The Angel of Budapest (2011)

The real story of Angel Sanz-Briz, the Spanish Embassy diplomat in Budapest, who in 1944 acting on their own saved more than 5,000 Jews from the Holocaust. To get it granted them passports ... See full summary »

Director:

Luis Oliveros

Writers:

Ángel Aranda Lamas (adaptation), Diego Carcedo (novel)

Stars:

Francis Lorenzo, Ana Fernández, János Bán

1 win & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Francis Lorenzo	...	Ángel
Ana Fernández	...	Sra. Tourné
János Bán	...	Farkas
Kata Gáspár	...	Sophie
Tamás Szabó Kimmel	...	Antal
Tamás Lengyel	...	Lajos
Sári Herrer	...	Eva Lang (as Sára Herrer)
Anna Allen	...	Adela
Aldo Sebastianelli	...	Perlasca
Manuel de Blas	...	Muguiro
Asier Etxeandia	...	Barrueta
Áron Öze	...	Eichmann
Iván Fenyö	...	Wallenberg
Athina Papadimitriu	...	Esposa Muguiro
Gyula Benedek	...	Berki

Storyline

The real story of Angel Sanz-Briz, the Spanish Embassy diplomat in Budapest, who in 1944 acting on their own saved more than 5,000 Jews from the Holocaust. To get it granted them passports and visas stating that Sephardic Jews were entitled to Spanish nationality to be descendants of Sephardic Jews expelled by the Catholic Monarchs, although the 5,200 Jews whose life he saved, only about 200 were of Sephardic origin.

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Genres:

Drama | War

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Details

Country:

Spain

Language:

Spanish

Release Date:

22 December 2011 (Spain)

Also Known As:

Budapest angyala

Box Office

Budget:

€2,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Boomerang, FilmTeam, Televisión Española (TVE)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

120 min

Color:

Color

User Reviews

Biopic movie about a Spanish ambassador , Angel Sanz Briz , who saved hundreds of Jews in Budapest

Angel Sanz Briz is the main subject of this 2011 Spanish television series ¨El Angel De Budapest¨ , a man who once lived and did something most people were afraid to do or just didn't care as he saved many Hungarian Jews from concentration camps in 1944 ; the real happenings being filmed on location in Hungary and powered by splendid acting . During World War II, Hungary chose the side of the Axis, until Horthy, the dictator sought for contact with the Allies in 1944 though the walls of the Third Reich were crumbling at that time . Hitler then supported the Hungarian Nazi's who never were a part of the regime of Horthy , the Arrow Cross Party, to take control. They immediately introduced a severe Jewish prosecution and extermination . This is a staggering evocation of the Jew's saviour , Angel Sanz Briz , finds its voice in Francis Lorenzo as a Spanish ambassador . In his new fake assignment, he starts immediately to hide , shield and feed a lot of Jews (thousands!) issuing Spanish (fake of course) safe conducts for the Jews of Sephardic origin and all the Nazi as well as the Hungarian authorities believe him . When the Nazi occupied Hungary, in 1944, instead to leave , he directed an original escape for multitude of Jews and was in contact with other heroes of that time , Raoul Wallenberg along with Giorgo Perlasca . Briz together with other volunteers, running incredible risks had saved thousands of Hungarian Jews from a tragic death . Incredibly Angel Briz succeeded to save Jews directly from the hands of Nazi authorities at the train station . By doing so he saved about 5000 to 6000 Jews lives at the end of the WWII , Bucarest , 1944 . This hero, after the war terminated in 1945 , was completely forgotten . A Tour-De-Force and labor of love for benefactor Angel Briz who finally garnered the attention and respect he deserves . He inevitably became drawn to save Jewish as the man who turned an unlikely hero and saviour of a race not his own , as Francis Lorenzo is top-notch all the way throughout , only faltering in an out-of-character breakdown at the ending . As Francis Lorenzo's acting is outstanding and you are on edge the utter movie , as his monumental energy in not letting one victim die if he can disallow it .

This exciting flick in ¨The Schindler's list¨ style contains intense drama , emotion , thrills , chills , violence , and ordinary Nazi brutalities . The German atrocities are depicted matter of factly as a by-product of sheer Nazi evil . The highlights of the movie are the thrilling as well as stirring scenes happen on the train station as when Jose Santos Briz attempts to save a lot of Jewishes . Well shot on location in Budapest , due to the sensitive nature of the story . Excellent performances from main starring Francis Lorenzo who uses his powerful physique and intelligence as a protective buffer ; Ana Fernández as Sra. Tourné , she is watchable as a good Jewish as well as Briz's helper . And Aron Oze as infamous Nazi chief Adolf Eichmann who personifies perfectly evil . Evocative as well as colorful cinematography by Hungarian Nyika Jancsó . Atmospheric and appropriate musical score by Mario De Benito . In the picture appears historical characters who had an important role on the sad deeds such as Raoul Wallemberg (Iván Fenyö) , a Swedish diplomat who also saved thousands of Jews and disappeared when Stalin's troops entered in Hungary ; Monsignore Angelo Rotta (László Áron) ; Giorgo Perlasca (Aldo Sebastianelli) who escaped to the Spanish embassy in Budapest using his old safe conduct and becoming a Spanish citizen, changing name and posed as a Spanish Ambassador when Angel Briz went out to Spain ; Miklos Horthy as Hungary ruler Admiral , collaborating Szalasy who took power over Hungary and the leader Nazi Veesenmayer (Tamás Sághy) and , of course , Adolf Eichmann (Áron Öze) in charge of Jewish transport trains .

This moving TV picture well directed by Luis Oliveros was based on real events , these are the followings : Ángel Sanz-Briz (Zaragoza, September 28, 1910 - Rome, June 11, 1980) was a Spanish professional diplomat of the Francoist Spain during World War II who helped save thousands of Hungarian Jews from Nazi persecution. After studying law, his first diplomatic posting was to Cairo. He was sent to Budapest in 1942 where he was helped by Giorgio Perlasca, an Italian veteran of the Spanish Civil War, with saving the lives of 5,200 Jews from the Holocaust by issuing them fake Spanish papers; as Spain was neutral in the war, this made the difference between life and death for those Jews. In 1944, as the Red Army approached Budapest, he was ordered to leave for Switzerland . When Briz , the Spanish consul, is removed, Perlasca immediately substitutes him, like if he was officially appointed from Spanish authorities . After that time Perlasca continued his labor with fake documents , posing as the Spanish Ambassador after Spain closed down their embassy . . After these events, Sanz Briz continued his diplomatic career: he was posted to San Francisco and Washington DC, Lima, Bern, Bayonne, Guatemala, The Hague, Brussels and China (1973, where he became the first Spanish ambassador). In 1976 he was sent to Rome as Ambassador of Spain before the Holy See, where he died on June 11, 1980. Sanz Briz himself tells how he was able to save the lives of so many Jews, in Federico Ysart's book Jews in Spain (1973). In 1991, he was recognized by the Holocaust Museum Yad Vashem of Israel, and gave his heirs the title of Righteous Among the Nations. In 1994 the Hungarian government gave him the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary.