Sorstalanság (2005)

User Rating:

7.3/10   

Director:

Lajos Koltai

Writers:

Imre Kertész (novel)
Imre Kertész (screenplay)

Release Date:

10 February 2005 (Hungary)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

You can close your eyes. You can turn away. But you will never forget.

Plot:

14-year-old György's life is torn apart in World War II Hungary as he is sent to a concentration camp where he is forced to become a man, and learns to find happiness in the midst of hatred, and what it really means to be Jewish.

Plot Keywords:

Jewish | Concentration Camp | Nazi Concentration Camp | Holocaust | Nazi

Awards:

2 wins & 3 nominations

Cast

Marcell Nagy	...	György Köves
Béla Dóra	...	Smoker
Bálint Péntek	...	Pretty boy
Áron Dimény	...	Bandi Citrom
Péter Fancsikai	...	Older Kollmann boy
Zsolt Dér	...	Rozi
András M. Kecskés	...	Finn
Dani Szabó	...	Moskovich
Tibor Mertz	...	Fodor
Péter Vida	...	Lénárt
Endre Harkányi	...	Old Kollmann
Márton Brezina	...	Younger Kollmann boy
Zoltán Bukovszki	...	Zoli
Gábor Nyiri	...	Hedge
Jenö Nagy	...	Jenö
Bence Bihari	...	Bence
Patrik Holzmüller	...	Patrik
Jakab Pilaszanovich	...	Jakab
Zoltán Tóth	...	Zoltán
Péter Bryja	...	Péter
Krisztián Köles	...	Krisztián
Gergely Mészáros	...	Cobbler
Sándor ifj. Kõmíves	...	Fazekas
István Göz	...	Expert
Miklós Székely B.	...	Bitter faced man
Béla Spindler	...	Seal faced man
Antal Cserna	...	Respectable man
Éva Vándor	...	Delicate looking woman
András Szegö	...	Knowledgeable man
László Joó	...	Elderly man
István Uri	...	Csarnai
Géza Schramek	...	Boda
György Bõsze	...	Gõz
György Hunyadkürthy	...	Man at the window
József Kelemen	...	Szabó
István Mészáros	...	Zakarias
Orsolya Tóth	...	Young girl
Ildikó Molnár	...	Young girl's mother
Zoltán Bezerédy	...	Bolding man
Zsolt László	...	Balogh
Zoltán Varga	...	Berei
Péter Vallai	...	Negotiating man
Gábor Máté	...	Miklós
Dávid Szanitter	...	Kapitány
Judit Schell	...	Stepmother
Attila Magyar	...	Gyulai
Zoltán Bereczky	...	Darázs
Ferenc Lengyel	...	Geography teacher
József Szarvas	...	Policeman
Csaba Gieler	...	Interpreter
Károly Nemcsák	...	Lageraltester
János Bán	...	Father
Sándor Halmágyi	...	Rabbi
László Méhes	...	Sándor
József Gyabronka	...	Unlucky man
Zsolt Kovács	...	Bocskor
Adrien Táncos	...	Erika
Krisztina Bíró	...	Woman at the window
Szabolcs Thuróczy	...	SS soldier
Sári Herrer	...	Annamária
Kati Lázár	...	Mrs. Fleischmann
Miklós Benedek	...	Uncle Vili
Lajos Kulcsár	...	Blockaltester
Dénes Bernáth	...	Szegedi
Andrea Ladányi	...	Prisoner
Gergely Kocsis	...	Pfleger
Péter Haumann	...	Uncle Lajos
György Barkó	...	Mr. Fleischmann
Ádám Rajhona	...	Mr. Steiner
Béla Paudits	...	Protesting man
Maciej Chichocki	...	Pjetka
Attila Dolmány	...	Capo
Attila Beszterczey	...	Armband prisoner
Daniel Craig	...	US Army Sergeant
György Gazsó	...	Mr. Sütõ
Zoltán Dózsa	...	Gendarme sergeant 2
László ifj. Jászai	...	Gendarme officer
Áron Öze	...	Gendarme sergeant 1
Olga Koós	...	Stepmother's mother
Piroska Molnár	...	Terka
Márta Bakó	...	Grandmother
Vilmos Kun	...	Grandfather
István Komlós	...	Relative 1
Andrea Szoták	...	Relative 2
Judit Meszléry	...	Relative 3
Ildikó Kishonti	...	Uncle Vili's wife
László Baranyi	...	Relative 5
Sándor Zsótér	...	SS Selection officer
Tamás Dunai	...	French doctor
Pál Oberfrank	...	Hungarian doctor
Andor Lukáts	...	Reporter
Lajos Kovács	...	Corrupt gendarme
Frank-Michael Köbe	...	Todt soldier
László Kövesdi	...	Pfleger
Ildikó Tóth	...	Mother
Gáspár Mesés	...	Annamaria's younger brother
Luca Seres	...	Girl 1
Jusztin Balassi	...	Girl 2
Ernõ Fekete	...	Foreman
Géza Balkay	...	Very drunk gendarme
Géza Tóth	...	Prisoner
Zoltán Barabás Kis	...	SS Sergeant in Buchenwald
Jenõ Kiss	...	SS soldier
Péter Szokolai	...	Worker
József Lukács	...	SS sergeant
István Rimóczy	...	SS sergeant
Richárd Péter	...	Pfleger
Anita Tóth	...	Woman
Ágnes Olasz	...	Bandi Citrom's sister
Mari Csomós	...	Bandi Citrom's mother
Anikó Gruiz	...	Stranger woman
József Jámbor	...	Controller
Szabolcs Ruszina
Krisztián Kolovratnik	...	First Lieutenant
Gábor Ferenczi	...	Jewish Council armband1
András Surányi	...	Jewish Council armband3
András Salamon	...	Jewish Council armband2
Máté Haumann	...	SS-soldier
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Mirkó Andrasev	...	Kollmann choir boy
Paul Burian

