Circle of Deceit (1981)

Laschen, a German journalist, travels to the city of Beirut during the fights between Christians and Palestinians to produce an essay about the situation. Together with his photographer, he... See full summary »

Director:

Volker Schlöndorff

Writers:

Nicolas Born (novel), Volker Schlöndorff (screenplay)

Stars:

Bruno Ganz, Hanna Schygulla, Jean Carmet

1 win & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Bruno Ganz	...	Georg Laschen
Hanna Schygulla	...	Ariane Nassar
Jerzy Skolimowski	...	Hoffmann
Jean Carmet	...	Rudnik
Gila von Weitershausen	...	Greta Laschen
Peter Martin Urtel	...	Berger (as Martin Urtel)
John Munro	...	John
Fouad Naim	...	Excellence Joseph
Josette Khalil	...	Madame Joseph
Ghassan Mattar	...	Ahmed
Sarah Salem	...	Sister Brigitte
Rafic Najem	...	Taxi
Magnia Fakhoury	...	Aicha
Jack Diagilaitas	...	Swedish Journalist
Roger Assaf	...	Phalangist Officer

Storyline

Laschen, a German journalist, travels to the city of Beirut during the fights between Christians and Palestinians to produce an essay about the situation. Together with his photographer, he meets some important people and discovers the everyday face of the war. He also has to figure out about his home life, where his marriage is in a big crisis.

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Plot Keywords:

photographer | palestinian | marriage | journalist | german | 

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Genres:

Drama | War

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

West Germany France

Language:

German French Arabic English

Release Date:

28 October 1981 (France)

Also Known As:

Circle of Deceit

Filming Locations:

Lebanon

Company Credits

Production Co:

Argos Films,Artemis Film,Bioskop Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

108 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This film was part of a cycle of pictures made during the 1980s that featured journalists covering war. The movies include Salvador (1986), Under Fire (1983), Circle of Deceit [Circle of Deceit (1981)], Deadline (1987), Cry Freedom (1987), The Killing Fields (1984) and The Year of Living Dangerously (1982).

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Crazy Credits

Opening credits run in a single at the bottom of the screen, right to left in the style of a news ticker.

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Connections

Featured in Sneak Previews: Fantasia/The Kirlean Witness/Diva/Circle of Deceit (1982)

User Reviews

Brilliant Movie

Volker Schlöndorff, famous german director who won the foreign language- oscar for "Die Blechtrommel", here presents a picture about a journalist doing a reportage in Beirut during the riots between Christians and Moslems. Georg Laschen, a german journalist, travels to Beirut for seeing things and making a great story out of it. He leaves behind his marriage, which is in a crisis, but can not completely forget about it. So he finds himself always split between cruelty and war in Beirut and the things in Germany that need to be soluted. The director did a brilliant job. Accompanied by some very great actors and actresses, the whole film is very true to life. War is shown in all it's cruelty, but without the need of showing too explicite violence. The film does not transport a one-and-only message that he tries to confirm, but presents the viewer a very complex movie, a film who needs viewers that are willing to think. Contributing to this effect is the fact that the film is done in different languages. While German is the "basic", the actors speak to different persons in different languages (English, French, Arab). Overall, a brilliant film. Not for popcorn, maybe, but definitely very worth seeing.