GERMANY: FRENCH DIRECTOR CONSTANTIN COSTA-GAVRAS SPEAKS ABOUT HIS NEW FILM 'AMEN' AT THIS YEAR'S BERLIN FILM FESTIVAL

Record ID: 392607

  • Title: GERMANY: FRENCH DIRECTOR CONSTANTIN COSTA-GAVRAS SPEAKS ABOUT HIS NEW FILM 'AMEN' AT THIS YEAR'S BERLIN FILM FESTIVAL
  • Date: 13th February 2002
  • Summary: BERLIN, GERMANY (FEBRUARY 13, 2002) (REUTERS) SOUNDBITE (German) GERMAN ACTOR ULRICH TUKUR SAYING: "Obviously you are speaking a different language and it wasn't as easy for me as if it had been in German. But I was allowed to relax in front of the camera, so that even in the extreme scenes you have seen, I was able to try things out, which in the past in German films had
  • Embargoed: 28th February 2002 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: BERLIN, GERMANY
  • Country: Germany
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA5XEX6UQAS1R007XOW9Z6RDRCT
  • Story Text: The moral dilemmas faced by many under the Nazi dictatorship more than half a century ago were a strong theme at this year's recent Berlin Film Festival. One of the films that explores the subject is 'Amen' by Greek-born French director Constantin Costa-Gavras.
    The sometimes blurry line between good and evil during the Nazi era was in focus at this year's Berlin Film Festival, held just a couple of blocks away from where Adolf Hitler once ruled much of Europe.
    Three major films looked at the moral dilemmas many faced under the Nazi dictatorship more than half a century ago. One of these is 'Amen' by Greek-born French director Constantin Costa-Gavras. In the film real-life SS officer Kurt Gerstein tries to tell the world, and the Vatican in particular, about the Holocaust - while he also supplies poisonous gas to concentration camps. "I shall be the eyes of God in that hell", Gerstein says.
    The film contrasts two systems: The Nazi machine, and The Vatican and Allied diplomacy. Two men are struggling from the inside. Kurt Gerstein supplies the death camps with Zyklon B gas while tirelessly denouncing the Nazis crimes and alerting the Allies, the Pope, the Germans and their churches, putting himself and his family at risk. In contrast, Ricardo, a young Jesuit represents all the priests who had the heart to struggle against savagery, often paying for their courage with their lives.
    The question is raised, 'At what point in a man's life must ethics come before self-preservation?' Kurt Gerstein knew and wanted the world to know. The film puts on trial the silence of all those who knew and remained silent. Costa Gavras said the Nazi-era remained a popular focus for film-makers because it puts humanity to the test and because in terms of recent world history, it was the most extraordinary, most frightening time.
    The film remained topical also after the Vatican announced recently that it would open some of its archives for the period before, during and after the war.
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