Circle of Deceit

This film should be seen by all.The picture of a civil war is excellent and could relate to many other places like Bosnia.It is very clearly shown how people behave in such absurd situations : some accept them and change but other maintain their humanity. Particularly chocking is the treatment of children, presented in such a realistic way that the film looks as a documentary ( may be it is a documentary for this part ?).When you listen to a sister treating the small boy as an object bought in a departments store or a doctor suggesting to change ill boy for another you would like to cry.Fortunately Hanna Schigulla is there and her radiating presence is bringing such a humane note that you maintain your hope in the human race.

Volker Schlöndorff became one of the doyens of New German Cinema in the 1960s and 1970s, along with Wim Wenders and Rainer Werner Fassbinder. Schlöndorff's work included "The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum", "The Tin Drum" and "Die Fälschung" ("Circle of Deceit" in English). This one casts Bruno Ganz as a journalist sent to Lebanon to report on the civil war there. The movie never takes sides in the war, instead focusing on the journalist's realization that it's hard to be neutral in a situation where all sides are shooting at each other. Even more impressive is that they filmed on location in war-torn Beirut. Apparently they filmed in "safe" sections of the city but could see evidence of the fighting. Beirut, once known as the Paris of the Middle East, became a proxy war between Israel and its Maronite allies, and Syria and its Shiite allies, and other factions. As bad as things were when they filmed "Circle of Deceit", Lebanon had yet to see the Sabra and Shatila massacres (when Phalangists massacred Palestinian refugees).

Anyway, it's a really good, really intense movie. The ethical questions surrounding reporting on war are probably some of the most important, and the movie does a fine job looking at them. I recommend it.

Lacking even a token gesture of Hollywood gloss, this inside look at the Lebanese civil war is strong stuff indeed, which may be why it never found an audience (in this country at least) when first released. The filmmakers made use of actual Beirut locations to follow the brutal, ambiguous account of one journalist's education into the abject moral poverty of violence, and the documentary realism of the background lends a frightening authority to the subject. It's difficult at times to tell just what is real and what is staged, and the essential nihilism of the conflict is further reinforced by the film's detachment from any political sympathies, although there's something uncomfortable in the idea of a German citizen pondering the immorality of genocide. We're led to assume his private and professional ethics are being tested in the face of such extreme bloodshed, but it's hard to avoid making deeper historical connections.

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.

I agree with Benjamin Stello of Sweden but want to add that the Film is made on Location in Beirut and is nearly Documentary. It is before Israel invaded Lebanon to get rid of PLO Terrorists. It shows the situation after Lebanese Civil War that started 1975. Beirut is divided into many Rival Quarters. The Palestinians Controlling part of Beirut. A Hellish situation where everybody is Against everybody. Similar to Yugoslavia some years later. Another Book I recommend is Thomas Friedman's "From Beirut to Jerusalem" which describes Beirut a few years later. This movie I only saw once in 1982 and is unforgettable. I also recommend other films by this Director. The Tin Drum and Others.