Movies

This is a must watch film. It's a complex and controversial story, well written, well acted, and the direction is superb. The one dimensional nature of the main characters works very well - we see but a snapshot of the complexity of human nature and this begs you to ask the question of what would you do if you found yourself placed in such circumstances.This is perhaps a trademark of Costa-Gavras's work (Mad City, Missing and Z in particular)It is not just a cold view of the history of the time nor is it seeking to provide an answer to the big question - just shed light on the circumstances and on human nature.

The provocative poster of Oliviero Toscani is an insult as well to Catholics as to Jews and does not show what the movie is about. This movie is not a correct historic account of events. When I watched it, it was so hard for me to discover all the lies in it that I simply could not enjoy watching it. The French historian Pierre Blet has sufficiently demonstrated in his book: "Pie XII et la seconde guerre mondiale d'après les archives du Vatican" (Librairie Académique Perrin, 1998) that the pope Pius XII is innocent in the matter. Sorry, but I cannot watch a movie which is claiming things that are simply not true. Than I prefer to look at fiction which I cannot believe and of which I know that everything is impossible in real life.

Bold historical drama from political maestro Costa-Gavras deals unapologetically with State and Church reactions during the Nazi occupation in Europe.Centered around one priest and one SS Lieutenant, Amen is filled with history's dark underside during WW2 and is touted as a summation of this important director's career. Strangely though, the overall impact feels far less gripping then it ought.Some of the English dialog does not feel very natural, while some of the lines themselves feel numbingly obvious. The plot line is interesting enough despite a lumbering predictability, but looses focus near it's conclusion.Even though Amen's stilted nature robs the film of being a potentially powerful classic, it's classy production values ensure an involving experience.