Amen.
French theatrical release poster
Directed byCosta-Gavras
Written by
Based onThe Deputy
by Rolf Hochhuth
Produced byAndrei Boncea
Starring
CinematographyPatrick Blossier
Edited byYannick Kergoat
Music byArmand Amar
Production
company
    • Canal+
    • K.G. Productions
    • KC Medien
    • Renn Productions
    • TF1
Distributed by
    • Pathé (France)
    • Concorde Filmverleih (Germany)
Release date
2002
Running time
132 minutes
Countries
  • France
  • Germany
  • Romania
LanguageEnglish
Budget€15,700,000
Box office€11,217,610 (France)

Amen. is a 2002 historical war drama film directed and co-written by Costa-Gavras. Based on the play The Deputy by Rolf Hochhuth, the film examines the political and diplomatic relationship between the Vatican and Nazi Germany during World War II. It stars Ulrich Tukur, Mathieu Kassovitz, Sebastian Koch, Ulrich Mühe, Ion Caramitru, and Marcel Iureş. It was a co-production between French, German, and Romanian studios.

The film premiered at the 52nd Berlin International Film Festival, where it was nominated for the Golden Bear. It was nominated for seven César Awards, including for Best Film and Best Director, and won the award for Best Adapted Screenplay (Costa-Gavras and Jean-Claude Grumberg).

Plot

During World War II, Kurt Gerstein, a Waffen-SS officer employed in the SS Hygiene Institute, designs programs for the purification of water and the destruction of vermin. He is shocked to learn that the process he has developed to eradicate typhus, by using a hydrogen cyanide mixture called Zyklon B, is now being used for killing Jews and other "undesirables" in extermination camps. Gerstein attempts to notify Pope Pius XII about the gassings, but is appalled by the lack of response he gets from the Catholic hierarchy. The only person moved is Riccardo Fontana, a young Jesuit priest. Fontana and Gerstein attempt to raise awareness about what is happening to the Jews in Europe but even after Fontana appealing to the pope himself, the Vatican makes only a timid and vague condemnation of Hitler and Nazi Germany.

Eventually Gerstein travels to Rome to speak to the Pope himself but is not allowed. When he arrives the Germans are taking control of Rome and begin rounding up the Italian Jews to be sent to the death camps. Fontana begs the Pope to force the Germans to stop the deportation by appearing at the train station in person but the Pope refuses, saying that doing so will cause hardship for the Christians living under Nazi Germany. In disgust and sorrow Fontana puts the Jewish Star-of- David yellow badge on himself and presents himself to be taken on the train of Jews being deported to the death camps. When he arrives at the camp Fontana is interrogated by the head of the camp, a powerful 'friend' of Kurt Gerstein known simply as the Doctor, who despite knowing that the war is lost and that Fontana is a Catholic priest, allows Fontana to stay with the Jews and work in the crematorium, and eventually orders him gassed.

Gerstein attempts to save Fontana but he will not leave. The Doctor escorts Gerstein out of the camp as Fontana and the remaining Jews continue to be murdered. They drive by German soldiers digging up and burning the bodies of previously murdered Jews in a mass grave near the camp, and the Doctor asks Gerstein if he knows any contacts to help get him out of Germany. Gerstein returns home and gathers all his evidence that documents the Nazi atrocities and takes them to the Allies. Despite accepting his evidence he is still arrested and after reading the charges against him he is found hanged in his cell. Afterward the Doctor is seen speaking to a Cardinal in Rome asking for help leaving the country saying "I'm a doctor, just a physician" and the cardinal agrees to help send him to Argentina.

Cast

Production

The film is based on a 1963 play by Rolf Hochhuth, The Deputy, a Christian Tragedy, which was widely attacked in Catholic and Jewish circles for its portrayal of Pope Pius XII. The German-language version of the film was released under the play's original title Der Stellvertreter.[2]

Since the Holy See did not allow filming in the Vatican, the scenes in the papal palaces were shot in the Palace of the Parliament of Bucharest, Romania.[3]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Der Stellvertreter".
  2. ↑ "Amen (Movie, 2002) Review | STATIC MASS EMPORIUM". Archived from the original on 19 April 2017. Retrieved 17 September 2015.
  3. ↑ "Filming in Romania". 11 December 2013.
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