What Actually Happened in The Tank Movie?
Having recently watched The Tank, there are many thoughts that have gone through my mind. I have provided a spoiler-free review of the movie already. This post will include spoilers. If you have not seen the movie but intend to, I suggest skipping this post.
The movie begins with a battle on a bridge between a German Tiger tank and Soviet forces. The bridge is exploding and the tank is racing to get off the bridge in time.
We then find the crew, led by Philip Gerkens, is given a mission to find and bring back a colonel that was behind Soviet lines. Their quest faces many obstacles as well as mysteries before finally finding the colonel.
The colonel begins to explain to Philip what is really happening, proving a truth that Philip struggles to accept. The colonel, who had been with Philip in Stalingrad, had not actually survived that battle.
Before the colonel had died, Philip had taken control of the situation since colonel was in a traumatized state, and ordered fire upon a building full of civilians, killing them all.
We are then brought back to the battle on the bridge, only to discover that the tank had not made it to safety as the bridge was exploding and Philip and his crew had died. Not only this, that was the day that he learned that his wife and child had also been killed.
What in the world is going on here?
For some, this ruined what would have been a quality war movie. But this was not just a war movie, it was what I believe to be a spiritual journey.
Read Why Do Some People Not Like The Tank Movie?
This is what we know really happened. Philip was responsible for giving the order to kill civilians In Stalingrad, even though he tried to justify it at the time. We also know that his wife and child were killed from an Allied bombing. And we know Philip and his crew were killed while attempting to escape an exploding bridge.
So what was the whole quest to rescue the colonel?
Some have speculated a drug-fuelled hallucination, as we know that they were taking stimulants. But something more seems to be happening.
This was not just seeing your life before your eyes as the vision, if that is what it was, was of events that had not taken place.
There is a scene near the end where the colonel asks Philip to come closer to the fire. Initially I wondered if this was a suggestion that they were in hell, being punished for killing civilians.
However, after deeper reflection, I landed on an interpretation related to purgatory. In Roman Catholic belief, purgatory is a place where people are cleansed of their impure deeds in life. It can be painful but the purpose is redemption and not punishment.
Read The Development of the Concept of Purgatory: Origins, Theology, and Evolution.
Why do I think this? For one, during their travels, they pick up a transmission of a Latin mass, which they note as odd since Russia is an Orthodox country.
More than that, Philip is not just punished, even if he may have felt like that. There is the scene in the vision where they stop to get fuel and they witness Nazis killing civilians. Philip has a strong emotional reaction. Is that just guilt from his own actions, or a repentance and revulsion from that evil?
Then there is the scene when one of his crew gets entangled in an explosive mine. Philip risks his own life to save his crew member, showing a self-sacrificial love.
The way I read the narrative, the entire movie is about Philip’s redemption and cleansing in a sort of purgatory, being faced with his actions but being offered a way to meet his end in a way that he could find peace.
I am not suggesting that is exactly what the writers of the movie intended but it is the best explanation for me. It gives a greater depth to the story and it become much more than just another surprise ending.
I am not a Roman Catholic but I can appreciate what is being sought in purgatory. Sometime a person needs more than just forgiveness, they need to be cleansed from their own guilt.
What do you think happened in the movie?
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Exactly the same, except I think he acually went to hell after the purgatory and the Colonel was the Devil manifested.
I agree with your analysis Sir. The deer & other narrative of one man dying who knew Latin, other 3 crew left as wandering souls & Herr Lt getting redemption while looking puzzled/ bewildered like audience too; quite a wondersome narrative that would appeal to those who believe/ have faith in mysticism or holy scriptures. Why was Von B in the judgement seat? leaves one wondering-wondering
GREAT explanation! After we turned the TV off I too assumed that he had been in purgatory but I had not considered the details that you provide here. Excellent observations and review! And I generally do NOT like war movies but this was more than that. Super super good!
I haven’t watched the film. I got two minutes in, before discovering that I just couldn’t suspend my disbelief to the required level. Apparently I draw the line at a crew of Wehrmacht tankers, at Stalingrad, who only ever speak Portuguese!