Directed by
Lajos Koltai

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Imre Kertész		novel
Imre Kertész		screenplay

Produced by
Péter Barbalics	....	producer
Robert Buckler	....	executive producer
Andras Hamori	....	producer
Jonathan Haren	....	associate producer
Bernd Helthaler	....	executive producer
Ildiko Kemeny	....	producer (UK)
Tibor Krsko	....	co-producer
Jonathan Olsberg	....	producer: Germany
Michael Reuter	....	associate producer
Endre Sík	....	line producer
Alexandra Stolle	....	assistant producer
Erika Tarr	....	line producer
Laszlo Vincze	....	executive producer
Miriam Zachar	....	co-producer

Original Music by
Ennio Morricone

Cinematography by
Gyula Pados

Film Editing by
Hajnal Sellõ

Casting by
Heta Mantscheff

Production Design by
Tibor Lázár

Art Direction by
Zsuzsanna Borvendég
Natalja Meier

Set Decoration by
Miklós Molnár

Costume Design by
Györgyi Szakács

Makeup Department
Katalin Jakots	....	makeup supervisor
Nóra Koltai	....	additional makeup artist
Ancsa Kriskó	....	assistant makeup artist
Gabi Nemeth	....	key hair stylist
Balázs Novák	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Sándor Baló	....	production manager
Tamás Guba	....	unit manager
Jonathan Haren	....	post-production supervisor
Peter Hermann	....	production manager
Lacia Kornylo	....	production supervisor
Lisa Parker	....	production manager
Ákos Pesti	....	unit manager
Michael Reuter	....	line production manager
Laszlo Rorariusz	....	unit manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Zoltán Bonta	....	first assistant director
Gergely Fülöp	....	third assistant director
Szabolcs Lang	....	second assistant director

Art Department
János Czakó	....	property master
László Gárdonyi	....	construction coordinator
József Kiss	....	construction manager
László Nagyidai Jr.	....	constructor
Beatrix Petõ	....	draughtsperson
Jan Rott	....	prop buyer: Germany
Béla Tollay	....	stand-by props

Sound Department
Christian Conrad	....	supervising sound editor
Beate Hetenyì	....	adr supervisor
Simon Kaye	....	sound mixer
Manuel Laval	....	foley editor
Sabrina Naumann	....	additional foley editor
Carsten Richter	....	foley artist
Fabian Schmidt	....	dialogue editor
Peter Schulteisz	....	sound assistant
Martin Steyer	....	sound re-recording mixer
Marcus Sujata	....	adr recordist
Marcus Sujata	....	foley recordist
David Sutton	....	boom operator
Jane Tattersall	....	sound effects editor
Roman Volkholz	....	assistant foley editor

Special Effects by
Alistair Hamer	....	film mastering engineer
Gabor Kiszelly	....	special effects assistant
Gyula Krasnyánszky	....	pyrotechnical effects
Ferenc Ormos	....	special effects supervisor
László Pintér	....	stand-by pyrotechnician

