The Debt (2007)

The year is 1965. Rachel Brener is one of 3 young Mossad agents teem who caught "The Surgeon of Birkenau" - a Nazi monster who was never brought to trial in Israel. The official reason was ... See full summary »

Director:

Assaf Bernstein

Writers:

Assaf Bernstein, Ido Rosenblum

Stars:

Gila Almagor, Yuriy Chepurnov, Oleg Drach

5 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Gila Almagor	...	Rachel Berner
Yuriy Chepurnov
Oleg Drach
Sergiy Dvoretskyy
Neta Garty	...	Young Rachel Berner
Evgeniya Gladiy
Reut Hajaj
Eran Ivanir
Aleksandr Kulish
Yehezkel Lazarov	...	Ehud
Vlad Levitskyy
Victoria Malektorovych
Sergei Malyuga
Edith Naman
Nadav Netz

Storyline

The year is 1965. Rachel Brener is one of 3 young Mossad agents teem who caught "The Surgeon of Birkenau" - a Nazi monster who was never brought to trial in Israel. The official reason was that he was shot as he attempted escape while being held by his Israeli captive (kiddenappers) in a safe house somewhere in Europe. Today, 35 years after the well communicated story of the death of the monster, a small article appears in a local unimportant paper in a Kiev, Ukraine. Surprisingly the Surgeon is alive and is willing to admit his crimes against the human race and especially the Jews. The 3 older x Mossad agents who are in their late 60th became aware to this unfortunate threatening knowledge. The fact was that the "Surgeon" managed to escape from his guards- our 3 agents by wounding the woman who was not alert enough. Now that the old story came up to live again in a completely different version, they needed to cover their asses and secure their lives, reputation and the story they ...

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Genres:

Drama | Thriller

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Details

Country:

Israel

Language:

German Hebrew

Release Date:

29 November 2007 (Israel)

Also Known As:

Der Preis der Vergeltung

Company Credits

Production Co:

Evanstone Films Ltd., Pronto Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color (Fujicolor) Color

Did You Know?

Goofs

1997 Rachel appears to be right-handed, firing a gun, drinking, and holding a knife with her right hand. 1964 Rachel appears to be left-handed, writing, shaving, and holding a gun with her left hand.

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Connections

Remade as The Debt (2010)

User Reviews

As Arte Johnson used to say, Ver-r-ry inter-resting... but shtoopid

Any faithful Israeli moviegoer could have recommended better films for Hollywood to remake. This one was not particularly successful in its home country, but evidently Hollywood likes the idea of Israeli secret agents who are conflicted and vulnerable. Various details here are quite unbelievable: an Israeli secret agent who travels on an assassination mission with an Israeli passport, another who when attacked can think of no better countermove than jumping onto her opponent piggyback, and a straight razor casually in use for everyday shaving in 1964. The movie gets off to a bumpy start with some overly quick and contrived exposition, but it hits its pace when Gila Almagor, one of Israel's most respected veteran actresses, starts doing her stuff. She is joined by equally strong male veterans in small roles, but in the flashbacks to their younger selves the film doesn't hold attention as well, particularly since the two young male actors are not easy to tell apart and maybe because the youngsters need to act in other than their native language. The story is not true, but it recalls a bungled operation in 1973, known as the Lillehammer affair, which we like to think of as an anomaly. In THE DEBT, there is no indication that these half-hearted blunderers aren't your typical Israeli agents.