Anyway, I can’t comment on whether I agree or disagree with your interpretation of the move.
Instead, I’d like to recommend a movie for you to watch.
No… I’d like to enthusiastically recommend you watch this movie…
No, I’d like to insistently browbeat… Ummm… No, scratch that.
I’d like to HIGHLY recommend that you watch a movie called Jacob’s Ladder, made in 1990.
When I first saw it, the only thing I knew about the film was that it had Tim Robbins in it!
One word of warning, though:
This movie is powerful! It’s impactful! It’s affecting and disturbing.
Even though I REALLY enjoyed this movie, I’ve only ever watched it twice! The reason for that is – the film evokes so many feelings! Having to experience them all, in a less-than-two-hour-runtime, means that this movie leaves me feeling emotionally exhausted! Bitter Moon does the same thing to me; Bitter Moon is a fucking masterpiece of modern cinema!! But christ, the feelings it evokes!! When “lady-character” starts behaving in a presumptively unfaithful manner, I started feeling suspicious and afraid… When “dude-face” finds her in bed with “NOT-Dude-face,” it felt like I had just caught her cheating on me!! It’s a VERY powerful film and honestly, if I ever need to check to see if I can still feel things, Bitter Moon is my litmus test… It’s just so damned emotionally exhausting!! But I digress…
I urge you to invest 2 hours of your life into this film. I believe that you’ll!! freakin’ LOVE Jacob’s Ladder!! Some movies will explain things to you (they’ll ‘tell’ you). Some films will show you instead of telling you. The very best of films, though, will communicate emotionally, rather than communicating verbally, or visually. Jacob’s Ladder is just such a film! It expertly evokes a wide range of uncomfortable and unwanted feelings, such that long after, even if you can’t remember what happens in the movie, you can’t even remember what the film was about, you will nevertheless, STILL be able to remember how that film made you FEEL!!
Peace, bro
I’ve read a lot of reviews about this movie and its puzzling ending, and I think that of all of them, you’ve come the closest to explaining it. Yes, I think Paul wants forgiveness. The latin quoted is “Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis, Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, dona nobis pacem” (Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy on us. . . . grant us peace.” And it’s said at that part of the Mass, the most sacred part, where the priest offers up Jesus for sacrifice. Then there’s the gothic setting at the end in a bunker, underground in what very much can pass for a tomb. Hell too? Yes, but fire purifies as well as punishes, as you suggested. It may be, then, at the beginning of the movie, that Paul intentionally delays the tank’s retreat until it’s too late and as punishment for the sins he’s committed up to that point in time. And now, as I close, a final note: a strict translation of the title is “The Tiger” which is the name of that type of tank, and it reminds me of the poem. “Tiger, tiger, burning bright, in the darkness of the night.” The Tyger” by William Blake is a famous poem from his Songs of Experience (1794) that questions the nature of creation, contrasting the fearsome beauty of the tiger with the innocence of the lamb, and asking if the same divine creator could make both.
Similar in many ways to William Golding’s Pincher Martin.
Spot on Nick, definitely in the microsevond between life and death.
Read Pincher when I was 17 and from time to time in the succeeding 52 years.
To me, the plot is fundamentally about the flaws of real people who do terrible things and the reality that reptentance comes too late to matter. It would have been too restricted if it stuck to conventional norms and the fact that the cast die in the opening scene means the viewer doesnt stop at the end of the film and look for things that dont make sense as they can see why. While I have never been a fan of the “it was all a dream” vehicle, there are some great performances in this movie to and it is a well told story.
I simply can’t stand “it was all a dream” type of movies. They are sometimes very well made and I guess the highly intelligent viewers already realized it was a dream while the stupid ones feeling more stupid.
An interesting thriller. More along the same line is The White Tiger, a Russian film about a mysterious white/gray Tiger tank that when confronted by Russian armor is deadly accurate and seemingly indestructible. An even stranger Russian tank commander gathers his small crew and is hell-bent on chasing down the specter.
The ending is a fantastic twist.