17 July 2008

Fateless: Holocaust in Hungary



Sorstalanság (Hungary/Germany/UK, 2005)
Eng.: Fateless
Fr.: Être sans destin
dir. Lajos Koltai
rating: ✶✶✶✶✶

The Hungarian title can also be translated Fatelessness, a mind-numbing concept in the novel and script by Nobel laureate Imre Kertész. The film remarkably combines holocaust and coming-of-age themes in the personal experience of a boy wonderfully played by Marcell Nagy. The story is as harrowing as the resolution is troubling. The cinematography is powerful and memorable throughout.