Fateless

I do not share the view that there cannot be too many Holocaust films, but this Hungarian entry comes with a high pedigree, and definitely has a different approach from Schindler’s List or The Pianist or -- God forbid -- Life is Beautiful. Adapted by 2002 Nobel Prize winner Imre Kertesz from his own memoir/novel, and directed by Lajos Koltai, best known as cinematographer for Istvan Szabo, this film is narratively understated but visually striking. It follows a teenage boy in Budapest, whose father is sent to a “labor camp” and then he himself is rounded up, almost casually, and sent to Auschwitz and Buchenwald. His step by step descent into an all too real hell is sketched in a succession of blackout memories, a pile-up of horrific scenes that seems almost as incomprehensible to us as to the boy experiencing them. Nothing is hyped, and the silences are as effective as Ennio Morricone’s music. Even with color all but drained from his palette, Koltai finds an uncanny beauty with his camera. While exemplary of its kind, this film gets a qualified recommendation from me, dependent on your willingness to endure its grimness. (2006, dvd, n.) *7* (MC-87.)