“Since the school yard neither of you has ever walked away from a physical conflict.” ………………………………………“Who raised you Marshall?”Teddy: “Wolves” They all laugh except Teddy.Naehring: “Very impressive defense mechanisms”Naehring has again repeated the line about defense mechanisms and then Scorsese cuts back to the dying commandant.

Scorsese shows us what Teddy is seeing.The camera demonstrates what Teddy’s eyes could not do.

The extreme closeup of the action brings the audience into the drama and highlights the tension for them.

Naehring: “Do you believe in God, marshall?”

Scorsese cross cuts back to Naehring for the last time. ThisCross cutting in this scene between Naehring and Teddy’s memories of Dachau gives the audience aninsight into Teddy’s disturbed mind. It is Mahler’s beautiful music which blends both timeframes together. 1945 remains silent and a visual of Teddy’s memories only. The sound comes from 1954 throughout the scene.

END OF FLASHBACK SEQUENCE

This flashback sequence further enhances the audience’s understanding of Teddy’s disturbed state. Whilst the mansion may appear warm and cosy and a shelter from the storm outside, it is also an oppressive place in terms of the high level of visualIntensity demonstrated in the mise-en-scene. There are so many objects, lights andheavy wooden panelling and sculptures there there is a tension created throughThe dressing of the set and the use of lighting. There are so many lights that it again adds a surreal quality. Table lamps seem to dominate the characters in some of the frames. Scorsese use of cross curring between 1954 and 1945 highlights the disturbed state of Teddy’s mind. Outwardly in the scene in 1954 he maintains a casual composure and cracks jokes about being raised by wolves. However the audience is privy to Teddy’s inner turmoil as the Mahler music takes him back to Dachau. The close up shots of art work through shadowed ‘shutters’ helps with the surreal feel and the progression of shots from mid shot to closeup brings the picture to life. She is a ‘silent witness’ to what is going on like us the audience. There is a further tension for the audience in the sense that the scene in Dachau appears quite beautiful in some ways due to the music and the slow motion of the fluttering paper. The blood which stains the paper is also a beautiful red. The snow outside the window is beautiful and surreal. The beauty of the music in contrast to the violence of the image of the dying commandant creates a tension for the audience.

Why is Mahler important? Amazing conductor and composerMahler looking a bit like Naehring here. Could that be deliberate? For Scorsese to give Naehring similar glasses?

Alma Schindler his wife. Mahler made her give up her music career to concentrate on him. When she had an affair with a young architect he sought help from Freud.

7 July 1860 – 18 May 1911

In real life Mahler was Jewish but became a Catholic so he could retain a job as Director of the Vienna Court Opera. It is probably highly unlikely that a Nazi would be listeningto Mahler but maybe that makes the German commandant more sympathetic because he obviously cares and has good taste in art. However it is true that Mahler’s music becamePopular in 1945.

As a composer, he acted as a bridge between the 19th century Austro-German tradition and the modernism of the early 20th century. While in his lifetime his status as a conductor was established beyond question, his own music gained wide popularity only after periods of relative neglect which included a ban on its performance in much of Europe during the Nazi era. After 1945 the music was discovered and championed by a new generation of listeners; Mahler then became one of the most frequently performed and recorded of all composers, a position he has sustained into the 21st century.(from wiki)

Mahler’s composing hut.

As Teddy moves away from the window, it is revealed that for the whole of the flashback he has been standing in front of a marble statue of a girl.With the rain outside the window this is a visual metaphor for his drowneddaughter, Rachel. She is the silent witness to this scene.

Scorsese uses the theme of water to distort Teddy’s vision at the conclusion of the scene.Teddy is unable to see the truth.