First and foremost, I cannot for the life of me even fathom what would bring Dieter to relive his experience. After so many horrors, why would Dieter allow his hands to once again be bound behind his back while he was forced through the jungle? Personally, I would rather leave my terrible memories in the past and consider them only as sources of life lessons, not as movie fodder requiring reenactment.
To continue, I found a strange sort of irony in the fact that Dieter's childhood dream resulted in such an ordeal. All he wanted to do was fly; perhaps, to be free of the earth. The dream of liberation ended in extreme confinement under conditions too horrible for a suburbanite like myself to imagine. The closest I've encountered to a locked door is a store being closed or my sister hogging the bathroom. Dieter has had an entire life kept from him behind a locked door, and all because he went after his dream. Not so encouraging to pursue my own passions.
As a sidenote, I found the insertion of the American safety video to be highly humorous, both because of the content of the video and because of its position within the entire documentary. Dieter pointed out the ridiculousness of the video in a flat, sarcastic tone, which lent to the content of the little film immensely.
Perhaps most striking to me about his story, though, is that this German man would endure so much in the name of a different country. While he made it immensely clear that he was fulfilling his dream, it cannot be denied that he flew for the United States and fought for the aims of the United States military. How far is a man willing to go to satisfy his personal aims?
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2 comments:
It's good to see a blog entry that dispenses with plot summary and gets right down to reaction. I haven't seen "Little Dieter," but I feel like I can still understand some of what you're saying.
I wonder what you meant, "Not so encouraging to pursue my own passions." Could you go deeper into this? I suppose when you see just how badly things could go you might be inclined to give up ambition; but is there not still the dream? I don't know, but I wonder.
And I wonder, too, about the last line of your post, "How far is a man willing to go to satisfy his personal aims?" I can only speak for myself, but there are certainly lines I will not, cannot cross. How about you? How far would you go?
I love your review, Molly. It starts with the one question that I was left with after viewing the film and continues to hit hard with honest and pointed reaction. I'm so glad you can appreciate this film. After I first saw it, I just felt that everyone had to see it. It's stranger than fiction in so many ways. And I love what he says about heroes being those who died. And his level of recall was intense to witness. Can't wait for your next entry. By the way, have you checked out harold's film review of Lost in Translation? It is also excellent.
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