Sorstalanság (2005)

Director:

Lajos Koltai

Writers:

Imre Kertész (novel)
Imre Kertész (screenplay)

Release Date:

10 February 2005 (Hungary)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

You can close your eyes. You can turn away. But you will never forget.

Plot:

14-year-old György's life is torn apart in World War II Hungary as he is sent to a concentration camp where he is forced to become a man, and learns to find happiness in the midst of hatred, and what it really means to be Jewish.

Plot Keywords:

Jewish | Concentration Camp | Nazi Concentration Camp | Holocaust | Nazi

Awards:

2 wins & 3 nominations

Cast

Marcell Nagy	...	György Köves
Béla Dóra	...	Smoker
Bálint Péntek	...	Pretty boy
Áron Dimény	...	Bandi Citrom
Péter Fancsikai	...	Older Kollmann boy
Zsolt Dér	...	Rozi
András M. Kecskés	...	Finn
Dani Szabó	...	Moskovich
Tibor Mertz	...	Fodor
Péter Vida	...	Lénárt
Endre Harkányi	...	Old Kollmann
Márton Brezina	...	Younger Kollmann boy
Zoltán Bukovszki	...	Zoli
Gábor Nyiri	...	Hedge
Jenö Nagy	...	Jenö

Also Known As:

Fateless (Germany) (Berlin film festival title) (International: English title)
Fateless - Roman eines Schicksallosen (Germany)

MPAA:

Rated R for some disturbing Holocaust images including nudity, and brief strong language.

Runtime:

USA:140 min | Canada:140 min (Vancouver International Film Festival) | Canada:134 min (Toronto International Film Festival) | Argentina:140 min

Country:

Hungary | Germany | UK

Language:

Hungarian | English | German | Yiddish | Hebrew | Polish

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Iceland:12 | Ireland:12A | Portugal:M/12 | Australia:M | USA:R | Finland:K-11 | Netherlands:12 | Argentina:16 | Norway:15 | Singapore:NC-16

Filming Locations:

Budapest, Hungary

Company:

Cinema Soleil

Trivia:

There are five concentration camps mentioned. Three are well-known names - Mathausen, Auschwitz, Buchenwald. Ohrdurf (where the accused SS guard was from) was Buchenwald's work outlet, and was otherwise known as the infamous Special Camp III. Zeitz "Wille" was a sub-camp of Buchenwald concentration camp and was erected in Rehmsdorf and Gleina.

Soundtrack:

Holdvilágos éjszakán (On a Moonlit Night)

a mediocre movie from a great novel

The original novel is an extraordinary masterpiece. The movie lacks exactly those aspects that make the novel great: the unique interpretation of the Holocaust by a non-religious assimilated Jewish boy from Budapest. I wonder if a more professional screenwriter would have been able to transform the novel into a better movie.

N.B. The author of the novel was the film's screenwriter.

N.B. Had I not read the book, I would have been unable to understand much of the movie.

N.B. I think "fateless" is an inaccurate translation of the Hungarian title "sorstalanság".

Finally, the novel itself is by far the very best one ever written about the Holocaust. Runner-ups: Babi Yar by A. Kuznetsov and Night by Elie Wiesel.