Translating a sentence with までだ


Yesterday, I read a passage from Shin Kanzen Master N1:

[![enter image description
here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/bTUIw.png)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/bTUIw.png)

As I was reviewing it today, I remembered that それまでだ is an expression which
means "that's the end" or something to that
[effect](https://nihongonosensei.net/?p=9884). That said, I still don't
understand what the last sentence of the first paragraph means.

I would translate it as "That is just in the movies and one is sitting while
watching it, so it's inconsequential and **that's it** , but the audience
forgets himself/herself." (I'd appreciate any correction to this translation.)

At this point of utter confusion (and desperation), I used Google Translate,
DeepL, and other tools to translate 何のことはない、といえばそれまでだ。which led to equally
confusing translations:

  * DeepL: "To say it's nothing is an understatement." (it somehow makes sense but I don't know how it relates to this [explanation](https://nihongonosensei.net/?p=9884))
  * Google translate: "Until then, if nothing happens." (misses the idiomatic use of それまでだ)
  * Yandex translate: "It is up to that to say that there is nothing." (???)

I would really appreciate any input you have on this. Thanks in advance!




I think you can consider ～といえばそれまでだ to be a specialized idiom derived from
～それまでだ. It carries a nuance that can be written like:

> If you say —, you're not wrong and that's a way to end the discussion.  
>  If you say that it's nothing more than —, I can't say anything.  
>  It's true in a sense that it's nothing but —.

This is a common phrase as such.

>
> それは別に映画の話であって、自分はいすに座ってそれを見ているのだから、何のことはない、と言えばそれまでだが、そんな観客としての自分のことは忘れてしまっているのだ。  
>  _Objectively speaking, it is true that you have nothing to worry because it
> is just a movie and you are only watching it from your seat, but you still
> forget about yourself as the viewer._




I think you can consider ～といえばそれまでだ to be a specialized idiom derived from
～それまでだ. It carries a nuance that can be written like:

> If you say —, you're not wrong and that's a way to end the discussion.  
>  If you say that it's nothing more than —, I can't say anything.  
>  It's true in a sense that it's nothing but —.

This is a common phrase as such.

>
> それは別に映画の話であって、自分はいすに座ってそれを見ているのだから、何のことはない、と言えばそれまでだが、そんな観客としての自分のことは忘れてしまっているのだ。  
>  _Objectively speaking, it is true that you have nothing to worry because it
> is just a movie and you are only watching it from your seat, but you still
> forget about yourself as the viewer._

