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Post by lemacd on Aug 7, 2017 15:59:49 GMT
 Let's talk about the historical context for a bit... Let's talk about historical accuracy... or historical inaccuracy? Since most of us probably saw this for the first time as a child, what were your thoughts about characters like Zeller and Rolfe and Franz and the Nazis chasing them through the Abbey? |
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Post by gothicbutterfly95 on Aug 9, 2017 3:56:49 GMT
I was too distracted by Maria's wedding dress...
I don't mind too much about the historical innacuracy - it's not like everything else (geography re. the escape, names, the story) is correct either. It's clear that this isn't, and was never meant to be a documentary, and the way they did change it, I think, makes sense for the story they were trying to tell.
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Post by lemacd on Aug 9, 2017 15:38:40 GMT
I don't mind historical inaccuracy too much, or should I say, I can ignore it well enough. I mean, I know the truth so I can, but for some people, this is what they think it was really like that that's rather... bothersome. And it can be bothersome when you want to write fanfiction with some accuracy and find it just messes with the timeline. But it's all fantasy, like you say, not documentary.
But I guess discussion the historical context, can you imagine this story taking place in a different era, different country... do the events going on in Europe shape their story?
I think that it quite possibly did. The Germans were a threat and Berlin did want Georg to serve. It makes me wonder if finding a mother for his children was the actual priority in his relationship with Elsa, that finding love was not really part of the plan. And while Elsa was hardly the most maternal woman to choose, she would see that they were raised well, educated, etc.
Of course, Elsa was a hot ticket and one doesn't really have to wonder what he saw in her.
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Post by gothicbutterfly95 on Aug 10, 2017 7:39:55 GMT
I agree with the political context being a crucial part of their story.
I don't know if I believe finding the children a mother was the only thing he thought of with Elsa (at least when talking about Elsa specifically), but I don't think he would've put falling in love over the children getting a mother. Except, you know, Maria.
And yeah, the fact that people think this is truth can be rather annoying at times. For my uni project (since fanfiction was vetoed) I'm going to talk about all the different adaptations of the story, and how they change the story (or don't)
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Post by indigoblue on Aug 12, 2017 23:14:42 GMT
I saw TSOM for the first time in 1965 when I was 5, and can remember loving the dance scene with all the pretty ladies in their lovely dresses and handsome men in their white ties and tails. Then we cut to Herr Zeller, and I was annoyed when he made critical remarks about the Austrian flag; I knew that the ball scene was part of the film, but I thought Zeller had (literally) walked in from the street onto the set and had chosen to be nasty about it, spoiling the whole setup. I can remember feeling annoyed that the director hadn't told him to go home if he couldn't be nice! Haha! What it is to be five...
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Post by augiesannie on Sept 4, 2017 16:51:40 GMT
This question about the historical context was very interesting to me because I was born in the mid-50s, and I'm Jewish, so I grew up with the Nazi horrors being very fresh in my mind. As a girl, I was terrified of Nazis and had nightmares after first seeing the Diary of Anne Frank. And yet seeing TSOM when it first came out, I wasn't scared, which I think is because it's honestly pretty far removed from the truth. I don't object to that, not everything has to be a documentary.
I read once that when the play came out, the Nazi thing was downplayed because, remember it was ten years earlier, the feeling was that theatregoers weren't ready for RL Nazis. You may know that the first director engaged for the film wanted it to be more RL and dark about the Nazis, but Robert Wise went in a different direction. You may also know that the Austrians didn't want him to film the scene of the Nazis marching across the screen but relented after he threatened to use documentary footage of the Nazis being welcomed by a crowd of Austrians.
I don't think there was very much golden about the 30s for many people (there was also the Depression) but I think that for the movie it's just meant to have that wistful "world that's disappearing" feel. Which is fine with me.
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Post by indigoblue on Aug 28, 2020 22:25:02 GMT
And interesting that many of the people who made the film were also Jewish.
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