Fateless (2005)

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.

Director:

Lajos Koltai

Writers:

Imre Kertész (novel), Imre Kertész (screenplay)

Stars:

Marcell Nagy, Béla Dóra, Bálint Péntek

5 wins & 7 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Marcell Nagy	...	Köves Gyuri
Béla Dóra	...	Dohányos
Bálint Péntek	...	Selyemfiú
Áron Dimény	...	Citrom Bandi
Péter Fancsikai	...	kis Kollmann
Zsolt Dér	...	Rozi
András M. Kecskés	...	Finn
Dani Szabó	...	Moskovics
Tibor Mertz	...	Fodor
Péter Vida	...	Lénárt
Endre Harkányi	...	öreg Kollmann
Márton Brezina	...	nagy Kollmann
Zoltán Bukovszki	...	Zoli
Gábor Nyiri	...	Hunyó
Jenö Nagy	...	Jenõ (as Nagy Jenõ)

Storyline

An Hungarian youth comes of age at Buchenwald during World War II. György Köves is 14, the son of a merchant who's sent to a forced labor camp. After his father's departure, György gets a job at a brickyard; his bus is stopped and its Jewish occupants sent to camps. There, György find camaraderie, suffering, cruelty, illness, and death. He hears advice on preserving one's dignity and self-esteem. He discovers hatred. If he does survive and returns to Budapest, what will he find? What is natural; what is it to be a Jew? Sepia, black and white, and color alternate to shade the mood.

---

Plot Keywords:

gay slur | hatred | jewish | bus | death | 

---

Taglines:

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

---

Genres:

Drama | Romance | War

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

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

Details

Official Sites:

Offcial site Official site [Hungary]

Country:

Hungary Germany UK Israel France

Language:

Hungarian German English Yiddish Hebrew Polish

Release Date:

2 June 2005 (Germany)

Also Known As:

Fateless

Filming Locations:

Hungary

Box Office

Budget:

HUF 2,500,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$12,680 (USA) (6 January 2006)

Gross:

$195,888 (USA) (28 April 2006)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Hungarian Motion Picture Ltd., Magic Media Inc., EuroArts Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

140 min 134 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

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

---

Quotes

[first lines]
Narrator: [narrating] I didn't go to school today. Well, if only to ask my teacher to let me go home. I gave him father's letter. He asked what the reason was. I told him father had been called up for forced labor.

---

Crazy Credits

Flash v. Schwabenland, Production Dog

---

Soundtracks

Holdvilágos éjszakán (On a Moonlit Night)
Music by Mihály Eisemann
Lyrics by István Zágon
Sung by the four boys when the group is in transit

User Reviews

One of the most honest films, I have seen.

As a kid, I used to think that some of the thoughts I was having were unique to me. I didn't see any of those things in mass media. But slowly and slowly as I read more and I see more films, that set of things that were unique only to me have been reducing in size. Fateless just destroyed that set.

I love movies. They move me, excite and sometimes literally live me breathless. Fateless just shook me up. It struck a chord somewhere deep inside. It revived the memories that I thought I had forgotten, the feelings that I had buried somewhere deep in my psyche.

All the credit has to go to Imre Kertész, the writer of the original source as well as the screenplay writer. He has written an account that is so painfully honest and bold that it breaks through all the clichés of depictions of pain and sorrow, not just in literature and film but in life too.

After a long time I am just itching to get my hands on a book. Don't know when I will take it up though.