Essay: The Influence Of Identity In Film

When a guard calls out Adam for wearing a Hungarian officer’s uniform, he adamantly refuses to admit his identity as Jewish. When asked what he is, Adam vehemently refuses to admit his Jewish identity, but recites his status as a Hungarian officer and an Olympic gold medalist. Rather than accept his heritage and be a martyr for his people, he adamantly, “insists on identifying himself as Hungary’s fencing champion rather than as a Jew and pays with his life for it” (Arens 556). Adam’s son Ivan eventually reclaims his identity and reverts to using Sonneschein as his surname, but not until after his family had attempted decades of assimilation only to be persecuted at every possible instance. In keeping with Europa Europa’s theme, Sunshine portrays the idea that embracing your identity may not improve your life, but abandoning it will not save you either.

Joshua Francis Hirsch clearly describes the protagonist in Afterimage: Film, Trauma, and the Holocaust, “Mephisto which represents the experience not of a victim but of a collaborator” (118). This Hungarian film tells the tale of theater actor Hendrik Hoefgen, (Klaus Maria Brandauer) whose profession is effectively embracing other identities. Frequently throughout the film he admits to having trouble identifying with his own identity. His mistress, Juliette (Karin Boyd), tells him that “it’s a mask” he wears. He admits to his fiancée, Barbara (Krystyna Janda), that he has played so many parts that his thoughts and words are not his own any longer. Although Hendrik is very conflicted with his personal identity, he initially seems very confident in pursuing a political theater supporting the leftists. Performing and playing characters supporting the leftists, he begins receiving strong attention and better