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Recently saw the movie Fury and near the end of the movie when Don "Wardaddy" Collier gets shot by the German sniper. The German sniper initially wears a doorag/mask around his face and is revealed.

Now, is it just a "scene" or did it bear any significant meaning? Because the way it was presented looked like it should bear some sort of meaning.

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  • We thought it was the "old" man who gave brad Pitt his orders. Was he a traitor? His face had burn scars like war daddy's back, and why was brad Pitt so fluent in German? Quite mysterious. Why w,se would he have his face covered?
    – user15605
    Nov 2, 2014 at 20:38
  • I thought it was the same guy as in Enemy at the gate
    – user16167
    Dec 1, 2014 at 16:11
  • i agree with Napoleon, it was the old guy who gave the order... knowing that Nazis will kill him bad.. just making things easier for brad.. coz if he was just the ordinary nazi, they will not angle the camera giving us bungly questions in our mind.. :)
    – user19080
    Feb 19, 2015 at 16:46

2 Answers 2

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Background. Although it was night, there was enough incidental and ambient light for the sniper's face to reflect against the background and to be spotted, hence the need for camo or a mask. The sniper himself was a random German soldier with no other narrative connection to the plot.

The sniper took his first shot wearing his camo 'mask'. The camera looking through the sniper's sights was blurry and indistinct. The music soundtrack at that point became portentous and tragic. He removed the 'mask' for his second and subsequent shots. The camera looking through the sniper's sights was markedly sharp and detailed.

An interpretation of this may be that the sniper knew that his first shot was not lethal, but enough of an injury such that Wardaddy could not use the .50 calibre gun again. He removed the mask for one of three reasons, or a combination thereof...

The first reason is that he did not need the 'mask' any more because Wardaddy was unable to effectively return fire.

The alternate reason, and more philosophical, is that the sniper knew that Wardaddy was mortally wounded and wanted to deliver the lethal round as quickly as possible. Removing his 'mask' allowed him to sight his rifle without the mask's obstruction.

The last alternative is that we, the audience, need assurances that if Wardaddy was to be taken out, it would be by his 'equal', and not some lucky recruit. For this reason, we are allowed to see the sniper's face, which is a grizzled and war-hardened combat vet.

The second reason would go along with the camera effects.

The script, which reveals nothing at all about this scene, is at http://www.imsdb.com/scripts/Fury.html

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    Whoa, excellent answer, every possible point discussed and nothing to add. I'll settle with the last reason (audience effect), but they're all pretty well thought-through.
    – Napoleon Wilson
    Jan 28, 2015 at 11:49
  • In addition to the above astute observations, I would like to add my own mere feelings. Utterly engrossed in the film, there were two moments that occurred in quick succession and sent a shiver of cold, grim fear across my skin. First when i drew the association between the sniper's mask and those of the Dark Judges, and second when the mask revealed the face of the sniper. That face is a face of age, experience, determination, focus, will, power, capability, doom, death, and , Germanic, cold hearted domination. I do not know who the actor is, or who did the casting. Both deserve an Oscar.
    – Sentinel
    Jul 18, 2018 at 22:18
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Maybe i'm seeing things. But for me The sniper looks like Christoph Waltz. You know.. Like he was giving a pay back for Inglorious Basterds.

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    Speculative answers if not backed by convincing arguments will get downvotes. Welcome to Stack Exchange Feb 18, 2015 at 6:13

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