As he further indulges in the profits of his new position, he quickly realizes that his cooperation in the new Aryanization is not victimless. Tono’s good friend, Imrich (Martin Holly Sr.), is a known opponent of Fascism and supporter of the Jewish community. When Tono discovers that Imrich is to be arrested, he does nothing. When Tono discovers that the town’s Jewish population is to be rounded up, he does nothing. His subconscious slowly eats away at him, but he does his best to ignore it. His companion dog, Essenc, whom used to frolic as he accompanied Tono everywhere, sits spiritless when Tono comes home. Tono gives the dog a nudge to no avail, and looks up at a piece of rope hanging liking a noose. In this scene the dog explicitly serves as a reflection of Tono’s conscience, and the rope is foreshadowing the death that is to come from Tono’s inaction against the Fascists. Tono fails to assist his friend Imrich, but is conflicted in whether or not he should …show more content…
In the film, Ralph Fiennes portrays three generations of the Sors/Sonneschein family during World War I, World War II, and the Cold War. Each generation of the Sonneschein line, progressively distances himself from his family’s heritage and culture. In Central Europes catastrophes on film: The case of Istvan Szabo, Katherine Arens describes the film as, “Fiennes is thus his own Doppelgänger across three different political formations: AustroHungary, right-wing independent Hungary, and Soviet dominated Hungary” (556). Fiennes' first incarnation as Ignatz, a Judge with a promising future, is informed that in order to progress his career he must change his name to something more Hungarian. Initially a minor change that even his strict father justifies with, “our names are not given to us by God.” This apparent slight change creates a ripple effect leading the Sors family to abandon their