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
If one has read Levi's Survival at Auschwitz, or Elie Wiesel's Night, many of the details of the story are familiar. But the craft is in the telling, and the director has done an excellent job of bringing a memoir of brutality and survival to life.
A brief synopsis, without spoilers, is that this is the story of a teenaged boy in Budapest in 1944 who is swept up in the Nazi roundup of Hungarian Jewry, and his experience in the concentration camps. (Elie Wiesel was interred in the same roundup.) The story of how Eichmann tried to ransom Hungarian Jewry to the West is interesting background, for those who are intellectually curious. (The allies were afraid to provide materiel and resources to the Nazis, fearing prolongation of the war. A very sad tale).
Making a film of the Holocaust is always a challenge. A director must strive to make the scenes powerful, without being melodramatic. There is also the danger of making another movie over again (eg, Schindler's List; The Reawakening; Europa, Europa). The challenge is to remain faithful to truth, while bringing artistry to the telling of it.
One device which is used to great effect is the use of very brief scenes, perhaps less than one minute, which tell a brief vignette of the daily life in the camps. Some have very little dialog, and they seem random and unconnected, yet together they add to a deeply moving experience.
Many films of the Holocaust are shattering; a few are hopeful. This is neither, but it is a telling of the story that is watchable for most audiences, yet retains the power to affect a viewer. 8 out of 10.
- myfavoriteartform
- Dec 18, 2005
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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