Amen. (2002)

Director:

Costa-Gavras

Writers:

Costa-Gavras (writer)
Jean-Claude Grumberg (writer)
(more)

Release Date:

27 February 2002 (France)

Genre:

Drama | War

Plot:

During WWII SS officer Kurt Gerstein tries to inform Pope Pius XII about Jews being sent to concentration camps. Young Jesuit priest Riccardo Fontana gives him a hand.

Plot Keywords:

SS | Priest | Jesuit | Pope | SS Officer

Awards:

2 wins & 8 nominations

Cast

Ulrich Tukur	...	Kurt Gerstein
Mathieu Kassovitz	...	Riccardo Fontana
Ulrich Mühe	...	Doctor
Michel Duchaussoy	...	Cardinal
Ion Caramitru	...	Count Fontana
Marcel Iures	...	Pope
Friedrich von Thun	...	Gerstein's Father
Antje Schmidt	...	Mrs. Gerstein
Hanns Zischler	...	Grawitz
Sebastian Koch	...	Höss
Erich Hallhuber	...	Von Rutta
Burkhard Heyl	...	Director
Angus MacInnes	...	Tittman
Bernd Fischerauer	...	Bishop von Galen
Pierre Franckh	...	Pastor Wehr
Richard Durden	...	Ambassador Taylor
Monica Bleibtreu	...	Mrs. Hinze
Justus von Dohnanyi	...	Baron Von Otter
Günther Maria Halmer	...	Pastor Dibelius
August Zirner	...	Von Weizsäcker
Horatiu Malaele	...	Fritsche
Ovidiu Cuncea	...	Stephan Lux
Markus Hering	...	Karl
Susanne Lothar	...	Alexandra Baltz
Alexander Geringas	...	Helmut Franz
Theodor Danetti	...	Old Cardinal
Radu Banzaru	...	Armin Peters
Constantin Alexandrov	...	Nonce
Heinz Gerhard Lueck	...	Old Monk (as Heinz Gerhard Lück)
Marina Berti	...	La Principessa
Michael Mendl	...	Monsignore Hudal
Niels Hansen	...	Pastor Rebling
Matthias Koeberlin	...	Decorated Officer (as Mathias Köberlin)
Nina Proll	...	Helga
Marin Moraru	...	Photographer
Hinnerk Schönemann	...	Chess Player
Ion Haiduc	...	Controler
Maria Rotaru	...	Nun
Dorina Chiriac	...	Berthe Gerstein
Cornelia Pavlovici	...	Berthe's Mother
Cornel Ciupercescu	...	Berthe's Father
Robinson Reichel	...	SS Officer In Rome
Lilly Tukur	...	Adelheid Gerstein
Charles Brian	...	Arnulf Gerstein
Sophie Parea	...	Baby Gerstein
Laurentiu Cizmas	...	Young Son Gerstein
George Ivascu	...	Tailor
Ion Pavlescu	...	Monsignore Kaas
Constantin Cotimanis	...	Pruffer
Valentin Teodosiu	...	Hirt
Rodica Lazar	...	Rachel
Stefania Zamfirescu	...	Gudrun
Doru Badiu	...	Gerhard
Andreea Macelaru	...	Ingrid
Rudy Rosenfeld	...	Moshe
Costin Anghel	...	Barcia Trelles
Alexandru Repan	...	First Cardinal
Ion Siminie	...	Majordome
Sandu Mihai Gruia	...	Cook
Florin Kevorkian	...	Stenographer Priest
Valeriu Crisan	...	Fritz
Cristian Ieremia	...	Priest
Natasa Raab	...	Blond Lady At Fontana's
Andriana Andronache	...	Woman At The Church
Andrei Finti	...	Parish Priest 1
Andrei Boncea	...	Parish Priest 2
Zoltan Butuc	...	Priest 1
Laurentiu Bobalca	...	Priest 2
Nicolae Calugarita	...	Nation Society President
Karina Bobe	...	Woman 1
Christine Georgescu	...	Old Woman
Cici Caraman	...	Woman 2
Lucia Maier	...	Woman 3
Andrei Duban	...	Camp Officer
Andrei Gheorghe	...	French Officer
Bogdan Uritescu	...	French Sergeant
Fred Wesson	...	American Officer
Cornel Vulpe	...	Swedish Guard
Petre Moraru	...	Prosecutor
Mihai Niculescu	...	Civilian 1
Mircea Stoian	...	Civilian 2
Geo Dobre	...	Civilian 3
Viorel Comanici	...	Civilian 4
Mihai Calin	...	Civilian 5
Marius Galea	...	Thief
Gabriel Spahiu	...	Inmate
Nicodim Ungureanu	...	Kapo
Stefan Potzolli	...	Pastor
Emil Hostina	...	Sergeant
Bogdan Florea	...	Young Sergeant
Alex Jitea	...	SS Officer 1 (as Alexandru Jitea)
Marian Ralea	...	SS Officer 2
Florin Busuioc	...	SS Officer 3
Florin Dobrovici	...	SS Officer 4
Eugen Cristian Motriuc	...	SS Officer 5 (as Cristian Motriuc)
Alin Panc	...	SS Lieutenant 1
Pavel Bartos	...	SS Lieutenant 2
Dorina Lazar	...	First SS Officer's Wife
Anca Sigartau	...	Second SS Officer's Wife
Oana Ioachim	...	Third SS Officer's Wife
Tamara Popescu	...	Fourth SS Officer's Wife
Nicolae Borza	...	Chief Doctor
Adrian Plopeanu	...	Doctor 1
Daniel Iordan	...	Technician
Dan Astileanu	...	Truck Driver
Mihai Razus	...	Swiss Guard Officer
Doru Stan	...	Fontana's Chauffeur
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Diana Busuioc	...	Catholic Woman (uncredited)
Sergiu Cepleanu	...	Nazi Officer / Prisoner (uncredited)

