''Circle of Deceit'' (

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

title: ''Die Fälschung'', 'the deception'; French title: ''Le Faussaire'') is an anti-war film directed by

Volker Schlöndorff Volker Schlöndorff (; born 31 March 1939) is a German film director, screenwriter and producer who has worked in Germany, France and the United States. He was a prominent member of the New German Cinema of the late 1960s and early 1970s. He ha ...

and internationally released in 1981. An

international co-production A co-production is a joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint vent ...

, it was an adaptation of Nicolas Born's novel ''The Deception'', which had appeared in 1979. The film follows a German journalist sent to

Beirut Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...

to report on the

Lebanese Civil War The Lebanese Civil War ( ) was a multifaceted armed conflict that took place from 1975 to 1990. It resulted in an estimated 150,000 fatalities and led to the exodus of almost one million people from Lebanon. The religious diversity of the ...

, which had begun in 1975.

Cast

Bruno Ganz Bruno Ganz (; 22 March 1941 – 16 February 2019) was a Swiss actor whose career in German stage, television and film productions spanned nearly 60 years. He was known for his collaborations with the directors Werner Herzog, Éric Rohmer, Franc ...

as Georg Laschen * Hanna Schygulla as Ariane Nassar *

Jerzy Skolimowski Jerzy Skolimowski (; born 5 May 1938) is a Polish film director, screenwriter, dramatist, actor and painter. Beginning as a screenwriter for Andrzej Wajda's ''Innocent Sorcerers'' (1960), Skolimowski has made more than twenty films since his dire ...

as Hoffmann *

Jean Carmet Jean Carmet (; 25 April 1920 – 20 April 1994) was a French actor. Life and career Jean Carmet began working on stage and then in film in the early 1940s becoming a very popular comedic actor in his native country. He is best known internat ...

as Rudnik *

Gila von Weitershausen Gisela "Gila" Freiin von Weitershausen (; born 21 March 1944) is a German actress. Born in Trebnitz (today Trzebnica), Lower Silesia Lower Silesia ( ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ) is a historical and geographical region mostly located in Poland with sma ...

as Greta Laschen * Khaled El Sayed as Progressive Officer (uncredited)

Plot

Journalist Georg Laschen is sent to

to report on the

Lebanese civil war The Lebanese Civil War ( ) was a multifaceted armed conflict that took place from 1975 to 1990. It resulted in an estimated 150,000 fatalities and led to the exodus of almost one million people from Lebanon. The religious diversity of the ...

. His feelings about this mission are influenced by the dysfunctionality of his marriage to the unfaithful Greta, who resents his frequent absences for war reporting and remains in Germany with their young children, and his lack of understanding of the conflict. He feels that his opinions and lack of understanding of events and their background are not respected by his editors because any conflict interests the public. Consequently, he feels that his reports are not real journalism and pretending that they are is deceitful (or in German: Fälschung). After an affair with a local named Arianna ( Hanna Schygulla), he happens to kill a man. He realises how relatively easily one's moral standards can be corrupted in a violent environment and how hard or even impossible it is to remain unbiased as a journalist.

Production

The film was shot on location in

. The

, which began in 1975, would continue until 1990. ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' remarked that it was "filmed in 1980 under remarkable conditions: with its crew confined to "safe" portions of Beirut while the fighting went on elsewhere, but with ubiquitous evidence of real warfare everywhere."

Janet Maslin Janet R. Maslin (born August 12, 1949) is an American journalist, who served as a film critic for ''The New York Times'' from 1977 to 1999, serving as chief critic for the last six years, and then a literary critic from 2000 to 2015. In 2000, M ...

, ''

'', 11 February 1982
Circle of Deceit (1981): 'CIRCLE OF DECEIT,' WAR CORRESPONDENT IN BEIRUT
/ref>

Reception

'' described it as "a balanced, thoughtful, extremely moving vision of wartime tragedy."

Accolades

The film was nominated for the

César Award for Best Foreign Film The Académie des Arts et Techniques du Cinéma, sponsored by France and Canada, presents an annual César Award for Best Foreign Film (). This is the list of winners and nominees of the award since the 1970s. Winners and nominees 1970s 1980s ...

in 1981.

won the Best Supporting Actor

Deutscher Filmpreis The German Film Award (), also known as Lola after its prize statuette, is the national film award of Germany. It is presented at an annual ceremony honouring cinematic achievements in the Cinema of Germany, German film industry. Besides being ...

in 1982, for his role as the war photographer Hoffmann.

Soundtrack

The original soundtrack music composed by Maurice Jarre for ''Le Faussaire'' was released on CD in 2013 by Canadian label Disques Cinemusique
More information here.

References

External links

*

{{Authority control 1981 films 1980s war drama films Anti-war films Films about journalists Films about war correspondents Films based on German novels Films directed by Volker Schlöndorff French war drama films German war drama films 1980s German-language films Lebanese drama films Lebanese Civil War films West German films Films produced by Anatole Dauman 1980s political drama films 1981 drama films 1980s French films 1980s German films German-language war films