The Debt (2007)

the audience applauded

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

The first must-see film of the year.

Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

The basis for the 2010 Hollywood remake, this is an intelligent and clever spy thriller, with interesting moral overtones. However, as rarely happens I personally slightly preferred the re- make. I don't know if it was the acting, the writing or the directorial style, but for whatever reason I found myself both more moved and more chilled by the re-make. To be fair, that could be because I saw the re-make first, so knew the story, but this isn't really based on shocking twists, so I think the newer film simply worked better for me. In particular I found Helen Mirren more affecting than her Israeli counterpart, Gila Almagor. That said, this is still a strong film, and there are a couple of very powerful scenes between the agents and their Nazi prey that beat out their counterparts in the re-make.. Worth seeing if you're into films enough that seeing two different versions of a good story is fun, not a chore.

Any faithful Israeli moviegoer could have recommended better films for Hollywood to remake. This one was not particularly successful in its home country, but evidently Hollywood likes the idea of Israeli secret agents who are conflicted and vulnerable. Various details here are quite unbelievable: an Israeli secret agent who travels on an assassination mission with an Israeli passport, another who when attacked can think of no better countermove than jumping onto her opponent piggyback, and a straight razor casually in use for everyday shaving in 1964. The movie gets off to a bumpy start with some overly quick and contrived exposition, but it hits its pace when Gila Almagor, one of Israel's most respected veteran actresses, starts doing her stuff. She is joined by equally strong male veterans in small roles, but in the flashbacks to their younger selves the film doesn't hold attention as well, particularly since the two young male actors are not easy to tell apart and maybe because the youngsters need to act in other than their native language. The story is not true, but it recalls a bungled operation in 1973, known as the Lillehammer affair, which we like to think of as an anomaly. In THE DEBT, there is no indication that these half-hearted blunderers aren't your typical Israeli agents.

The AVALON Theatre in Washington, DC has moderately successful screenings of Israeli films one night a month. We chose THE DEBT to try it out. Not this time, the movie packed the house and we only beat the inevitable turn-away by skipping the ticket line and buying tickets in their cafe / refreshment counter.The turnout was well deserved, as THE DEBT was well worth out drive across town to see. Tight and suspenseful, it was solid where the big budget holocaust films usually bog down in sludge-style propaganda.This movie excels in its down-to-earth earnest telling of the story, and the Nazi has ample time to tell "his side." Respectful silence from the presumed mostly Jewish audience indicates how they were wrapped up in the story; their story; but with a few moments of outward approval.Perhaps I ought put a sock in it, but people do that too often. The Jews make much of their vow "NEVER AGAIN" and I have no doubt the Jews in Israel mean it. But what about the American Jews in this audience? No doubt most voted for Obama, America's most anti-Israel president, and will likely vote for him again in 2012. Israeli freedom be damned -- if it means questioning their self-destructive liberal causes. People like me offer Israel rock-solid support; but American Jews have little use for us. Go figure!

This is a sort of re-release (on DVD as of May 2011) of an Israeli film made originally in 2007. It has garnered new attention as it is has been remade in America and will star Helen Mirren in the fall as Americans say. It tells the story of three Mossad agents who in 1964, are sent on a mission to capture 'The Surgeon of Birkenau'. He is currently practising as a gynaecologist in Berlin, and is wanted for monstrous experimental operations on Jews during WWII (that is why there is a big Swastika on the front).The film starts in 2007 when Gila Almagor as Rachel Brener is publishing her account of their mission and is being lauded as a National heroine for her part in bringing Nazis to justice. However, it is all a whopping big lie. Told in flashback we see what really occurred back in 1964 and how despite capturing 'The Surgeon' Max Rainer (Edgar Selge); he manages to play mind games and sow confusion leading to his escape.They decide that he will now go underground and they may as well say they killed him and got rid of the body. The snag comes when a senile old man in a retirement home in the Ukraine confesses that he is 'The Surgeon of Birkenau' and it gets into the papers. The three agents decide it is time to finish what they should have done over forty years ago.This is a very well acted and scripted piece of cinema, and I laud Israel for continuing to make good films on limited budgets like 'The Bubble' etc. Also there is no recreation of Birkenau or flash backs to the war, so the Swastika on the artwork is slightly misleading. This is instead a tense thriller that really does carry you along. It did not get much of an airing on first release, so hopefully, with the renewed interest; it may get the attention it deserves.In Hebrew with some German and Russian the sub titles are fairly accurate (the German and Russian anyway as my Hebrew is non existent) with a run time of just over 90 minutes, this is one you should see before it gets the Hollywood treatment.