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

Color:

Color

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:

The production unexpectedly ran out of money halfway through and halted for several months in order to find new investors. This ended up working in its favor, since the young lead actor Marcell Nagy was going through puberty, and by the time they restarted he looked physically more mature, taller, and his voice deeper. By the time his character enters and survives the death camps he looks years older than when the film began, adding an element of reality that otherwise would have been created with make up

Soundtrack:

Holdvilágos éjszakán (On a Moonlit Night)

A riveting epic hymn for life

'Fateless' was a never-seen blockbuster in Hungary if we can use the term for Hungarian movies. It attracted so many viewers that no Hungarian film has done before and as it's not surprising that a Holocaust-film like this divides the audience. Thousands of readers had fallen in love with Imre Kertész's Nobel-prized novel, and expectations in this case are very high. However this film does NOT have to make any disappointment and opposite to some critics' opinion it holds the same meaning the novel holds. Don't forget that Kertész is the screenwriter too, it is his true story, a man's who went through all these and kept the respect of life so could find happiness after and during this. He agreed this film's value. The movie has some great actors, wonderful pictures and lots of very good, atmospheric scenes with very real memorable characters. The score is extremely beautiful how it's natural if the composer is Ennio Morricone.

There are weaknesses too, of course, some dialogues, mainly in the beginning of the film are not natural (maybe it comes from Kertész's newness in film-writing), it' very disturbing as some weak acting in a few episodes. Marcell Nagy is not a bad choice for the leading role, he has the look and the power in his eyes but in speech he's not convincing, it drops you out of the atmosphere sometimes but it won't bother the not-Hungarian audience.

'Fateless' is an impressive European masterpiece, Hungary should be proud of it.