Directed by
Costa-Gavras

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Costa-Gavras		writer
Jean-Claude Grumberg		writer
Rolf Hochhuth		play "Der Stellvertreter"

Produced by
Claude Berri	....	line producer
Andrei Boncea	....	producer
Yvon Crenn	....	line producer
Pierre Grunstein	....	associate producer
Dieter Meyer	....	associate producer
Roland Pellegrino	....	associate producer
Michèle Ray-Gavras	....	producer

Original Music by
Armand Amar

Cinematography by
Patrick Blossier

Film Editing by
Yannick Kergoat

Casting by
Florin Kevorkian		(as Florin Chevorchian)
Sabine Schroth

Production Design by
Ari Hantke

Art Direction by
Emita Frigato
Maria Miu

Set Decoration by
Carmen Pasula

Costume Design by
Edith Vesperini

Makeup Department
Lidia Constantin	....	hair stylist
Gabi Cretan	....	makeup assistant (as Gabriela Cretan)
Lidia Ivanov	....	hair stylist
Alexis Kinebanyan	....	special makeup effects artist
Benoît Lestang	....	special makeup effects artist
Jeni Lita	....	hair stylist
Ferdinando Merolla	....	hair stylist: Italy
Thi-Loan Nguyen	....	key makeup artist
John Nollet	....	hair stylist: Matthieu Kassovitz
Angela Tugui	....	assistant hair stylist

Production Management
Olivier Chiavassa	....	production supervisor
Irina Chirita	....	unit production manager
Yvon Crenn	....	production manager
Barbara Petrelli	....	production manager: Italy
Iuliana Stefan	....	assistant production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Anne Abitbol	....	assistant director: Italy
Melia Cerchez Anghel	....	first assistant director: pre-production
Cristian Ciurea	....	first assistant director: Romania
Yaël Fauthoux	....	assistant director: Italy
Julie Gavras	....	assistant director: Italy
Theodor Halacu-Nicon	....	second assistant director
Radu Jude	....	assistant director
Larry Maronese	....	third assistant director
Alain Olivieri	....	first assistant director
Anatol Reghintovschi	....	second assistant director
Adrian Sitaru	....	third assistant director

