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The Pedestrian (1973)

 The Pedestrian (1973)
type
TVTItem
 The Pedestrian (1973)
label
The Pedestrian (1973)
 The Pedestrian (1973)
page
ThePedestrian1973
 The Pedestrian (1973)
comment
The Pedestrian (Der Fussganger) is a 1973 film from West Germany, directed by Maximilian Schell.Heinz Giese is a wealthy industrialist, owner of a metalworks. He is a "pedestrian" because he has temporarily lost his license, after a traffic accident in which his older son Anders (Maximilian Schell, who appears briefly in flashbacks and an Imagine Spot) was killed. Otherwise his life is pretty good: he's rich and respected, his grandson by Anders adores him, he has a sexy mistress, and his wife Inge doesn't even mind that he has a sexy mistress.Unfortunately for Giese, a newspaper is dredging up a secret from his past. It seems that thirty years ago, Heinz was commanding a German infantry unit in Greece. After two members of Heinz's unit were shot by partisans, the unit then massacred an entire Greek village. Heinz may, or may not, have personally shot a child. Eventually the story breaks, and Heinz has to confront his own guilt.
 The Pedestrian (1973)
fetched
2023-07-11T05:29:16Z
 The Pedestrian (1973)
parsed
2023-07-11T05:29:16Z
 The Pedestrian (1973)
isPartOf
DBTropes
 The Pedestrian (1973) / int_15395adc
type
The Mistress
 The Pedestrian (1973) / int_15395adc
comment
The Mistress: Karin, Heinz's leggy mistress, is young enough to be his granddaughter. She's quite affectionate towards him.
 The Pedestrian (1973) / int_15395adc
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1.0
 The Pedestrian (1973) / int_15395adc
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1.0
 The Pedestrian (1973)
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The Pedestrian (1973) / int_15395adc
 The Pedestrian (1973) / int_18d15922
type
Title Drop
 The Pedestrian (1973) / int_18d15922
comment
Title Drop: After asking how long Heinz's license will be suspended, Karin says "How does it feel being a pedestrian?" She immediately apologizes.
 The Pedestrian (1973) / int_18d15922
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1.0
 The Pedestrian (1973) / int_18d15922
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 The Pedestrian (1973)
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The Pedestrian (1973) / int_18d15922
 The Pedestrian (1973) / int_1b65dfad
type
The Cameo
 The Pedestrian (1973) / int_1b65dfad
comment
The Cameo: The scene where Inge has some of her friends over for tea. All of the old ladies are played by legends of stage and screen, including Peggy Ashcroft and Lil Dagover (who played the female lead in The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari).
 The Pedestrian (1973) / int_1b65dfad
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1.0
 The Pedestrian (1973) / int_1b65dfad
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 The Pedestrian (1973)
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The Pedestrian (1973) / int_1b65dfad
 The Pedestrian (1973) / int_22d639e6
type
If It Bleeds, It Leads
 The Pedestrian (1973) / int_22d639e6
comment
If It Bleeds, It Leads: The true priorities of the newspaper people are shown when they agree to shunt the Heinz Giese story to page 3, so that a picture of two men stabbing each other over a parking space can go on the front page.
 The Pedestrian (1973) / int_22d639e6
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 The Pedestrian (1973)
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The Pedestrian (1973) / int_22d639e6
 The Pedestrian (1973) / int_33029735
type
Dies Wide Open
 The Pedestrian (1973) / int_33029735
comment
Dies Wide Open: The shot of Anders slumped forward in the car, eyes wide open in death, is shown several times.
 The Pedestrian (1973) / int_33029735
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 The Pedestrian (1973) / int_33029735
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 The Pedestrian (1973)
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The Pedestrian (1973) / int_33029735
 The Pedestrian (1973) / int_3f13413a
type
Staggered Zoom
 The Pedestrian (1973) / int_3f13413a
comment
Staggered Zoom: Onto a blurry photo of what is probably Heinz at the scene of the massacre.
