For me Amen represents Costa-Gavras' return to good film-making. Although it's too far from the emotional Missing, I think it put an end to the series of bad movies he made throughout the '80s and '90s. His efforts this millennium have all been enjoyable, if mediocre.
Although it's not a great movie, it's Costa-Gavras at his most provocative in a long time. He tackled the Nazi crimes in the past, and always managed to find new injustices to attribute to them. In Special Section, he explored the special courts in Nazi-occupied France that judged and sentenced innocents to death; in Music Box he explored the Hungarian involvement in Nazi war crimes. And in Amen he explored the touchy subject of the Holy Catholic Church's involvement in the Holocaust.
Costa-Gavras' questions are: why didn't the Pope get more involved in opposing the murder of Jews? Why did it act when it was too late? Why did it concern itself only with saving Christians? Costa-Gavras suggests that the Pope wasn't too mad with Hitler because he was fighting Communism, a pet hatred of the Holy Church; and also because the Pope feared the invasion of the Vatican. These are bold claims. Sadly I don't know enough about this matter to judge the movie's veracity, and I'd hardly allow a movie to teach me history.
Nevertheless as a drama the movie is quite enjoyable. The story follows two men: Kurt Gerstein, a Catholic SS officer who discovers the Nazis are exterminating the Jews and tries to warn the allies and the Vatican for them to intervene and save millions; and Riccardo Fontana, a priest trying to get the Vatican to listen to Gerstein. Their efforts and altruism, like in all Costa-Gavras' movies, are punctuated by despair and failure. He always films individuals fighting states and impersonal entities, and we all know how these fights always end for the individuals. The viewer will finish watching the movie with a sense of sickness at the injustices committed and a feeling of hopelessness.
Although the movie was a European production, the characters all speak in awkward English. This was regrettable. In the age of Der Untergang, Letters from Iwo Jima and Inglourious Basterds, it's odd to hear Germans speaking English instead of German. It's even more annoying because in some parts the Germans revert to German to sing songs.
Apart from this, Amen is an enjoyable movie and one of Costa-Gavras' best from this decade.
Although it's not a great movie, it's Costa-Gavras at his most provocative in a long time. He tackled the Nazi crimes in the past, and always managed to find new injustices to attribute to them. In Special Section, he explored the special courts in Nazi-occupied France that judged and sentenced innocents to death; in Music Box he explored the Hungarian involvement in Nazi war crimes. And in Amen he explored the touchy subject of the Holy Catholic Church's involvement in the Holocaust.
Costa-Gavras' questions are: why didn't the Pope get more involved in opposing the murder of Jews? Why did it act when it was too late? Why did it concern itself only with saving Christians? Costa-Gavras suggests that the Pope wasn't too mad with Hitler because he was fighting Communism, a pet hatred of the Holy Church; and also because the Pope feared the invasion of the Vatican. These are bold claims. Sadly I don't know enough about this matter to judge the movie's veracity, and I'd hardly allow a movie to teach me history.
Nevertheless as a drama the movie is quite enjoyable. The story follows two men: Kurt Gerstein, a Catholic SS officer who discovers the Nazis are exterminating the Jews and tries to warn the allies and the Vatican for them to intervene and save millions; and Riccardo Fontana, a priest trying to get the Vatican to listen to Gerstein. Their efforts and altruism, like in all Costa-Gavras' movies, are punctuated by despair and failure. He always films individuals fighting states and impersonal entities, and we all know how these fights always end for the individuals. The viewer will finish watching the movie with a sense of sickness at the injustices committed and a feeling of hopelessness.
Although the movie was a European production, the characters all speak in awkward English. This was regrettable. In the age of Der Untergang, Letters from Iwo Jima and Inglourious Basterds, it's odd to hear Germans speaking English instead of German. It's even more annoying because in some parts the Germans revert to German to sing songs.
Apart from this, Amen is an enjoyable movie and one of Costa-Gavras' best from this decade.