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To be or not to be, a film by Ernst Lubitsch





In Warsaw in August 1939, in-between period when Europe was poised to fall into chaos, stunned onlookers discovered, Hitler, alone in the street. A booming voice announces a step backwards. So here we are in Berlin, in the Gestapo. Then comes
Rawitch, director. This shatters the dramatic illusion. They are not Nazis but actors who rehearse a play "realistic" Gestapo in a theater in Warsaw.

fuzzy boundary between cinema and theater


Before the arrival of Rawitch was nothing to identify theatrical rehearsals as such. Indeed, the opening of the film used and abused codes properly cinematic (voice-overs, outdoor settings, mounting series of short shots with still shots and panoramic succession of close-ups of stunned passersby at the sight of Hitler ).

ambiguous relationship between reality and fiction



In this work, it is difficult to determine clearly the territory of reality and of fiction. In repeating Gestapo, the actors are struggling to get under the skin of their characters. Bronski can not help add comic effects, Maria Tura (Carole Lombard) comes on stage in flamboyant evening dress even though it must interpret the prisoner of a concentration camp! ... Hence the protestations of the director, who must remind his players that this is a "realistic play."

same evening, the troupe performs in Hamlet. While Josef Tura begins his famous soliloquy beginning "To be or not to be", one of the spectators left ostensibly places. It is the young lieutenant Sobinski. The actor is annoyed by the departure he interprets as an affront to his acting skills. His monologue only acquires more than truth, because he pronounces the words could apply to a lesser extent to what he feels at this time., Which ironically gives them a more ludicrous than tragic . Figure fictional Hamlet erased to make room for that of the cuckolded comedian ... and ....

Adultery and love triangle

Indeed, Sobinski left his place, not to protest against the game of Josef Tura, but to join him at this opportune moment, Maria Tura, in her box. It had fallen under the spell of the young man. The film develops and the theme of adultery, in a roundabout way, Hays censorship code requires. This gives rise to two-way dialogue on the capacity of lieutenant to drop bombs on his plane ...
Later, when war broke out, parachuted to prevent an anti-resistance Gestapo, he will herberge emergency by Maria Tura. Josef Tura, returning to the marital home, discover the amazement in his bed. The film suggested a way that supported the lieutenant had taken the place of the husband.


And reality than fiction ...

Rawitch The troupe is forced to cease operations when the war broke out with the invasion of Poland. The Costume Nazi actors returning closet to make room for uniforms for the "real" Gestapo.

fiction ... but had not said its last word


However, members of the troupe will not sit idle for long. After returning to England Sobinski, they will try to put their talents actors in the service of resistance to Nazism. They will infiltrate the Gestapo, sometimes almost on replaying the same scenes of their play Gestapo alongside "real" Nazis. It operates as a dialogue between fiction and reality. The quality of their play will determine the success of their infiltration and of course their hello!


Finally
While my comment does not show it, this film is extremely funny. It requires all the finesse and talent Lubitsch to mingle without false notes the theme of Nazism to the comic tone. This work is a painting rich social world of comedians ranging from supporting roles frustrated not recognize their talent to see comedians who can not help to add, by way of Tura. Young couple unable to top in competition, over-sized ego, which most couples is weakened by the presence of Sobinski.
Finally, this film is a tribute to the magic of theater. The spectator is disturbed when he hears his tirade Greenberg pronounce Shakespearean. His words are they those of the Shylock Merchant of Venice , or those of a victim of Nazi persecution? Thus, this film works as a demonstration of the power of theater as revealing truth.