14-year-old György's life is torn apart in WWII Hungary, as he is deported first to Auschwitz and then to Buchenwald, where he is forced to become a man in the midst of hatred, and what it r... Read all14-year-old György's life is torn apart in WWII Hungary, as he is deported first to Auschwitz and then to Buchenwald, where he is forced to become a man in the midst of hatred, and what it really means to be Jewish.14-year-old György's life is torn apart in WWII Hungary, as he is deported first to Auschwitz and then to Buchenwald, where he is forced to become a man in the midst of hatred, and what it really means to be Jewish.
- Awards
- 6 wins & 7 nominations
- Moskovics
- (as Dani Szabó)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe production unexpectedly ran out of money halfway through and halted for several months in order to find new investors. This ended up working in its favor, since Marcell Nagy was going through puberty, and by the time they restarted, he looked physically more mature, taller, and his voice deeper. By the time his character enters and survives the death camp, he looks several years older than when the film began, adding an element of reality that otherwise would have been created with make-up.
- Quotes
[last lines]
György Köves: [narrating] People only ask about the horrors, whereas I should talk about the happiness of the camps next time, if they ask. If they ask at all. And if I don't forget myself.
- Crazy creditsFlash v. Schwabenland, Production Dog
- SoundtracksHoldvilágos éjszakán (On a Moonlit Night)
Music by Mihály Eisemann
Lyrics by István Zágon
Sung by the four boys when the group is in transit
Marcel Nagy is spectacular, the director chose an amazing face and voice for the part, the character's attitude towards what's happening is shockingly mature and disaffected. He doesn't break down crying, or screaming , "why?!", he simply accepts that this has happened and tries to deal with it almost entirely inside his head. He is an introvert, speaking softly, and politely to those around him. He doesn't ask too many questions because he already thinks he knows all the answers. And these terrible answers are projected to the audience with the use of his powerful blue eyes, and his vital facial expressions (there are few scenes where the boy looks directly into the camera, and makes eye contact with you, the audience and I almost burst out crying..)
The look of the film was what made the rest so sublime, the grays and blues were so dis-enchantingly beautiful, as horrid in a way it is to call a Holocaust film beautiful, the effect is more of seeing what is inside the mind of an innocent; the dramatization of color desaturating could be considered the gradual removal of that innocence. The best way I could describe this is a 'dreamy nightmare', also so fitting an aesthetic, since a delirium sets in to those suffering, and those watching them suffer - it all becomes so heightened and insane; the men and women here are being stripped of the appreciation of beauty, but kindness among these prisoners remain, and that seems a unique aspect to this story. The fact is that Kertesz's memories include these acts of kindness, and camaraderie, rather than remembering back to it as something so completely horrendous, as as to be denying these victims the right to be human. But they are. In this film, there are no extreme acts of violence or mayhem (some minor, but no guns mowing down innocents like Schindler's List), just a quiet, reflective look at the human condition, and the innocent youth caught in the web of evil's banality.
I think the main problem people had with this film was they were expecting something... a little more dramatic, while this is a very quiet, very slow film that will appeal to those who work on those frequencies.
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Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Official sites
- Languages
- Also known as
- Không Số Phận
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- HUF 2,500,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $196,857
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $12,680
- Jan 8, 2006
- Gross worldwide
- $2,512,009
- Runtime2 hours 20 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.35 : 1