 The Pedestrian (1973) / int_3f13413a
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 The Pedestrian (1973) / int_3f13413a
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 The Pedestrian (1973)
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The Pedestrian (1973) / int_3f13413a
 The Pedestrian (1973) / int_5313c266
type
Bookends
 The Pedestrian (1973) / int_5313c266
comment
Book Ends: The film opens with a closeup of bones—Heinz is taking his grandson on a museum tour and looking at dinosaur fossils. At the end the boy has unearthed some large bone on the family's property and shows it to his grandfather: cue another closeup of a bone. The symbolism of buried bones representing Germany's crimes during World War II is overt.
 The Pedestrian (1973) / int_5313c266
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The Pedestrian (1973) / int_5313c266
 The Pedestrian (1973) / int_53c9fc92
type
Flashback
 The Pedestrian (1973) / int_53c9fc92
comment
Flashback: Many, mostly of the massacre of the Greek village, or the fatal car ride when Anders confronted his father about what he had found out.
 The Pedestrian (1973) / int_53c9fc92
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The Pedestrian (1973) / int_53c9fc92
 The Pedestrian (1973) / int_5ce7dbb9
type
Central Theme
 The Pedestrian (1973) / int_5ce7dbb9
comment
Central Theme: Germany's war guilt, and how the older generation especially would prefer to forget the innumerable crimes committed during World War II.
 The Pedestrian (1973) / int_5ce7dbb9
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1.0
 The Pedestrian (1973) / int_5ce7dbb9
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 The Pedestrian (1973)
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The Pedestrian (1973) / int_5ce7dbb9
 The Pedestrian (1973) / int_6d332aea
type
Driven to Suicide
 The Pedestrian (1973) / int_6d332aea
comment
Driven to Suicide: Although it was supposed to be a murder-suicide. The traffic "accident" happened when Anders, who found out from the newspaper reporters what his father did during the war, grabbed the wheel of the car Heinz was driving and yanked the two of them into the back of a truck. Anders was killed while Heinz escaped unharmed.
 The Pedestrian (1973) / int_6d332aea
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The Pedestrian (1973) / int_6d332aea
 The Pedestrian (1973) / int_8b568cb7
type
Posthumous Character
 The Pedestrian (1973) / int_8b568cb7
comment
Posthumous Character: Anders, Heinz's son, recently killed in a car accident where Heinz was behind the wheel. That's the reason why Heinz's license is suspended. Pictures of him are up in the home and multiple flashbacks show the accident. Finally an Imagine Spot has Anders ask Heinz why he kept his past a secret.
 The Pedestrian (1973) / int_8b568cb7
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1.0
 The Pedestrian (1973) / int_8b568cb7
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 The Pedestrian (1973)
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The Pedestrian (1973) / int_8b568cb7
 The Pedestrian (1973) / int_92dfffae
type
Retraux
 The Pedestrian (1973) / int_92dfffae
comment
Retraux: A clip of Heinz addressing the German parliament is shot to look like an old newsreel.
 The Pedestrian (1973) / int_92dfffae
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1.0
 The Pedestrian (1973) / int_92dfffae
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 The Pedestrian (1973)
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The Pedestrian (1973) / int_92dfffae
 The Pedestrian (1973) / int_937fc70c
type
Chalk Outline
 The Pedestrian (1973) / int_937fc70c
comment
Chalk Outline: Seen around a body in the Scare 'Em Straight traffic accident film that Heinz is forced to attend.
 The Pedestrian (1973) / int_937fc70c
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1.0
 The Pedestrian (1973) / int_937fc70c
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 The Pedestrian (1973)
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The Pedestrian (1973) / int_937fc70c
 The Pedestrian (1973) / int_99305f1f
type
Round Table Shot
 The Pedestrian (1973) / int_99305f1f
comment
Round Table Shot: At Inge's tea party her guests (all played by famous actresses) are introduced by a slow Round Table Shot which focuses on each guest in turn.
