What I like about the the 'does it matter?' question is that it works both ways -- she can't be Anastasia again, whether or not she ever was that person; but also, if she and her grandmother both have found something in each other that they were lacking, does it matter if it's not, strictly speaking, real?
This is why I am useless at philosophy, because my answer in these cases is almost always "yes" insofar as what's true matters, but "no" in terms of the relationship. The connections are real, even if their foundations are fantasy or deception or wishful thinking. It would be one thing if the dowager empress were simply deluded, but that line about if it should not be you means she is committing to the play, too. I was thinking about this recently because of The Captive Heart (1946).
I completely forgot Westmark did an impersonate-the-long-lost-heir!
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This is why I am useless at philosophy, because my answer in these cases is almost always "yes" insofar as what's true matters, but "no" in terms of the relationship. The connections are real, even if their foundations are fantasy or deception or wishful thinking. It would be one thing if the dowager empress were simply deluded, but that line about if it should not be you means she is committing to the play, too. I was thinking about this recently because of The Captive Heart (1946).
I completely forgot Westmark did an impersonate-the-long-lost-heir!
With pretty much the same arc!