The Debt (original 2007 Israeli version) (November 3rd and 6th at the Cleveland Cinematheque)

[THE DEBT (Original 2007 Israeli version) screens Thursday November 3rd at 8:40 pm and Sunday November 6th at 6:30 pm at the Cleveland Cinematheque.]

Review by Bob Ignizio

Recently I reviewed THE DEBT, an American film in which three Mossad agents in the nineteen-sixties are charged with the task of capturing a Nazi war criminal and returning him to Israel to face trial. Something goes wrong, lies are fabricated, and for decades the trio are treated as heroes based on a distorted version of the facts until a newspaper story threatens to unravel their deception. That basic plot was first put on film to much better effect in 2007's award-winning Israeli film of the same name (Hebrew title Ha Hov). This original version of the film is currently unavailable on home video in the U.S., but you can catch it this week at the Cleveland Cinematheque.

The Debt

Review by Bob Ignizio

It's a good thing other countries still make original movies, or else Hollywood might run out of stuff to remake. THE DEBT is a redo of the award-winning 2007 Israeli film Ha-Hov, at present unreleased in America. With SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE director John Madden at the helm and a prestigious cast that includes past Oscar winner Helen Mirren and Oscar nominee Tom Wilkinson, it's obvious that the producers of this American version are hoping to replicate that success.

The plot concerns 3 Mossad agents – Rachael (Jessica Chastain/Mirren), David (Sam Worthington/Ciarán Hinds) and Stephan (Martin Csokas/Wilkinson) who in 1966 are given the mission of bringing Nazi war criminal Dieter Vogel (Jesper Christensen) back to Israel for trial. They capture the man in East Germany, but before they can smuggle him to the west, he escapes from his bonds and attacks Rachael. She recovers from the attack and shoots Vogel dead before he can escape, winding up with a scar on her face as a souvenir in the process.