 The Pedestrian (1973) / int_99305f1f
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1.0
 The Pedestrian (1973) / int_99305f1f
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 The Pedestrian (1973)
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The Pedestrian (1973) / int_99305f1f
 The Pedestrian (1973) / int_a5e0c01
type
As Himself
 The Pedestrian (1973) / int_a5e0c01
comment
As Himself: Veteran actor Norbert Schiller plays himself. He's an old friend of Heinz who asks him about the accusations when Heinz has him over for dinner.
 The Pedestrian (1973) / int_a5e0c01
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1.0
 The Pedestrian (1973) / int_a5e0c01
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 The Pedestrian (1973)
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The Pedestrian (1973) / int_a5e0c01
 The Pedestrian (1973) / int_a7382a73
type
Imagine Spot
 The Pedestrian (1973) / int_a7382a73
comment
Imagine Spot: A long, strange sequence has Heinz imagining himself to be among the women of the Greek village, who are performing a funeral dance. Towards the end Heinz imagines a conversation with Anders in which Anders asks why he never told them of his past.
 The Pedestrian (1973) / int_a7382a73
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1.0
 The Pedestrian (1973) / int_a7382a73
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 The Pedestrian (1973)
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The Pedestrian (1973) / int_a7382a73
 The Pedestrian (1973) / int_b1f4c5bb
type
Enhance Button
 The Pedestrian (1973) / int_b1f4c5bb
comment
Enhance Button: Averted, as a magnification of what appears to be a photo of Heinz in the Greek village just makes the photo blurrier.
 The Pedestrian (1973) / int_b1f4c5bb
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-1.0
 The Pedestrian (1973) / int_b1f4c5bb
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 The Pedestrian (1973)
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The Pedestrian (1973) / int_b1f4c5bb
 The Pedestrian (1973) / int_cb9afcd
type
The Ken Burns Effect
 The Pedestrian (1973) / int_cb9afcd
comment
The Ken Burns Effect: Panning and zooming are used on the still photos that the reporters examine when discussing Heinz Giese's family, on the photos of the massacre of the Greek village, and on the photos of Heinz's son Anders.
 The Pedestrian (1973) / int_cb9afcd
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 The Pedestrian (1973) / int_cb9afcd
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 The Pedestrian (1973)
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The Pedestrian (1973) / int_cb9afcd
 The Pedestrian (1973) / int_cc107e3b
type
Introdump
 The Pedestrian (1973) / int_cc107e3b
comment
Intro Dump: A sequence in the beginning of the film has the reporters on the Giese story explaining to their editor, and to the audience, who Heinz Giese is and who the various members of his family are and how Heinz was in an accident where his son was killed.
 The Pedestrian (1973) / int_cc107e3b
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 The Pedestrian (1973) / int_cc107e3b
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 The Pedestrian (1973)
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The Pedestrian (1973) / int_cc107e3b
 The Pedestrian (1973) / int_dca97045
type
Just Following Orders
 The Pedestrian (1973) / int_dca97045
comment
Just Following Orders: Alexander the reporter pours scorn on this trope when another reporter suggests that a junior officer like Heinz wouldn't really have been responsible for the atrocities of his unit.
 The Pedestrian (1973) / int_dca97045
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1.0
 The Pedestrian (1973) / int_dca97045
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 The Pedestrian (1973)
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The Pedestrian (1973) / int_dca97045
 The Pedestrian (1973) / int_eaf8c23a
type
Conversation Cut
 The Pedestrian (1973) / int_eaf8c23a
comment
Conversation Cut: A gleeful Dr. Meineke brags to Heinz that they have won an injunction against the newspaper. His statement that it's equivalent to a "full acquittal" is followed by someone insisting that no it isn't—cut to a man from the newspaper, as the scene has cut to Meineke and the newspaper reporter debating the Giese story on some German TV chat show.
 The Pedestrian (1973) / int_eaf8c23a
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The Pedestrian (1973)

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

 The Pedestrian (1973)
hasFeature
If It Bleeds, It Leads / int_23595756
 The Pedestrian (1973)
hasFeature
Round Table Shot / int_23595756
 The Pedestrian (1973)
hasFeature
Scare 'Em Straight / int_23595756