A large portion of John Madden's movie
The Debt is told in flashback, as the story of three former agents (Rachel, Stephan, and David) is told in flashback form, facilitated by Rachel's daughter reading the account of the events.
The Debt reflects an implicit ideology, subtly juxtaposing the beliefs of the three agents and the criminal, Dieter Vogel, they must catch in their mission almost forty years prior.
When all three agents return from their mission, they report that Vogel was killed in attempting to escape and that they were not able to secure his arrest so he can stand trial. While Vogel is in fact still alive, the agents uneasily accept this reality, agreeing to lie for the greater good of Israel, Stephan's idea. Throughout the movie, David has shown himself to have the strongest moral code out of the three agents and agrees to lie. Over the years, the lie (and his love for Rachel but inability to be with her) results in him committing suicide.
The implicit ideology in the film comes through by Rachel, the only character with moving morals. While at first she considers it alright to lie, she changes her viewpoint and goes after Vogel, killing him and fulfilling her mission. In this scene, the older Rachel has aged and had time to take in her life and her choices. Her independent decision to right the lie and making things right ends the movie on a note of victory, which is subtle and largely up to interpretation of the viewer. However, her role as the protagonist make her choices largely the choices the audience sees and follows; therefore, the audience learns: the truth is the right decision, though lies still carry much consequence.
When all three agents return from their mission, they report that Vogel was killed in attempting to escape and that they were not able to secure his arrest so he can stand trial. While Vogel is in fact still alive, the agents uneasily accept this reality, agreeing to lie for the greater good of Israel, Stephan's idea. Throughout the movie, David has shown himself to have the strongest moral code out of the three agents and agrees to lie. Over the years, the lie (and his love for Rachel but inability to be with her) results in him committing suicide.
The implicit ideology in the film comes through by Rachel, the only character with moving morals. While at first she considers it alright to lie, she changes her viewpoint and goes after Vogel, killing him and fulfilling her mission. In this scene, the older Rachel has aged and had time to take in her life and her choices. Her independent decision to right the lie and making things right ends the movie on a note of victory, which is subtle and largely up to interpretation of the viewer. However, her role as the protagonist make her choices largely the choices the audience sees and follows; therefore, the audience learns: the truth is the right decision, though lies still carry much consequence.
I both agree and disagree with your post because I think this movie is both implicit and explicit. Yet for this blog we had to choose one. And I chose explicit ideology. The reason for this was because I felt as if the movie was slanted more to teach the audience what was the "right" thing to do. David knows that the truth must come out and that they were wrong to lie about killing Vogel. If this movie was completely implicit, then it would not have been as meaningful to the viewers as it was. The great thing about this movie is that it is so many different things. It is neither too preachy nor too indifferent. The audience is pulled into the story and ideology without even realizing. The ideology isn't so strong that the viewers reject it. Instead, the audience can recognize it and agree with it to certain extents.
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