'Murderer's House' - University of Victoria

speech by Hitler, which states “If the enemy thought he could sap our spirits with a few
surprise attacks, he was wrong. They are an alarm for total war” (Deutschland, bleiche
Mutter n. pag.). 43 Hitler then pronounces, “We shall no longer speak of lost comforts in
Germany” (Deutschland, bleiche Mutter n. pag.). 44 A mother gives her son a knowing
look and then glances towards the ceiling. Next follows an early-colour documentary
shot of planes flying in formation over the bombed ruin of a building silhouetted against
a night sky. This footage is accompanied by ominous bass piano chords that underscore
the fear felt by the shelter occupants. The camera then cuts to a close-up shot of a
woman rocking a girl back and forth in her arms. The lights in the shelter begin to flicker
as someone lets out a terrified scream. A medium shot shows Lene bracing Anna‟s
carriage with her upper body in an instinct to protect her child. Next follow more shots
of night bombings and the terrified reactions of the civilians in the shelter. As the sounds
of the bombs crescendo and shelter occupants become more agitated, the warden cries out
“Kein Wort!” (Deutschland, bleiche Mutter n. pag.). 45 He turns up Hitler‟s speech on the
radio, which ends in a jubilant crowd cheering “Sieg Heil!” (Deutschland, bleiche Mutter
n. pag.). 46 Next, as the intensity of the bombing decreases, the civilians in the shelter are
shown passing around a bottle of schnapps and making casual conversation. A more
hopeful piano melody accompanies the action.
In this sequence, Sanders-Brahms alternates enacted scenes with archival footage
in order to confront the public historical record of the war with images of how aerial
43
I quoted the English subtitle of this sentence from Hitler‟s speech as I could not adequately hear the
German sentence which was made unintelligible by other diagetic sounds such as screams and the roar of
exploding bombs.
44
I quoted the English subtitle of this sentence rather than the German original for the same reason stated in
the above footnote.
45
“Not a word!” (Deutschland, bleiche Mutter n. pag.).
46
“Hail [to] victory!” (Deutschland, bleiche Mutter n. pag.).
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