Amen.

Amen.
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Costa-Gavras
Produced by	Andrei Boncea Michèle Ray-Gavras
Written by	Jean-Claude Grumberg Costa-Gavras
Starring	Ulrich Tukur Mathieu Kassovitz Ion Caramitru Marcel Iureş
Music by	Armand Amar
Cinematography	Patrick Blossier
Editing by	Yannick Kergoat
Distributed by	Kino International (USA) Pathé (France)
Release date(s)	2002
Running time	132 minutes
Country	Germany Romania France
Language	English
Box office	11,217,610 € (France)

Amen. is a 2002 German, Romanian and French film directed by Costa-Gavras.

Plot

The film Amen. examines the links between the Vatican and Nazi Germany. The central character is Kurt Gerstein (Ulrich Tukur), a Waffen-SS officer employed in the SS Hygiene Institute, designing programs for the purification of water and the destruction of vermin. He is shocked to learn that the process he has developed to eradicate typhus, by using a hydrogen cyanide mixture called Zyklon B, is now being used for killing Jews in extermination camps. Gerstein attempts to notify Pope Pius XII (Marcel Iureş) about the gassings, but is appalled by the lack of response he gets from the Catholic hierarchy. The only person moved is Riccardo Fontana (Mathieu Kassovitz), a young Jesuit priest.

While the character of Kurt Gerstein is historical, the character of the young priest is fictional, and the plot is fictional.

Production

The film is based on a 1963 play by Rolf Hochhuth, The Deputy, a Christian Tragedy, which was widely attacked in [[Catholicism|Catholic] , and Jewish circles for its unrealistic portrayal of Pope Pius XII. The German-language version of the film was released under the play's original title Der Stellvertreter.

Since the Holy See did not allow filming in the Vatican, the scenes in the papal palaces were shot in the Palace of the Parliament of Bucharest, Romania.

Reception

In addition to the criticism that had already been raised about The Deputy for its portrayal of the role of the Catholic Church during the Holocaust, the film created controversy in Catholic circles by its poster (created by controversial Italian photographer Oliviero Toscani) representing a mix of a Christian cross and a swastika.^{[citation needed]}

See also

• Amen
• List of Holocaust films

External links

• Amen. at the Internet Movie Database
• trailer and links to US reviews at Metacritic
• Review at Reeling Reviews