AMEN
by Costa-Gavras
synopsis
During World War II, Kurt Gerstein is a scientific officer working for the SS on disinfection and water purification projects. When he discovers that a compound he has developed is to be used for mass gassing of Jews in concentration camps he is appalled and resolves to tell the world of the unfolding horror. His attempts to alert the Catholic Church fall on deaf ears until he meets a young Jesuit priest, Riccard Fontana. The two men make repeated attempts to bring news of the systematic slaughter of Jewish families to the outside world. Both are driven by the conviction that once the public hear of this atrocity, the Nazis will put an end to it. However, it soon becomes clear that they are powerless to change things. Neither the American ambassador nor the Pope is able to speak out against the unseen massacre. Meanwhile, every day, tens of thousands of Jews are stripped naked and herded into the gas chambers...
international title: | Amen |
original title: | Amen |
country: | France, Germany |
sales agent: | Pathé International |
year: | 2002 |
genre: | fiction |
directed by: | Costa-Gavras |
film run: | 132' |
release date: | FR 27/02/2002, BE 06/03/2002, RO 11/03/2002, IT 19/04/2002, DE 30/05/2002, UK 12/07/2002, AT 18/10/200, HU 14/11/2002, GR 06/12/2002, ES 10/01/2003, NL 06/02/2002, SE 23/08/2003 |
screenplay: | Costa-Gavras, Jean-Claude Grumberg |
cast: | Ulrich Tukur, Mathieu Kassovitz, Ulrich Mühe, Michel Duchaussoy, Marcel Iureş, Antje Schmidt |
cinematography by: | Patrick Blossier |
film editing: | Yannick Kergoat |
art director: | Ari Hantke |
costumes designer: | Edith Vesperini |
music: | Armand Amar |
producer: | Michèle Ray-Gavras, Claude Berri |
production: | TF1 Films Production |
distributor: | Mikado, Pathé Distribution, Nirvana Films, Concorde Filmverleih, Pathé Distribution, Constantin Film Verleih, Alternative Films, Upstream pictures |