Why did Sophie pretend to have been murdered and ride away on a horse playing dead. The only point to it would be to create witnesses to a murder but Eisenhiems plan had no need for witnesses. The plan was to blame the prince for a murder that they knew he did not do. So what was the point of Sophie pretending to be killed if the Price was going to get the blame even though she was still alive.
cheers
Because the only people who know that she’s not dead are Leopold (now dead himself, leaving no doubt about his suicide), (former) Inspector Uhl, not only privy to a secret that no-one else will believe, but now unable to order a reinvestigation of the (supposed) murder case, and Eisenheim himself. All of the loose ends have been neatly tied up, but Eisenheim’s vanity makes him divulge the secret to Uhl (albeit with purely circumstantial evidence), in exchange for Sophie’s locket. Simple is beautiful, and this is a beautifully simple ending!
I've seen things you people wouldn't believe...
Im sure you haved missed the point. Even if there was no fake murder scene, even if Sophie didn't even see the prince that night, it could still have been arranged to find her dead in the lake and then accuse the prince. Nobody saw the murder, which was ok because it didnt matter. So there was no point.
In fact the whole plan is questionable. How did it all come about. If the first idea was to just find Sophie dead in the lake that would have been ok. If however we are to assume that Esinhiem told Sophie to purposely anger the prince so that he would really atempt to murder her, well that would have been risky and stupid. So we could assume that the sophie getting murdered scene was not planed, but evidently from the way it went, we see that it was planed. Which one is it and seeing as Sophie would be found dead in the lake weather the prince murdered her or not(which he didnt), why have the murder scene ?
Maybe there is some confusion with the term murder scene. Im not referring to the murder scene where they find Sophie dead in the lake which is perhaps what your reply is referring to. Im talking about the murder scene as in scene in the movie when Sophie runs out of the prince's house, disappears from sight under a tunnel, screams when the prince approaches and then rides out on a horse pretending to be dead. If this scene never happened, Sophie could still be found dead in the lake and nobody would be the wiser.
I see, yes, you are correct, I had misunderstood which scene you were referring to, but I still disagree.
‘If the first idea was to just find Sophie dead in the lake that would have been ok. If however we are to assume that Esinhiem told Sophie to purposely anger the prince so that he would really atempt to murder her, well that would have been risky and stupid’
I don’t think they had planned for Leopold to actually attempt to kill her, it was just unfortunate (for him) that he played into their hands, remember, he was known for his foul temper and misogynistic attitude, they were hoping simply for an argument, resulting in her running away, which was witnessed by servants (remember the conversation between Uhl and his 2IC about one servant being ‘deaf’, and the other having been sent to Hungary).
All this window-dressing is crucial to the credibility of the plot, to ensure murmurings of dissent among the general populace, and to add credence to Eisenheim’s self-portrayal as an innocent unjustly persecuted by the authorities.
I've seen things you people wouldn't believe...
I don't think he planned to kill her - I think she was playing terrified so there would be witnesses and gossip.
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