The Debt (I) (2010)

1965, three Mossad agents cross into East Berlin to apprehend a notorious Nazi war criminal. Thirty years later, the secrets the agents share come back to haunt them.

Director:

John Madden

Writers:

Matthew Vaughn (screenplay), Jane Goldman (screenplay),

Stars:

Helen Mirren, Tom Wilkinson, Ciarán Hinds

8 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Helen Mirren	...	Rachel Singer (Tel Aviv 1997)
Tom Wilkinson	...	Stephan Gold (Tel Aviv 1997)
Ciarán Hinds	...	David Peretz (Tel Aviv 1997)
Romi Aboulafia	...	Sarah Gold (Tel Aviv 1997)
Tomer Ben David	...	Sarah's Husband (Tel Aviv 1997)
Ohev Ben David	...	Sarah's Son (Tel Aviv 1997)
Jonathan Uziel	...	Mossad Agent (Tel Aviv 1997)
Elana Kivity Davenport	...	Publisher (Tel Aviv 1997)
Eli Zohar	...	Stephan's Driver (Tel Aviv 1997)
Irén Bordán	...	Seminar Moderator (Tel Aviv 1997)
Jessica Chastain	...	Young Rachel (Berlin 1965)
Marton Csokas	...	Young Stephan (Berlin 1965)
Sam Worthington	...	Young David (Berlin 1965)
Jesper Christensen	...	Doktor Bernhardt / Dieter Vogel (Berlin 1965)
Brigitte Kren	...	Frau Bernhardt / Nurse (Berlin 1965)

Storyline

The espionage thriller begins in 1997, as shocking news reaches retired Mossad secret agents Rachel (Helen Mirren) and Stefan (Tom Wilkinson) about their former colleague David (Ciarán Hinds). All three have been venerated for decades by their country because of the mission that they undertook back in 1965, when the trio (portrayed, respectively, by Jessica Chastain, Marton Csokas, and Sam Worthington) tracked down Nazi war criminal Vogel (Jesper Christensen) in East Berlin. At great risk, and at considerable personal cost, the team's mission was accomplished - or was it? The suspense builds in and across two different time periods, with startling action and surprising revelations.

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Plot Keywords:

mossad | secret | nazi war criminal | secret agent | suicide | 

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Taglines:

Every secret comes with a price

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Genres:

Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for some violence and language

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA UK Hungary

Language:

English German Russian

Release Date:

31 August 2011 (USA)

Also Known As:

Al filo de la mentira

Filming Locations:

Budapest, Hungary

Box Office

Budget:

$20,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$9,949,109 (USA) (2 September 2011)

Gross:

$31,146,570 (USA) (28 October 2011)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Miramax Films, Marv Films, Pioneer Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

113 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital DTS SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The plane seen landing in the background during the agents' arrival scene at the beginning of the movie is an Antonov An-26 of the Hungarian Air Force with fake Israeli markings.

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Goofs

In the movie poster, young Rachel Singer (circa 1965) is seen holding a Beretta 92 handgun. This model pistol didn't come out until the mid-1970s.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Young Stephan: Breathe.

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Connections

Referenced in Chelsea Lately: Episode #6.187 (2012)

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Soundtracks

"Ohne Dich"
Written by Gerhard Narholz (as Otto Sieben), Joachim Relin
Courtesy of APM Music

User Reviews

The Burden of Truth

Greetings again from the darkness. Espionage thrillers can be so much fun in both book and movie form. Movies actually have a little advantage for the action scenes. Books clearly have the advantage in details, backstory and character development. What is frustrating as a viewer is when a movie starts strong and then crumbles under the weight of expectation ... sometimes trying to make a bigger splash than necessary. Such is the case with director John Madden's remake of the rarely-seen 2007 Israeli film "HA-HOV".

The story is centered around a 1965 mission of a trio of Mossad agents. Mossad is Israel's CIA. These three agents, Rachel (Jessica Chastain), Stephan (Marton Csokas) and David (Sam Worthington) are to capture the notorious Nazi war criminal, the Surgeon of Birkenau (Jesper Christensen), and bring him back for a proper trial of war time atrocities.

Flash forward to 1997 and Rachel's daughter has written a book about the daring mission and the three heroes. The older version of the characters are played by Helen Mirren (Rachel), Tom Wilkinson (Stephan) and Ciran Hinds (David). We are treated to flashbacks of the mission and how things took a wrong turn, but ended just fine. Or did they? There seems to be some inconsistencies with the story told and the actual events that have created much strain between Rachel and Stephan, and life-altering changes for the more sensitive David.

This is an odd film because the best story parts occur when the younger cast members are carrying out the 1965 mission. It is full of suspense and intrigue. The intensity and believability drops off significantly in the 1997 version, but oddly, the older actors are much more fun to watch on screen ... especially the great Helen Mirren. I am not sure what all of that really means, but for me, it meant the third act of the film was a bit hokey and hard to buy.

Director John Madden is known for his fabulous "Shakespeare in Love", but not much else. His films since then have all come up just a bit short of that very high bar he set 13 years ago. Jessica Chastain continues her fantastic 2011 season adding this performance to her more spectacular turns in "Tree of Life" and "The Help". Sam Worthington is known for his role in "Avatar", but his character here is so thinly written, I doubt any actor could have pulled it off. Jesper Christensen seems to usually play the bad guy and he is in full glory here as a Nazi war criminal with no regrets.

The first half will keep you on the edge of your seat, but by the end you will have a somewhat empty feeling. What a shame as this one teased us with much hope.