Fateless (2006) Synopsis:
Based on the 2002 Nobel prize-winning novel by Imre Kertesz, Fateless chronicles the attempts of 14-year-old Gyuri Koves to reconcile the unimaginable horror of having been incarcerated in German concentration camps. On his return to Budapest Gyuri finds those around him treat him with indifference.
His friends and neighbours encourage him to put the past behind him, while an intellectual sympathetic to the personal and political terror of his past repeatedly refers to the camps as "the lowest circle of Hell". Gyuri finds neither comfort nor meaning in these clichés.
Fateless (2006) Movie Review:
Cinematographer Koltai impressively takes the director's chair for this striking World War II odyssey, based on the experiences of Nobel Prize-winning screenwriter Kertész.
Gyuri (Nagy) is a lively, perceptive 14-year-old in 1944 Budapest. After his father is sent to a work camp, Gyuri's unexpectedly arrested and taken to Auschwitz and a series of other camps, where he's subjected to forced labour, abuse and mistreatment at the hands of the Nazis. But through all this, he maintains a strikingly rational view of his situation, discovering that he's not actually tied in to the fate of his suffering people. If there is such a thing.
While concentration camp horrors are vividly portrayed, the message seems to be that terrible things just happen--we have to get through them, and move on. This sets the film apart from most Holocaust dramas. Gyuri's experiences are indeed harrowing, but he never vilifies the Nazi guards, the Hungarian traitors or his petty, scavenging fellow captives. This is a tale of raw humanity at its best and worst, period, without finger-pointing.
Koltai tells this story with sumptuous, European-style production design, literally draining the colour from the screen as it progresses. It's assembled as a series of snapshot scenes, each offering another glimpse of emotion and honest observation. Some of these are almost gothic, such as when prisoners are forced to stand for hours in place, swaying on their wobbly legs like religious fanatics praying for mercy. Other scenes are minutely observed, such as when Gyuri hides the fact that his bunkmate has died so he can continue to claim an extra food ration. And then there are glimpses of wider carnage, like the levelling of Dresden, which leave us breathless in another way.
Nagy is soulful and startlingly raw in this demanding role. His journey is so personal that we are compelled to travel it with him, experiencing the emotions from his yearning, seeking eyes. And the final sequence when he returns home is startling in its refusal to treat his ordeal in the expected way. This is understated yet jarringly provocative filmmaking that dares to look at familiar events in an unconventional way.
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Fateless (2006) review written by: Rich Cline
7th September, 2008 
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