Visual Effects by
Arndt Baumueller	....	visual effects
Sacha Bertram	....	visual effects producer
Jan Burda	....	digital artist
Andy Burrow	....	scanning and recording manager
Michelle Camp	....	digital lab editorial
James Clarke	....	visual effects
Michael Dohne	....	digital compositor
Paul Doogan	....	scanning: digital clean up and shoot
Paul Dreisen	....	digital artist
Hartmut Engel	....	digital artist
Adam Glasman	....	colourist
Joe Godfrey	....	scanning and recording & digital cleanup
Jörn Großhans	....	digital artist
Buda Gulyás	....	visual effects supervisor
Charlie Habanananda	....	digital intermediate data operator
Alistair Hamer	....	film mastering engineer
Piers Hampton	....	digital lab producer
Jan Hogevold	....	production executive: Framestore CFC
Jack James	....	digital artist
Cathleen Klein	....	visual effects
Christopher Kollar	....	digital artist
Kevin Lowery	....	scanning and recording & digital cleanup
Feona Marshall	....	visual effects
Sven Martin	....	visual effects supervisor
Dan McRae	....	digital lab quality control paint artist
Sarah Micallef	....	digital lab coordinator: Framestore CFC
Maria Michalopoulou	....	data operator: Framestore CFC
Roland Petrizza	....	visual effects
Ingo Putze	....	digital matte painter
Tillman Schmidt-Kärner	....	visual effects coordinator
Matina Skouteri	....	digital lab operator
Juri Stanossek	....	matchmove supervisor
Max Stummer	....	tracker/matchmover
Márton Szigethy	....	pre-visualization
Vilmos Thernesz	....	pre-visualization
Paola Varvaro	....	digital cleanup artist
Annabel Wright	....	digital cleanup supervisor
Doron Zar	....	digital grading assistant

Stunts
Levente Lezsák	....	stunt performer
Béla Unger	....	stunt coordinator

Camera and Electrical Department
Balázs Bélafalvy	....	camera operator: second unit
Kerry Brown	....	still photographer
Ákos Gulyás	....	video playback operator
Nándor Gulyás	....	assistant camera
Rawdon Hayne	....	first assistant camera
Tamás Jánossa	....	second assistant camera
Brad Larner	....	first assistant camera
David Mackie	....	second assistant camera
József Marton	....	gaffer
Joseph Wolfsberg	....	still photographer: Germany

Casting Department
Johanna Ragwitz	....	extras casting
Tamás Zilahy	....	casting: Hungary

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Mari Csáki	....	dresser / set supervisor
Brigitte Friedländer-Rodriguez	....	costume supervisor (as Brigitte Rodriguez)
Imre Orosz	....	wardrobe

Editorial Department
Edit Nagy	....	post-production coordinator
Asha Radwan	....	post-production coordinator
Mark Wright	....	negative cutter
Doron Zar	....	digital grading assistant

Other crew
Heiko Burkardsmaier	....	legal and business affairs
Eszter Fazekas	....	cast coordinator
Amy Green	....	consultant
Zoltan Horkai	....	animal trainer
Ágnes Kun	....	production office manager
Jaynie Miller	....	production contact: UK
Edit Nagy	....	production coordinator
Attila Nikléczy	....	production assistant
Michael Ramsey	....	runner
Balázs Rozgonyi	....	video playback engineer
Sephira Salazar	....	assistant to producer
Dóra Szanka	....	production secretary

Production Companies

• Cinema Soleil
• EuroArts Entertainment
• H2O Motion Pictures
• Hungarian Motion Picture Ltd.
• Magic Media Inc.
• Renegade Films

Distributors

• Bir Film (2006) (Turkey) (all media)
• A-Film Distribution (2006) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• AmaFilms (2005) (Greece) (theatrical)
• Films Sans Frontières 2 (2006) (France) (theatrical)
• Národní Filmový Archiv (NFA) (2009) (Czech Republic) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• THINKFilm (2006) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Argentina Video Home (2007) (Argentina) (DVD)
• Argentina Video Home (2007) (Argentina) (VHS)
• Califórnia Home Vídeo (2007) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Dogwoof Pictures (2006) (UK) (all media)
• EuroVideo (2005) (Germany) (DVD)
• Eurocine (2007) (Argentina) (all media)
• Gateno Films (2006) (Peru) (all media)
• Paradiso Home Entertainment (2009) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Private Cinema (2006) (Greece) (DVD)
• Vii Pillars Entertainment (2006) (Hong Kong) (DVD)

Special Effects

• Multifilm Special Effects (special effects)
• Oberon Vfx (pre-visualization)

Other Companies

• Cutting Edge  negative cutting
• Elektrofilm  post-production facilities
• Framestore CFC  digital intermediate
• Light Odyssey  grip and lighting equipment
• Panavision UK  camera equipment provided by
• Videoassist.hu  video assist equipment (at music scoring)

Also Known As:

Fateless (Germany) (Berlin film festival title) (International: English title)
Fateless - Roman eines Schicksallosen (Germany)

MPAA:

Rated R for some disturbing Holocaust images including nudity, and brief strong language.

