Europa Europa and Olivier Olivier Analysis

Both Europa, Europa and Olivier, Olivier have shown how the uniqueness of man can reproduce the real into existence and use it to the benefit or harm of self and others. These two movies transform how through the man's identity, he is able to recognize and take action into how what man sees in his reality that forms the identity of man. How Solomon Perel and Olivier adapt to the reality and transform themselves physically to survive and to give hope with their relationships while maintaining a sense of mental balance of what they are living out and what they truly are.

In Europa, Europa, the opening scenes of the drowning person and Solomon's memoir of his circumcision at the beginning of the movie encapsulates how Solomon's identity is defined through the Jewish culture and beliefs and how this haunts him throughout his teenage life. His circumcision is instilled as a pivotal part of his identity and finds it difficult to escape from it. The drowning scene represented Solomon's suppression of his identity to survive through adaptability. That identity is drowned to be hidden from the eyes of reality. Notice also that in this scene someone has tried to save the drowning man but he rejected the help. A matter of mind over heart wherein Solomon could not bear anymore to survive by denying his own human identity as a Jew but had to no other choice but to continue living a blind identity he had not truly want.

Solomon's circumcision as an infant demonstrates how it is the source that affects his entire life. The scene where Solomon's genital is shown and his nudity elaborates how his identity has been affected through the changes that he has undergone to survive and to satisfy his cravings. This nudity is necessary to depict the joyful Solomon in his bathtub during the opening scenes and to the painful experiences Solomon endures when he tried to hide his identity by trying to fix his genital. This is also a desperate attempt to have Leni for himself even if she is a German who hated Jews like Solomon. The scene is the symbolic portrayal of Solomon's identity from being a Jew to that of hiding the true self.

Because of this rejection of the Jewish identity, Solomon is affected by his own conscience of his actions. He is hindered by self-guilt that leads him to have nightmares particularly in the scene with his family and the closet scene with Hitler. Although Solomon is a hero to the Germans for what he had done in the front lines, nothing still escapes from who he is. Even Adolf Hitler as shown in the nightmare can not escape condemnation by admitting he is a Jew although he is treated as the hero of the German people. All of the efforts Solomon has done to survive and hide his Jewish identity are due to the betrayal of relationship between Hitler and Stalin as depicted in the ballet scene of Hitler and Stalin.

Through his mother's last words, "You must stay alive!" and his determination to survive has given him freedom at last when he is finally reunited with his brothers. Solomon is able to rekindle his Jewish roots after hiding his identity for so long through the peeing scene at the end of the film. When Solomon is with the German soldiers, he could not find himself to pee comfortably because of the risk of unmasking his disguise. Now that he is free from the hands of the persecution of the Nazis, the peeing scene focuses on the symbol of Jewish identity, which is the male genital. The scene signifies the reunion of Solomon with his self as a Jew.

For what Solomon has done in denying his Jewish identity in order to survive even when he had thought he could take no more, he is more of an opportunist than a hero as he takes advantage of his situation to fit in and adapt to what is happening in order to save himself and not to become a hero. The disguise Solomon has to make is a necessary one even I would do it when I am caught in the same situation. Upholding the value of identity as who you are in the face of death gives a lot of pride to oneself but this limits the things that a person can do in the future. I rather survive than die so that I can look forward to the future and how I can contribute to it.

In Olivier, Olivier, the movie also portrayed how man can take up another person's identity and be able to portray himself as another being as if living he is living the life of someone else. The rolling ball on the floor when the teen Olivier sees his room reveals how a life cannot be replaced or changed despite the memories that it holds. The rolling ball symbolizes the pieces of memories that only the owner can truly feel. The ball shows how someone can stare and contemplate on it but cannot understand its existence. Thus, the ball aimlessly rolls around Olivier's room. The empty swing at end of the film justifies the symbol of the rolling ball that one cannot simply replace the identity of a person simply because man defines his own self and not of others. Man creates his own values and forms his identity through his own actions and choices that cannot be fully replicated by anyone

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