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\title{General de la Roverie}
\author{Greg Hudson}
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\maketitle

General de la Roverie had some important existential features which
made Germaldi at the end of the movie, though imprisoned and
executed, seem more powerful and free than the Germaldi at the
beginning.

Most obvious is Germaldi's willingness to take responsibility for his
actions.  At the beginning of the movie, he is constantly in a bind
where he needs more money and referring to ``hard times'' as an excuse
for his situation.  Against his own self-interest, he gambles away the
money he cons from people.  When Germaldi is caught, and asked by the
captain whether he wants to be tried by a military court or go back to
his regular life, he says, ``How can I make that decision?  If I go
before a military court, I'll be shot,'' completely discarding the
possibility of accepting punishment for his actions.

The military prison illustrates the existential claim that the world
is absurd.  In an environment where the actions of the prisoners are
highly restricted and their fates are decided by the politics of the
German military, they nevertheless labor futilely to organize
themselves, even committing suicide to avoid releasing information.
But these prisoners manage to transcend the absurdity of their
situation, despite the futility of their labors, by avoiding hope.
Banchelli mentions to Germaldi that he has already been sentenced to
death, but that they just haven't gotten around to it yet; he has no
hope, but still acts as a go-between between Germaldi and Fermazio.

Seeing this, Germaldi learns to transcend his own situation, and at
the end of the movie, takes responsibility for his actions according
to what he cares about.  Rather than allow the Germans to discover
Fermazio's identity (by bribery or by torture), he allows himself to
be executed by a firing squad and become a martyr of the resistance.
In so doing, he illustrates another existentialist claim: that even
though he is not, in fact, General de la Roverie, his actions can make
him effectively that general.  Like the General, he acts as an
inspiration to the other prisoners, and like the general, he has
knowledge whose secrecy is crucial to the resistance.

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