Runtime:

USA:140 min | Canada:140 min (Vancouver International Film Festival) | Canada:134 min (Toronto International Film Festival) | Argentina:140 min

Country:

Hungary | Germany | UK

Language:

Hungarian | English | German | Yiddish | Hebrew | Polish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Iceland:12 | Ireland:12A | Portugal:M/12 | Australia:M | USA:R | Finland:K-11 | Netherlands:12 | Argentina:16 | Norway:15 | Singapore:NC-16

Filming Locations:

Budapest, Hungary

Company:

Cinema Soleil

Trivia:

Kalvin Ter (the subject of the photos in the LIFE magazine shown to Gyurka) is a major square in the city centre of Budapest. It was named after the French Protestant Reformer John Calvin.

Soundtrack:

Holdvilágos éjszakán (On a Moonlit Night)

A fresh look at the worst of times

Critics have compared Fateless to such other award winning films around the same subject, notably Robert Benigni's Life Is Beautiful (aka: La Vita è Bella, 1997), and Spielberg's Schindler's List (1993). Whilst in interview on the UK DVD the director Koltai doesn't mention Benigni's comedy of doom, in passing he does cite the Spielberg, to whom he makes it clear that Fateless is in some degree at least, a riposte. For the director, Schindler's List is "a mistake for those who know what really happened" is his view, which represents "no victory for humanity." The determined un-sentimentality of Koltai's film reflects that view, something which he goes as far as to transpose formally into a particular editing technique - an approach that audiences, more used to a cosy and somewhat predictable view of the Holocaust, will find striking. Koltai's treatment of narrative in his film, characteristically breaking down stark events into short, impressive scenes that fade to black, he terms "a series of études." Such a treatment serves to isolate the protagonists in time, away from the emotionality that a more connected continuity encourages. Indeed for Koltai "time is the... terrible... sentence," and the main motive behind his film, rather than outright shock, and his film has great power precisely through this denial of the usual response.

An easy criticism of Fateless is that conditions of the camp are shown as persistently harrowing, but rarely explicitly violent. The hero Köves is starved, slapped and humiliated, but rarely does the viewer see an on-screen killing, even if the stench of the crematoria is omnipresent. So much is real horror left unseen in fact that at the close of the film, upon his return, there's a scene where Köves is quizzed about the existence of gas chambers by a doubtful citizen at his home station. As a confirmation it is surely unnecessary for the audience, as we've seen them earlier. One suspects that the importance of this brief exchange is instead to assert, once and for all, that Köves acknowledges the reality of the horror he's seen. Whether or not such epic tragedy, and his involvement in it, has enriched his humanity, a la Spielberg, is another matter entirely. By the end, Köves thinks back to his experience almost nostalgically, to the camps where "life was cleaner and simpler" and "where there's nothing too unimaginable to endure." As one might expect from an acclaimed cinematographer, much of Fateless looks superb. Whether its the snowflakes, like the millions of spirits already departed, floating inside the cattle trucks that speed the Hungarian Jews to their fate, or the field of camp mates, paraded mercilessly in the heat, and wavering in their distinctive striped uniforms, Koltai's eye creates haunting moments which remain with the viewer long after the closing credits. Arguably such poetry detracts from the grim reality of the camps in which a good deal of the film is set; but a good deal of the film is shot in muted colours, a blanched scheme, as if the warmth of life has bled out into genocide.

Performances are generally excellent, notably that of Nagy. Interviews on the disc show the young actor's nervousness at some of the more demanding scenes (and the increasing time required spent in make up as his on screen physical deterioration continues) but he plays a role which takes him from the dining room of the family home of Budapest to the death carts of Zief, without faltering. Fateless is an international co-production between Hungary, German and England. All three languages make their appearance, and so - incidentally - does the new James Bond, Daniel Craig, as Köves' liberation approaches. Here playing a concerned GI, who strongly suggests the boy seeks out a new life and a university place in the west, Craig makes a brief, if effective impression. As it turns out Köves' ultimate decision is characteristic of a film that favours reality over idealism.

But for those who seek the unrelenting grimness of camp life depicted as in, say, One Day In The Life of Ivan Denisovitch (1970), or the memorable depiction of the hardening of innocence into vengeful shock (Come And See), Fateless will doubtless prove a slight disappointment. Ennio Morricone's excellent score notwithstanding, which gives events here an occasionally pathetic sheen, this is a film which in many ways raises more issues and questions than it answers, and certainly offers no stereotypical picture of a ghastly time. Instead, by asking the audience to question preconceptions, it stakes claim to being one of the more important Holocaust dramas of our time.