Stalag 17 (1953)

 Billy Wilder’s ‘Stalag 17’

Thematic Elements:

Wilder seems to be speaking to humanity’s cynical refusal to accept each other’s humanity. Our protagonist, the loner pessimist, is eventually suspected of being the spy because of his aversion to his comradery with his fellow prisoners. The prisoners are all incredibly quick to point fingers at our protagonist and assume he is not one of them. Wilder seems to be critiquing society’s readiness to point fingers and accuse others of not being the same as you. The prisoners are eager to exile and even punish their fellow prisoner for being suspected of being ‘on the other side’. They even go so far as to beat him in his sleep. This mirrors the very thing the Nazis are doing as Wilder shows that these two groups are not so different in their hatred and paranoia of their fellow man. This was an important notion at the time to the increased paranoia of McCarthyism. Wilder is perhaps drawing parallels of the McCarthyism at the time to the Nazi movement of WWII.

 

Camerawork: Wilder uses the very small spaces of the camp to create a sense of claustrophobia. The characters are all crammed into this single location that it sometimes makes it seems hard to catch your breath and look at things more objectively. It is harder to see the big picture when all you can see is right in front of your face. This plays into the themes and ideas of not being able to see people’s overall humanity and can only see so much of who they are.

 

Best Shot: Not a spectacular shot, but a brilliant shot nonetheless is the shot below. It best illustrates the point that not only are the prisoners are all crammed together, but the framing of the window suggests that they are trapped as well. They are not only trapped physically, but they are also trapped in a limited viewpoint of perspective.



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