STORY STUDY - MEDIUM: FILM - “To Be or Not to Be”
- Jeffrey Tung
- Dec 11, 2017
- 2 min read
Putting on the performance of your life suddenly takes a whole new meaning when it really does mean life or death.
Directed by Alan Johnson, written by Thomas Meehan & Ronny Graham, and based on the 1942 film of the same name written by Melchior Lengyel (original story) and Edwin Justus Mayer (screenplay), To Be or Not to Be is about a theatre troupe living in 1939 Warsaw, Poland right when Germany invades.
The co-lead of the troupe, Anna Bronski, is the center of attention of one of her fans, fighter pilot Lieutenant Andrei Sobinski.
Because of Sobinski’s latest assignment, Anna and her husband Frederick, and extensively the entire troupe, suddenly become involved in assassinating a Polish traitor who plans on giving a list to the Nazis, which contains the names of several Polish underground resistance fighters.
Although the film is not directed by Brooks’ himself, it still contains a lot of humor that’s signature of his work. The (brief) sketch, “Naughty Nazis” that the Bronski Theater puts on in the beginning is proof enough for that.
However, parody and satire is not the goal of the film; rather, it showcases a dire situation and setting but with hilarious and buffoon-like characters dealing with it, whether it’s the troupe or the main Nazis characters.
To Be or Not to Be is a consistently entertaining film with some moments of tension, like when Bronski has to pretend to be two different people in two separate situations… and he’s supposed to be considered a terrible actor according to the audience and his own peers.
In a twisted sense, the film is probably like the pure-confidence version of the Quentin Tarantino film Inglourious Basterds. In fact, both film’s climax occurs at a theater (one a stage theater, the other a movie theater) where Hitler is in attendance. The concept of acting is also very important, as it tricks the villains into letting their guard down, and even be manipulated.
I was introduced to the film in college, in what was technically a theater course. It was in the class that I was able to be shown the original film and this film back-to-back. It’s a Mel Brooks film I was very unaware of, given his body of work, and I’m glad I discovered it.
Put on a fake beard and beard, and check it out.
