Just rented this last night. I am thoroughly disgusted by the weak, lame, did I mention WEAK and LAME ending of this movie, and it's anti-gun message, both directly and symbolically, IMO.
If you didn't see it, Jacob Heim, played by Robin Williams, is is a Jew in the Warsaw ghetto towards the end of the WWII, and well, things happen... you'll prolly just have to watch it. It's a very good movie UNTIL the end.
If you saw it, you remember that the old man gave the revolver to his son-in-law-to-be, the young boxer guy who's a friend of Jacob's, and when Jacob is elected the leader of the uprising, he is given possession of the gun. He then hides the gun in a cabinet at his house. You remember that Jacob instructs the boxer guy to collect something "special" from his home if he doesn't return after going to surrender himself for supposedly having the radio. Well, the young guy thinks that the something is either the radio or the gun (not sure which, but probably the radio), but finds out it's the little girl. Well, near the very end, when he is forced to state in front of everyone that he never had a radio, *I* was thinking that what would happen would be that he would, instead of confessing, give the signal ("the bird is in the cage", or whatever), that the uprising was to begin at that moment, and the little girl was going to pull out the revolver and give it to the boxer guy, who then commences to shoot a gestapo member, and gain possession of their first long gun, and so the uprising begins, etc... Well, without giving it away totally for those that haven't seen it, this is not what happens - as you know for those that have. Instead, it is ONLY the Russian forces who end up liberating some of the Jewish prisoners, not any internal uprising whatsoever.
So, the symbolic anti-gun message that I think the producers are trying to relate to the domestic gun control debate, IMO, is that if you just wait and don't use any violene of your own, the gov't powers that be (in the movie, the Russian army; in the US, the police), will rescue you - so don't try to defend yourself in any way. The more direct anti-gun message is Jacob hiding the gun away, and before that, not allowing the young guy to shoot the two gestapo members when they come to take the professor away. In any event, for those that have seen it, you understand that they took a very good movie, and made an incredibly crappy, lame ending to what could have been an extremely good movie, with just a good, tweaked ending.
BTW, I have my "conspiracy theories" about how "The Rock" has a very very anti-gun, or at least anti-militia message to the sheeple, despite being full of kick butt action. If you care to know, ask.
In any event, could a history buff tell me, what was the real deal in the Warsaw ghetto? There was in fact an extensive uprising, no? If you got your history from this movie, you'd certainly never know there was any. Grrrrrrrrrrrrr....
If you didn't see it, Jacob Heim, played by Robin Williams, is is a Jew in the Warsaw ghetto towards the end of the WWII, and well, things happen... you'll prolly just have to watch it. It's a very good movie UNTIL the end.
If you saw it, you remember that the old man gave the revolver to his son-in-law-to-be, the young boxer guy who's a friend of Jacob's, and when Jacob is elected the leader of the uprising, he is given possession of the gun. He then hides the gun in a cabinet at his house. You remember that Jacob instructs the boxer guy to collect something "special" from his home if he doesn't return after going to surrender himself for supposedly having the radio. Well, the young guy thinks that the something is either the radio or the gun (not sure which, but probably the radio), but finds out it's the little girl. Well, near the very end, when he is forced to state in front of everyone that he never had a radio, *I* was thinking that what would happen would be that he would, instead of confessing, give the signal ("the bird is in the cage", or whatever), that the uprising was to begin at that moment, and the little girl was going to pull out the revolver and give it to the boxer guy, who then commences to shoot a gestapo member, and gain possession of their first long gun, and so the uprising begins, etc... Well, without giving it away totally for those that haven't seen it, this is not what happens - as you know for those that have. Instead, it is ONLY the Russian forces who end up liberating some of the Jewish prisoners, not any internal uprising whatsoever.
So, the symbolic anti-gun message that I think the producers are trying to relate to the domestic gun control debate, IMO, is that if you just wait and don't use any violene of your own, the gov't powers that be (in the movie, the Russian army; in the US, the police), will rescue you - so don't try to defend yourself in any way. The more direct anti-gun message is Jacob hiding the gun away, and before that, not allowing the young guy to shoot the two gestapo members when they come to take the professor away. In any event, for those that have seen it, you understand that they took a very good movie, and made an incredibly crappy, lame ending to what could have been an extremely good movie, with just a good, tweaked ending.
BTW, I have my "conspiracy theories" about how "The Rock" has a very very anti-gun, or at least anti-militia message to the sheeple, despite being full of kick butt action. If you care to know, ask.
In any event, could a history buff tell me, what was the real deal in the Warsaw ghetto? There was in fact an extensive uprising, no? If you got your history from this movie, you'd certainly never know there was any.
Grrrrrrrrrrrrr....
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