Art Department
Daniel Alexandru	....	sculptor
Diana Apostol	....	art department assistant
Maria Rita Cassarino	....	assistant art director: Italy
Ioana Corciova	....	set construction supervisor
Vraciu Eduard Daniel	....	assistant art director
Dana Dinescu	....	assistant art director
Paul Dobre	....	assistant art director
Olivier Drano	....	head painter
Viviana Dumitru	....	painter
Dorin Grigorescu	....	property master
Oliver Hoese	....	assistant production designer
Liviu Marcu	....	sculptor
Lucian Mihaila	....	art department assistant
Ion Molete	....	sculptor
Dan Munteanu	....	sculptor
Costin Nastac	....	set construction supervisor
Coralia Nitu	....	painter
Baba Novac	....	assistant art director
Adi Popa	....	on-set property master
Adrian Popa	....	property master
Adina Popescu	....	assistant art director
Mervyn Rowe	....	art supervisor
Marius Stanciu	....	assistant property master
Ica Varna	....	production coordinator
Petre Veniamin	....	painter
Dan Vraclu	....	assistant art director

Sound Department
Yannick Boulot	....	sound recordist
Bernard Chaumeil	....	boom operator
Gelu Costache	....	sound assistant
Hélène de la Morinerie	....	assistant sound editor
Michelle Flamand	....	dialogue editor
Dominique Gaborieau	....	sound re-recording mixer
Pierre Gamet	....	sound
Jean-Pierre Lelong	....	sound effects editor
Alain Lévy	....	post-synchronization
Mario Melchiorri	....	sound effects assistant
Maurizio Miani	....	sound operator: Italy
Nicolas Moreau	....	assistant sound editor
Marian Pana	....	sound assistant
Stefan Richter	....	dialogue editor
François Waledisch	....	sound operator: Italy
Francis Wargnier	....	sound editor

Special Effects by
Aurel Chlorean	....	special effects assistant
Moise Constantin	....	special effects supervisor
Philippe Hubin	....	special effects supervisor
Serban Nicolae	....	special effects assistant
George Petrache	....	special effects assistant
Nicu Petre	....	special effects assistant
Alin Sebat	....	special effects assistant

Visual Effects by
Luc Augereau	....	visual effects producer
Alexandre Bon	....	digital compositor
Charly Boudriot	....	digital compositor
Alain Chene	....	scanning & film recording assistant
Christophe Courgeau	....	matte painter
Rosana D'Andrea	....	scanning & film recording assistant
David François	....	digital compositor
Julius Friede	....	color grader
Stéphane Gaillot	....	digital compositor
Justine Gasquet	....	matte painting artist
Thibaut Granier	....	digital compositor
Christian Guillon	....	visual effects producer
Christophe Keichinger	....	scanning & film recording assistant
Arassou Kichenassamy	....	scanning & film recording assistant
Stephane Lavoix	....	digital compositor
Sergeï Lourié	....	digital compositor
Toullet Matthieu	....	Specter assistant
David Montoya	....	scanning & film recording assistant
Frederic Moreau	....	optical effects supervisor (as Frédéric Moreau)
Hugues Namur	....	visual effects supervisor
Philippe Reinaudo	....	scanning & film recording assistant
Mourad Rennou	....	scanning & film recording assistant
Nicolas Rey	....	visual effects supervisor
Gérard Soirant	....	scanning & film recording assistant
Samuel Tchalikian	....	digital artist
Jean-Francois Theault	....	digital composite artist
François Vagnon	....	visual effects supervisor
Morgan Varona	....	digital artist
Veronique Zylberfain	....	matte painting artist

Stunts
Sergiu Cepleanu	....	stunt performer
Alexandru Cseh	....	stunt coordinator
Sarbu Marian	....	stunt performer
Stefano Maria Mioni	....	italian stunt coordinator
Claudiu-Cristian Prisecaru	....	stunt performer
Valeriu Tomescu	....	stunts

