camera cuts quickly to another part of the stage which doesn’t let the joke or line linger and receive an audience reaction as much as it would otherwise.  I think this technique makes you think about the line more than you would have given there be a pause there and it doesn’t give room for the line to be perceived as a joke but rather characterization that factors into Mr. Greenberg’s final monologue and his performance in general.

A Shallow Act

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This screenshot depicts an actor posing as Hitler in Warsaw during the satirical film “To Be or Not to Be”. What I find so interesting about this specific scene is the look of confusion and almost bewilderment on the actor’s face when a young fan recognizes him. It is the perfect representation of how the Nazi uniform and the Hitler mustache were almost seen as a suit of armor at the time of this movie’s filming. These iconic symbols were synonymous with power and authority, and no one dared to question them, which is why, when the actor was posing as Hitler, he was shocked to have his disguise discovered. The camera angle is straight on and centers his shocked expression almost in the direct middle of the screen, further alluding to the masked humanity of the actor who is trying to disappear behind his authoritative disguise. This scene sets up a pervasive theme throughout the film, and an overall commentary on the superficial nature of the order and posing within the Third Reich. A band of actors is successful in extracting information from high-level Nazi officials by posing as high-level officials themselves, and no one questions their authority because they are in disguise and act as though they are in a position of authority. By deifying people as symbols, and losing sight of their undeniable humanity, the Nazis let themselves become fooled and easily manipulated by actors who only needed a few simple props. The reason it worked so well is because the Nazis knew the truth, that their leaders, just like the actors, were only human, but by refusing to question either, an illusion can be maintained. That is why this scene is so interesting to me. It showcases the fragility of the illusion, and yet it works so well because of the fragile illusion the Nazis themselves were trying to uphold.

What is Hitler?

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Ernst Lubitsch’s dark comedy To Be or Not to Be from 1942 satirizes a variety of aspects of Nazi ideology, chief among them the performative nature of its everyday practices, its signs, and its symbols. One question that frames the film is “What constitutes Hitler?” The film provides the viewer very little in the way of the substance of Nazi ideology, but instead chooses to focus on the world of appearances—the performative gestures and verbal expressions of loyalty, the uniform as a symbol, and the blind adherence to authority—revealing precisely the lack of substance below the surface. Concluding the first sequence of the film, the still above depicts an important moment, in which the illusion of Hitler in Warsaw (in reality Mr. Bronski, an actor in the Polish theater company) is broken. The film introduces Hitler by referring to him as “the man with the little mustache,” suggesting that it is his facial hair, rather than the person, who defines what Hitler is. This question is taken up in the theater, a minute before the above shot, when the director of the company, Mr. Dobosh, expresses his discontent with Bronski’s make-up claiming, “It’s not convincing.” Not only with respect to Hitler, but throughout the film, facial hair functions as an indicator of the authenticity of a person, and to be revealed as wearing a fake beard delegitimizes one. While Dobosh is not convinced by Bronski’s mustache as a signifier of Hitler, the Polish people on the street certainly are… that is until the young girl recognizes Bronski and reveals him for who he is. This medium shot centers Bronski and the girl while still holding in the frame the confused onlookers. The girl as a child—and thus outsider—is able to see through the illusion, reminiscent of the child in “The Emperor’s New Clothes.” This shot depicts the moment just before Bronski realizes that he is exposed and the audience on the street realize that their eyes have deceived them. This shot pairs nicely with the scene at the end, in which Bronski, dressed as Hitler, orders two Nazi pilots to jump out of a plane without parachutes, and they comply without question. Through these two scenes and countless others, the film is satirizing the success of these performances and those who fall for them without questioning further.