Vilniaus getas (2005)

In 1942, in Vilnius, the Nazi annihilate 55,000 Jews and squeeze the 15,000 survivors in a seven blocks ghetto. The twenty-two year old sadistic commander Kittel is assigned to administrate... See full summary »

Director:

Audrius Juzenas

Writers:

Joshua Sobol (play), Joshua Sobol (screenplay)

Stars:

Heino Ferch, Sebastian Hülk, Erika Marozsán

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Heino Ferch	...	Gens
Sebastian Hülk	...	Kittel
Erika Marozsán	...	Haya
Andrius Zebrauskas	...	Srulik
Vytautas Sapranauskas	...	Weiskopf
Margarita Ziemelyte	...	Lina
Alvydas Slepikas	...	Kruk
Jörg Lamprecht	...	Dessler (as Jörk Lamprecht)
Adrija Cepaite-Palsauskiene	...	Uma (as Adrija Cepaite)
Darius Meskauskas	...	Arntgen
Jurgis Domasevicius	...	Timan (as Jurgis Damasevicius)
Eimutis Kvosciauskas	...	Tana
Kristina Mauruseviciute	...	Judith
Sigitas Rackys	...	Kalman
Vilma Raubaite	...	Liuba (as Vilma Raubaité)

Storyline

In 1942, in Vilnius, the Nazi annihilate 55,000 Jews and squeeze the 15,000 survivors in a seven blocks ghetto. The twenty-two year old sadistic commander Kittel is assigned to administrate the ghetto in the capital of Lithuania, becoming the master of life or death. When he finds the gorgeous Hayyah sneaking with one kilo of beans stolen from the German army, he sentences her to death; but when he is informed that she was a former successful singer, he decides to activate the old theater and promote shows in the ghetto. The Jewish Chief of Police, Gens, uses the theater and a sewing factory to save as much lives as he can; in his ambiguous position, he kills Jews to save lives of others.

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Genres:

History | War

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Details

Country:

Germany Lithuania

Language:

English German

Release Date:

8 June 2006 (Germany)

Also Known As:

Ghetto

Filming Locations:

Vilnius, Vilnius County, Lithuania

Company Credits

Production Co:

Dragon Cine Venture Image Entertainment, Lietuvos Kinostudija, Lithuanian Film Studio

Technical Specs

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

The New York production of "Ghetto" by Joshua Sobol opened at the Circle in the Square Theater in New York on April 30, 1989 and ran for 33 performances.

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Goofs

In the scene of execution of Jews in the forest Lithuanian militiamen hold American M14 rifles (without magazines) - this rifle was designed only in 1954, and US military took it to the service in 1957.

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Soundtracks

Dance
Performed by Ingrida Armonaite (violin) and Sergejus Okrusko (piano)

User Reviews

Impressively Cruel and Depressive

In 1942, in Vilna, the Nazi annihilate 55,000 Jews and squeeze the 15,000 survivors in a seven blocks ghetto. The twenty-two year old sadistic commander Kittel (Sebastian Hülk) is assigned to administrate the ghetto in the capital of Lithuania, becoming the master of life or death. When he finds the gorgeous Hayyah (Erika Marozsán) sneaking with one kilo of beam stolen from the German army, he sentences her to death; but when he is informed that she was a former successful singer, he decides to activate the old theater and promote shows in the ghetto. The Jew Chief of Police Gens (Heino Ferch) uses the theater and a sewing factory to save as much lives as he can; in his ambiguous position, he kills Jews to save lives of others.

"Ghetto" is an impressively cruel and depressive movie. The first point that impresses the viewer is certainly the cruelty and sadism of Kittel. Sebastian Hülk has an awesome performance in the role of the despicable Kittel and deserved a nomination to the Oscar. The screenplay does not spare the reality of the lives of the dwellers of this ghetto and their fight to survive in times of war, including the beginning of their resistance. However, it does not show the final destruction of the ghetto after a failed uprising on 01 September 1943 organized by the first Jewish partisan unit in Nazi-occupied Europe (the "Fareinigte Partizaner Organizacje" - the United Partisan Organization). The beauty of Erika Marozsán and the dramatic and conflictive position of Gens brilliantly performed by Heino Ferch, are also amazing. The music score gives a touch of class to this great Lithuanian production. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Ghetto"