Camera and Electrical Department
Jérôme Alméras	....	Steadicam operator
Octavian Andreescu	....	electrician
Daniel Balteanu	....	electrician
Maurizio Broglio	....	electrician: Italy
Daniel Chiriac	....	electrician: second unit
Daniel Ciobanu	....	electrician: second unit
Grigore Ciobanu	....	generator operator
Ion Cofaru	....	generator operator
Marian Costea	....	electrician: second unit
Dumitru Costica	....	grip
Nicolae Dima	....	generator operator
Dumitru Dragut	....	video assistant: second unit
Gavrila Dumitru Titi	....	assistant camera
Marian Ene	....	grip
Eric Guichard	....	director of photography: second unit
Gheorghe Guta	....	film loader: second unit
Marios Ivascu	....	focus puller: second unit
David Koskas	....	still photographer
Amandine Lacape	....	second assistant camera
Dumitru Lita	....	gaffer: second unit
Cristi Lupu	....	generator operator
Rachid Madaoui	....	gaffer
Stefano Marino	....	gaffer: Italy
Florin Nicolae	....	assistant gaffer
George Nicolae	....	best boy
Razvan Paslaru	....	grip
Toni Salabasev	....	still photographer
Adrian Sandor	....	video assist operator
Viorel Sarbu	....	grip
Marian Sava	....	electrician: second unit
Sorin Serghiuta	....	assistant Steadicam operator
Dan Simionescu	....	generator operator
Catalin Stoica	....	grip
Remus Tanase	....	grip
Florin Tolas	....	camera operator: second unit
Yves Vandersmissen	....	key grip
Nicolae Vasile	....	electrician

Casting Department
Carol Dermengiu	....	casting coordinator
Jina Jay	....	casting: UK
Silvano Spoletini	....	extras casting: Italy

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Ioana Albaiu	....	wardrobe supervisor
Eli Calin	....	assistant costume designer
Elena Dodita	....	costumer
Silvia Iordachioaia	....	costumer
Geta Isvoreanu	....	costumer
Andrei Mezei	....	costumer
Viorica Moldoveanu	....	costumer
Daniela Nicolae	....	costumer
Florenta Pauna	....	assistant costume designer
Stafan Stancu	....	costumer
Mihal Stoica	....	costumer
Minh Truong	....	assistant costume designer

Editorial Department
Catherine Athon	....	post-production coordinator
Agathe Cauvin	....	assistant editor
Nicolas Criqui	....	digital conformation
Olivier Gourlay	....	first assistant editor
Yorgos Lamprinos	....	apprentice film editor
Bruno Patin	....	color grader
Philippe Reinaudo	....	digital intermediate technical director

Music Department
Laurent Levesque	....	conductor
Laurent Levesque	....	music arranger
Laurent Levesque	....	musician: piano solo

Transportation Department
Nicu Kasza	....	transportation coordinator
Marian Pascale	....	transportation coordinator

Other crew
Sabina Aldea	....	production assistant
Vasile Anghel	....	production assistant
Angeliki Arvanitis	....	production coordinator
George Barbu	....	technical coordinator
Andra Barbuica	....	script supervisor
Oana Boghici	....	production assistant
Razvan Caminschi	....	location manager
Alex Chiciu	....	extras coordinator
Carla Colaci	....	location manager: Italy
Gilda Conon	....	production coordinator
David Crenn	....	production coordinator
Ani Dinu	....	production assistant
Calin Furtunescu	....	location manager
Carol Gheorghe	....	set operations coordinator
Andrea Grazzani	....	location manager: Italy
Cristi Groza	....	extras coordinator
Gabriela Ionescu	....	production secretary
Cristi Ivan	....	production assistant
Nicu Kasza	....	production assistant
Costel Lazar	....	base generator operator
Mariana Lina	....	continuity assistant
Basile Maffone	....	in/out technician
Florence Masset	....	post-production accountant
Gilda Matei	....	production assistant
Mirel Mazilu	....	electrical department coordinator
Mihai Mitrea	....	location manager
Vladimir Moldoveanu	....	production coordinator
Tudor Nicolae	....	production assistant
Anna Orieti	....	production accountant: Italy
Iulian Pana	....	location manager
Dorina Popa	....	production assistant
Adrian Popescu	....	set operator
Oana Prata	....	production assistant
Razvan Radutiu	....	production assistant
Violeta Rizea	....	continuity assistant
Cristian Sidor	....	extras coordinator
Dragos Silvestru	....	extras coordinator
Andreea Tanasescu	....	extras coordinator
Mihai Ungureanu	....	technical coordinator
Bogdan Vânt	....	extras coordinator
Paolo Vella	....	location manager: Italy
Gisèle Vuillaume	....	set production accountant
Sandy Whitelaw	....	dialogue coach

