Fateless (2006)
90%RT Audience Score: 83%
Awards & Nominations: 6 wins & 7 nominations
Fateless is a cinematic masterpiece that delves into the complexities of human emotion and the horrors of the Holocaust. The film’s ability to portray the subject matter in a new and devastating light is a testament to the director’s skillful execution. The use of mist to lend a drained beauty to the camp is a poignant reminder of the inhumanity that occurred within its walls. The film’s score, while emotionally bullying at times, does not detract from the reticence and nuance of the script. Fateless is a fiercely unsentimental and surprisingly beautiful film that is a must-see for anyone interested in the canon of Holocaust cinema.
Fateless is a movie that will make you feel all the emotions, from sadness to hope. It’s a film that shows the horrors of the Holocaust in a new light, and it does so with a sense of beauty that is both haunting and mesmerizing. The music might be a bit too much at times, but it doesn’t take away from the powerful performances and the masterful direction. It’s a must-watch for anyone who wants to understand the human experience during one of the darkest times in history. Plus, it’s a great conversation starter for your next movie night with friends.
Production Company(ies)
Twentieth Century Fox,
Distributor
ThinkFilm
Release Type
Filming Location(s)
Paks, Hungary
MPAA / Certificate
Rated R for some disturbing Holocaust images including nudity, and brief strong language
Year of Release
2005
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby Digital
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Aspect ratio:2.35 : 1
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Runtime:2h 16m
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Language(s):Hungarian, German, English, Yiddish, Hebrew, Polish
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Jan 6, 2006 Original
Release Date (Streaming): Dec 2, 2019
Genre(s)
History/Drama
Keyword(s)
Fateless, Marcell Nagy, Áron Dimény, János Bán, Holocaust, Drama, History, Lajos Koltai, Imre Kertész, Andras Hamori, Péter Barbalics, Ildiko Kennedy, Jonathan Olsberg, ThinkFilm, Dolby Digital, R, $195.9K, reviewed by Ty Burr, Peter Bradshaw, Robert Hanks, Rachel Cameron, Steve O’Hagan, Trevor Johnston, Debbie Lynn Elias, Eve Tushnet, Cole Smithey, Anton Bitel, Enrique Buchichio, Lewis Beale, Cynthia S, Daisy M, Daniel P, directed by Lajos Koltai, written by Imre Kertész, produced by Andras Hamori, Péter Barbalics, Ildiko Kennedy, Jonathan Olsberg, starring Marcell Nagy as György Köves, Áron Dimény as Bandi Citrom, András M Kecskés as Finn, József Gyabronka as Unlucky man, Endre Harkányi as Old Kollmann, Daniel Craig as US Army Sergeant
Worldwide gross: $2,512,009
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $3,828,260
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,248
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 417,477
US/Canada gross: $196,857
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $300,007
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,461
US/Canada opening weekend: $12,680
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $19,324
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,526
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): HUF 2,500,000,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): NA
Production budget ranking: NA
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
ROI to date (est.): NA
ROI ranking: NA
Áron Dimény – Bandi Citrom
András M. Kecskés – Finn
József Gyabronka – Unlucky man
Endre Harkányi – Old Kollmann
Daniel Craig – US Army Sergeant
Director(s)
Lajos Koltai
Writer(s)
Imre Kertész
Producer(s)
Andras Hamori, Péter Barbalics, Ildiko Kennedy, Jonathan Olsberg
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
6 wins & 7 nominations
Academy Awards
All Critics (65) | Top Critics (30) | Fresh (61) | Rotten (4)
Fateless looks man’s inhumanity to man square in the eye and pronounces it standard operating procedure, and that may be the greater horror.
June 2, 2006 | Rating: 3.5/4
Ty Burr
Boston Globe
TOP CRITIC
Is the survivor entitled to ordinary human happiness — or is this human emotion an act of disloyalty and diminution? These questions are a vital part of this outstanding film’s dark and sombre power.
May 6, 2006 | Rating: 4/5
Peter Bradshaw
Guardian
TOP CRITIC
Perhaps the fault lies more with Ennio Morricone’s lavish, emotionally bullying music, which cancels out all the reticence and nuance of the script.
May 6, 2006 | Rating: 3/5
Robert Hanks
Independent (UK)
TOP CRITIC
Fiercely unsentimental and surprisingly beautiful, Hungarian drama Fateless does the seemingly impossible: it succeeds in portraying the subject of the Holocaust in a new and devastating light.
May 5, 2006 | Rating: 4/5
Rachel Cameron
BBC.com
TOP CRITIC
We’re meant to see the camps with a naive adolescent eye, but director Koltai misjudges his material, and his fastidious paletting and highly orchestrated set-pieces are curiously low-impact; beautiful where they should be beastly.
May 5, 2006 | Rating: 3/5
Steve O’Hagan
Empire Magazine
TOP CRITIC
Relatively few films touching on the Holocaust are worthy of their subject; this one is.
May 4, 2006
Trevor Johnston
Time Out
TOP CRITIC
This is really the first holocaust film that doesn’t just say it was an atrocity; it gives a new psychological perspective that shows a sense of hope and possibly even joy hidden in the horrors.
November 7, 2019
Debbie Lynn Elias
Behind The Lens
It conveys a feeling of exhaustion. Mist drifts through the camp, lending a beauty which does not point to any meaning or goodness, a kind of drained beauty.
February 8, 2019
Eve Tushnet
Patheos
“Fateless” is an essential film in the canon of holocaust film because it vividly tracks the specific brand of hatred that torture and genocidal murder inures.
April 20, 2009 | Rating: A
Cole Smithey
ColeSmithey.com
In cutting through the conventional cliches of Holocaust presentation to a more singular truth, Gyuri defies viewers to refuse him the license to tell his own story as he himself saw and felt it, rather than as others might prefer him to tell it.
July 6, 2007
Anton Bitel
Eye for Film
Una película de sobrecogedora belleza que se las arregla para arrojar nueva luz sobre un tema trillado y recurrente.
March 25, 2007 | Rating: 4/5
Enrique Buchichio
Uruguay Total
Masterfully directed, acted and shot, this is world cinema at its absolute finest.
March 1, 2007
Lewis Beale
Film Journal International…
Plot
An Hungarian youth comes of age at Buchenwald during World War II. György Köves is 14, the son of a merchant who’s sent to a forced labor camp. After his father’s departure, György gets a job at a brickyard; his bus is stopped and its Jewish occupants sent to camps. There, György find camaraderie, suffering, cruelty, illness, and death. He hears advice on preserving one’s dignity and self-esteem. He discovers hatred. If he does survive and returns to Budapest, what will he find? What is natural; what is it to be a Jew? Sepia, black and white, and color alternate to shade the mood.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
The cast includes Daniel Craig in a small role as a US Army Sergeant.
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