Although I haven't seen many movies about World War II, I can draw an interesting clue from my limited experience: namely, from "Schindler's List" in 1993 and "Life is Beautiful" in 1997 , to "The Pianist" in 2002, and then to this "Persian Lesson" in 2020. We can clearly feel the change in narrative focus, and the changing image of the fascist German military officer that accompanies the change in focus.
In "Schindler's List", the German fascist officer is an inhuman demon who randomly shoots at the crowd from the balcony, an almost absolute negative image; while the narrative of "Life is Beautiful" focuses on the victim. ; In the later "The Pianist", we suddenly found that such a "devil" would save the pianist's life because of his artistic resonance, and he began to have a little trace of the so-called "human nature"; In this "Persian Lesson", the image of the German fascist officer is even more plump and intriguing than the Jewish male protagonist.
And this change is surprising and, in my opinion, progressive—it means that people are beginning to explore and question more deeply about the reasons for the formation of fascist followers. Labeling all followers of fascism as "devil" actually cuts off the possibility of continuing to ask questions. If we assume that they were normal people in the first place, then - what makes them "devil"?
This problem is called "Nazism psychology" in some fields. For it, I certainly do not have the ability to provide a complete answer. I can only pick up a little bit of wisdom and sew it up a little:
Fromm mentioned in "Escape from Freedom" that in scientific discussions of Nazism, there are often two near-opposing viewpoints. Coercion by the majority of the people; another argues that Nazism was because Hitler and his henchmen were lunatics and demons. Both of these views are too prejudicial.
Now let's look at this problem comprehensively: Nazism is a psychological problem, but the psychological factors themselves are caused by socio-economic factors; it is also an economic and political problem, but its domination of the entire nation is based on psychological foundations.
The officer in "Persian Lessons" was born in a poor family. Because of his thirst for food, he grew up to become a cook; because he longed for the appearance of the Nazis, he joined the Nazi party without much thought.
This is the epitome of a reality in Fromm's writings: "A part of the people who bowed to the Nazi regime without any strong resistance, but they also did not become admirers of Nazi ideology and its political practice." Quite a few of these people Part of it is the same as the officer in the film—belonging to the working class. In addition to being simply attracted by the glossy appearance, there are also some deeper political, economic and psychological reasons.
After the First World War, the working class had a strong desire for socialism to become a reality, but what they experienced was only a series of disappointments. Gradually, they began to doubt all political organizations and political activities, and from the bottom of their hearts, they no longer held much about political activities. expectations. And the propaganda method of the Hitler government at that time cleverly drew a complete equatorial sign between "Germany" and "Nazi Party" - opposing the Nazis is equivalent to opposing Germany, which led to the necessity of "supporting the Nazis" and "not belonging to the Nazis". Germany's swings, so most of the working-class people, even if they no longer believe that politics can really change anything, choose to submit obediently.
In addition to the working class, the Hitler regime took advantage of the psychological weaknesses of different classes of people, and also harvested supporters from different classes such as the emerging bourgeoisie, the lower middle class, and the self-owned bourgeoisie. This problem is very complex, and I am not able to describe them all here. Just wanted to remind readers a little - demons were ordinary people before they became demons.
In the eyes of more and more creators with the theme of World War II, the fascist German officers are no longer just flat, thin "devils", they cast their perspectives on the family background and native class of these people, and try to make some explain and imply.
The hint I felt was a warning: what has been, will be again. What has been done will be done again. There is nothing new under the sun.
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