Production Companies

• Canal+
• K.G. Productions
• KC Medien
• Katharina
• Renn Productions
• TF1 Films Production

Distributors

• Pathé (2002) (France) (theatrical)
• Kino International (2003) (USA) (theatrical)
• Kino Video (2003) (USA) (DVD)
• A-Film Distribution (2003) (Netherlands) (theatrical) (for)
• Alfa Films (200?) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• Concorde Filmverleih (200?) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Mikado (200?) (Italy) (theatrical)
• Monopole-Pathé (2002) (Switzerland) (theatrical)
• United King Films (200?) (Israel) (theatrical)
• Upstream Pictures (2003) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• A-Film Home Entertainment (2003) (Netherlands) (video)
• Concorde Home Entertainment (2003) (Germany) (DVD)
• EuroVideo (200?) (Germany) (DVD)
• Future Film (2009) (Finland) (DVD)
• Transeuropa Video Entertainment (TVE) (200?) (Argentina) (VHS)

Special Effects

• L'Etude et la Supervision des Trucages (L'E.S.T.) (visual effects)
• Mikros Image

Other Companies

• All Deco International  sculptures
• Film Production Consultants  production services: Italy
• Key Grip Systems  grip equipment
• Mediapro Studios  production services: Bucarest
• Transpalux  lighting equipment

Also Known As:

Amen (France)
Der Stellvertreter (Germany)
Eyewitness
Le vicaire (France) (working title)
Aamen. Lopullinen ratkaisu (Finland) [fi]
Amém (Brazil) (festival title) [pt]
Amén (Mexico) [es]
Amén. (Spain) [es]
Amen. (Argentina) [es]
Amin (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]
Amin. (Greece) [el]

Runtime:

132 min

Country:

France | Germany | Romania

Language:

English | French | Italian | German

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Finland:K-13 | Argentina:13 | Chile:14 | Germany:12 | Netherlands:12 | Peru:14 | Singapore:NC-16 (re-rating) | Spain:13 | UK:PG | USA:Unrated

Filming Locations:

Bucharest, Romania

Company:

Canal+

Trivia:

The Vatican did not give a permission to shoot the film in their buildings. After searching a scenery of adequate size for the scenes taking place in the Vatican, Costa-Gavras finally chose Europe's largest building, the House of the People (Casa Poporului) in Bucharest. Some of the outdoor scenes were shot in Mogosoaia Palace, some fourteen kilometers northwest of Bucharest.

Goofs:

Factual errors: In one of the scenes they say that the Treblinka camp is out of gas, referring to Zyklon B. Treblinka didn't use Zyklon B, instead they used carbon monoxide.

Quotes:

Karl: In these heroic times, have you acquired some title or some kind of rank?
Kurt Gerstein: Lieutenant of the Waffen-SS.
Karl: Go to the SS Transportation Department. Thanks for your visit.

