Welcome to the Ending Explained for Burial a new World War II movie that tries to go inside one of the most obscure and confusing events in the war, Hitler’s death. The event is one of the most important moments in history and yet, we know so little about it. Of course, it was a moment where chaos permeated everything inside the German war machine, but it is quite surprising that the death of the Nazi leader is so shrouded in mystery.
Burial takes the opportunity to put some light on the subject by speculating on an alternate story about what happened to Hitler’s body after his death. The film takes both official sources and a bit of good old-fashioned functionalization to create a cool premise that sadly doesn’t reach its full potential. Burial has great ambitions, so it can still be an entertaining adventure. The actors do a good job, and it all culminates in an ending that is closer to what really happens.
The following paragraphs contain spoilers for Burial. Read at your own risk.
What Are The Soldiers Transporting To Moscow?
The film starts in a very mysterious way. We see an old woman living alone in a house. The old woman has a dog that begins to bark outside, the old woman doesn’t suspect anything and closes the door after the dog. However, a man gets into the house and goes upstairs. Surprisingly, the old woman electrocutes the man and captures him. The man knows the true identity of the old woman. Apparently, she is more than what it seems.
The man says he came for the truth. The old woman identifies the man as a neo-Nazi, a new supporter of Hitler and his philosophy. The man says that he knows that she is in reality a secret Russian operative. She is supposed to have proof that Hitler didn’t die, that he managed to survive World War II, and that the Soviets just covered it up for their own gain. The old woman laughs and introduces herself as Brana Vasileyeva, a Russian intelligence officer that participated in a secret mission during the war.
Brana drugs the man and begins to tell her story. She tells us how she was chosen for the mission and how their cargo was so important that they needed to bury that box every night. In this way, if they were attacked during the night, the enemy would still not get the cargo. At first, the journey seems easy. There are no enemies or obstacles on the way. However, they are suddenly attacked, and they lose their main officer.
The soldiers fight out and they survive the attack. However, the new officer in charge doesn’t seem interested in following the mission. Instead, he goes to a nearby village to rape women. Bran captures him in the act, and she saves the girl. At that moment, they discover that they are being pursued by an unknown enemy. The enemy attacks their camp and kills many of the men, but they cannot find the box with the cargo.
What Happens With The Body At The End Of Burial?
Bran and her men meet Lukasz a young man living in the village. She has a clear connection with the man, and she asks for help. They need to find refuge as soon as possible. Lukasz leads them to a nearby village, and there she begs the elders for help. She is forced to tell the truth about what they are carrying. Inside the box, there is the body of Hitler. Hitler committed suicide inside his bunker, and now they are on a mission to transport the body to Moscow so that Stalin can see it with his own eyes.
In reality, it is well known that Stalin needed proof of Hitler’s death more than anything. After getting proof by using dental records and the collaboration of Hitler’s own dentist, Stalin hid the fact that Hitler was dead. He didn’t want Hitler to be certified as dead because that would have opened the door for a successor who could end up making peace with the western forces of England and the US. He didn’t want that at all, so it was to his benefit to keep things separated. The result was the Iron Curtain.
The unknown enemy that has been tracking them is a Nazi officer, truly loyal to Hitler. They also want Hitler’s death to be hidden from the public so that the war can continue in his name. It is all pretty twisted and sad. They siege a small church where Brana and Lukasz have hidden the body. A shooting starts and many soldiers get killed. In the end, the church catches on fire, and only Brana and Lukasz survive.
Back to the present, the movie reveals that Brana and Lukasz made a life together. Hitler’s body was burned in the church fire. This matches the real history where the same happened to Hitler’s body. Bran then shows something to the man, something inside a box that makes the man cry. Possibly it is the skull of Hitler, proving that the man was truly dead by his own hand and that his body was destroyed by the flames of war. The movie ends without telling us what is inside the box.
