Sunday, October 28, 2007
Dreyman
Any thoughts on Dreyman? He was willing to work within the system and avoid criticizing it. He became a successful artist by playing by these rules. He even tried to steer his less restrained artistic friends away from public comments that would hurt their careers. When he finally broke, it wasn’t over his own treatment, but because of what had happened to his close friend. (The Minister of Culture blackmailing his girlfriend for sex didn’t help either.)
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4 comments:
I think part of his story was luck. I get the feeling that he didn't purposely avoid criticising the state at first (I'm talking way earlier than the timeframe of the film), but that he just happened not to before he became known to the state. Once he was known to the state, then he became more calculating.
But perhaps not. The memory of the film is quickly fading, and I can't seem to remember any details anymore.
At first I expected Dreyman's play to be a subtle instrument of criticism -- using a Cassandra-style character to say she can't help predicting disaster, maybe the same way the arts community would be unable to stop itself from questioning the party's future.
I don't know. Then again, until problems hit home for him (his friend's suicide, his girlfriend's predicament, as you noted), he seemed like an idealist who was happy not to look too closely at anything.
I saw some criticism of the Dreyman character that he was too naive to be believable. Like when he is trying to put in a good word for his friend with the culture minister. Anyone living in that society would have known that no one would be un-blacklisted.
Indeed. I cannot believe that either Dreyman or Wiesler could get to where they are in life and still be the way they are. But if you are willing to put that implausibility aside, you are rewarded with a good movie.
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