Painful, Questioned, Controversial History as Art

"Amen," a film based on the largely accurate account of German SS officer Kurt Gerstein's multiple attempts to alert the Vatican to the ongoing highly efficient mass slaughter of Jews and others - for which he bore no small responsibility as a technician facilitating efficient genocide - is well done with excellent acting. Yet in the end Costa-Gravas's film is somewhat unsatisfying and not sufficiently responsive to the viewer's need to know what Gerstein was all about. Why?

"Amen" begins with the Nazi euthanasia program aimed at murdering retarded and mentally ill Germans. A campaign, spearheaded by both Protestant and Catholic clerics and their flocks, forced the regime to end the killings. Some have argued that this sole widespread public rejection of Nazi homicidal machinations might well have been repeated if Germans were alerted - internally or through specific denunciations by the pope and foreign leaders - of the fate of deported Jews and those rounded up in conquered territories. "Amen's" Kurt Gerstein and his priest friend both believe that would have happened.

That argument is at best questionable and, more likely, reflects the human need for the wish to spawn the thought. Whether one accepts the Goldenhagen thesis of mass complicity by Germans in the Holocaust, the fact remains that when the slaughter began Germany was at war and, as a character in "Amen" notes, defending the Reich and winning the war, to say nothing of staying clear of what would be seen as treasonous ideas, was the only realistic option.

Kurt Gerstein is a mystery. As Hannah Arendt wrote of Eichmann as an example of evil's often banal incarnation, historian Saul Friedlander described Gerstein years ago in terms of the ambiguity of good. Gerstein sincerely and at risk to his life tried to warn the Vatican of the Nazi death camps. But he also worked efficiently to make those camps operationally efficient. "Amen's" Gerstein is tortured but also highly compartmentalized. He gives quick and accurate advice to improve destruction of the "units," as the Jews were referred to, and then tries to prevent use of the Zyklon B gas he helped develop with almost unbelievable declarations that shipments are defective and must be buried.

This film owes its origin not so much to Friedlander's compelling account but to Rolf Hochhuth's controversial (still so after many years) "The Deputy," presented as a play to the outrage of many. Hochhuth portrayed Pope Pius XII as insensitive and unwilling to use his moral authority to challenge an extermination program he knew to be in progress.

In the film Gerstein is aided by a young Jesuit priest whose remarkable moral and physical courage was demonstrated by a few, or perhaps too few, clerics who knew what was happening. The pope is shown as a remote, unemotional figure. The now standard explanations for the Vatican's unwillingness to take on the Nazis are included in catalogue format. Allied unwillingness to bomb the death camps or take in refugee Jews are recited almost for the record. Complex questions still debated are reduced to the equivalent of sound bites. They need no repeating here.

Hochhuth's thesis which outraged many decades ago and which still brings angry denunciations has been partially rehabilitated by scholarly works such as John Cornwell's provocatively titled study, "Hitler's Pope," an exaggeration which belies the serious research and analysis within the book's covers.

Cornwell's pope is personally unpleasant, haughtily autocratic, rabidly fearful of Communism, at least mildly anti-Semitic and certainly emotionally and politically pro-German if not pro-Hitler (he wasn't that). The Pope Pius of "Amen" lacks the depth a more accurate and compelling portrayal would have provided.

The strongest moments in the film are those briefly showing the efficiency of the death camps focusing less on the victims, most of whom aren't shown, but rather on the chillingly competent technicians and logisticians without whose efforts millions could not have been murdered.

Director Costa-Gravas deserves much credit for bringing a difficult to tell complex story to the screen. Ultimately, however, we know less about Kurt Gerstein than we need to and the Vatican, from pope to bureaucrat, is too colorless. Was Gerstein a victim or a collaborator with a schizophrenic sense of morality? Even scholar Friedlander couldn't answer that question. Did the Vicar of Christ shame his church's vision of Jesus by putting political expediency ahead of moral imperative? That is a very alive issue today but "Amen" gives us a largely one-dimensional Supreme Pontiff.

The cast is unknown to American viewers but all act with varying but generally strong ability. Gerstein and the Jesuit priest are especially well portrayed as men of deep conviction.

7/10