Hebrew
Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...
: החוב, a.k.a. ''HaChov)'', or in English, ''The Debt'', is a 2007 Israeli drama-thriller film directed by
Assaf Bernstein
Assaf Bernstein (; born 8 July 1970) is an Israeli screenwriter, film director and film producer.
Life and works
Bernstein was born in Israel and graduated cum laude from NYU Film School.
Bernstein began his film career with two documentary ...
and starring
Gila Almagor
Gila Almagor Agmon (; born Gila Alexandrowitz; July 22, 1939) is an Israeli actress, film star, and author. In Israel, she is known as "queen of the Israeli cinema and theatre".
Biography
Gila Alexandrowitz (Almagor) was born in Petah Tikva to Je ...
Mossad
The Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations (), popularly known as Mossad ( , ), is the national intelligence agency of the Israel, State of Israel. It is one of the main entities in the Israeli Intelligence Community, along with M ...
agents confronted by a challenge from their past.
It was remade as the 2010 American/British film '' The Debt'', mixing the
Mengele
Josef Mengele (; 16 March 19117 February 1979) was a Nazi German (SS) officer and physician during World War II at the Russian front and then at Auschwitz during the Holocaust, often dubbed the "Angel of Death" (). He performed deadly ...
Gila Almagor
Gila Almagor Agmon (; born Gila Alexandrowitz; July 22, 1939) is an Israeli actress, film star, and author. In Israel, she is known as "queen of the Israeli cinema and theatre".
Biography
Gila Alexandrowitz (Almagor) was born in Petah Tikva to Je ...
Netta Garti
Netta Garti (or Neta Garty; ; born 20 March 1980) is an Israeli actress.
Biography
Garti was born in and lives in Tel Aviv, Israel, to a Bulgarian Jewish family.
She played the role of Cookie in the Israeli television series '' The Arbitrator' ...
Yehezkel Lazarov
Yehezkel Lazarov (; born 8 February 1974) is an Israeli actor, director, and multidisciplinary artist. In 2022 he was elected to serve as the head of the school of Performing Arts at the Kibbutzim Seminary College.
Biography
As a child, Lazaro ...
(as young Ehud)
*Vlad Levitskyy
* Victoria Malektorovych
*Sergei Malyuga
*Judith Naman
*Nadav Netz
*Alexander/ (as Zvi)
*
Edgar Selge
Edgar Selge (born 27 March 1948) is a German actor and writer.
Selge was born in Brilon in 1948, the son of a prison warden, grew up in Herford
Herford (; ) is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, located in the lowlands between the hill ...
(as Max Rainer, "The Surgeon of Birkenau")
*Elena Sikorskaya
*Alexandra Smolyarova
*Dmitry Sova
*Viktor Stepanenko
*Sergiy Strelnikov
*Oded Teomi (as Ehud)
*
Itay Tiran
Itay Tiran (; born March 23, 1980) is an Israeli stage and screen actor, director, and a pro-Palestinian advocate in Israel. As an actor, he is known for his roles in ''Forgiveness'' (2006), '' Beaufort'' (2007), '' The Debt'' (2007), ''Homelan ...
(as young Zvi)
*Alon Zamek
*Arieh Adler (narrator)
Plot
The film is fictional"Director's statement" under "About the film" a the official web site and centers on an Israeli-MossadKidon team. In 1964, they capture a notorious Nazi doctor, "The Surgeon of Birkenau", who had performed
human experimentation
Human subject research is systematic, scientific investigation that can be either interventional (a "trial") or observational (no "test article") and involves human beings as research subjects, commonly known as test subjects. Human subject r ...
in a German extermination camp. When he escapes from them, they report him as being shot once in the head and killed during his attempted escape. In the following years, the agents receive numerous accolades for their actions, with no one suspecting the truth, but in the late 1990s they learn he may be alive, repentant, and likely to expose the truth of the events.
Cinematic history
The film was nominated for four awards by the
Israeli Film Academy
The Ophir Awards (), full name: the Israel Film Academy Award, sometimes also known as the Israeli Oscars or the Israeli Academy Awards, are film awards for excellence in the Israeli film industry awarded by the Israeli Academy of Film and Televi ...
in 2007: Best Art Direction, Ido Dolev; Best Cinematography,
Giora Bejach; Best Costumes, Inbal Shuki; and Best Supporting Actress, Neta Garty.IMDb: Awards accessed February 19, 2011.
The film has had no theatrical release in United States , but a version with English subtitles has screened at U.S. film festivals and has been shown on the
Sundance
A Sun Dance is a Native American ceremony.
Sun dance or Sundance may also refer to:
Places
;Canada
* Sundance, Calgary, Alberta, a neighbourhood
* Sundance, Manitoba, a ghost town
;United States
* Sundance, New Mexico, a census-designated pl ...
remake
A remake is a film, television series, video game, song or similar form of entertainment that is based upon and retells the story of an earlier production in the same medium—e.g., a "new version of an existing film". A remake tells the same s ...
Helen Mirren
Dame Helen Mirren (; born Ilyena Lydia Vasilievna Mironov; 26 July 1945) is an English actor. With a career spanning over six decades of Helen Mirren on screen and stage, screen and stage, List of awards and nominations received by Helen Mirre ...
,
Sam Worthington
Samuel Henry John Worthington (born 2 August 1976) is an Australian actor. He is known for playing Jake Sully in the ''Avatar'' franchise (2009–present), Marcus Wright in '' Terminator Salvation'' (2009), and Perseus in '' Clash of the Titan ...
,
Ciarán Hinds
Ciarán Hinds ( ; born 9 February 1953) is a British Northern Irish actor from Belfast, Northern Ireland. Hinds is known for a range of screen and stage roles. He has starred in feature films including '' The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Love ...
and
Tom Wilkinson
Thomas Geoffrey Wilkinson (5 February 1948 – 30 December 2023) was an English actor. Known for his roles on stage and screen, he received numerous accolades including a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Primetime Emmy Award as well ...
was directed by
John Madden
John Earl Madden (April 10, 1936 – December 28, 2021) was an American professional football coach and sports commentator in the National Football League (NFL). He served as the head coach of the Oakland Raiders from 1969 to 1978, leading them ...
from a screenplay by
Matthew Vaughn
Sir Matthew Allard Robert Vaughn (legal name Matthew Allard Robert de Vere Drummond; born 7 March 1971) is an English filmmaker. He has produced films including ''Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels'' (1998) and ''Snatch (film), Snatch'' (2000 ...
,
Jane Goldman
Jane Loretta Anne Goldman''Births, Marriages & Deaths Index of England & Wales, 1916–2005.''; at ancestry.com (born 11 June 1970) is a British screenwriter and producer. She is mostly known for collaborating with director Matthew Vaughn on ...
and
Peter Straughan
Peter Straughan (born 1968) is a British playwright, screenwriter and author. He won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for ''Conclave'' (2024), and was previously nominated in the category for '' Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy'' (2011).
...
. It premiered at the
Deauville American Film Festival
The Deauville American Film Festival () is a yearly film festival devoted to Cinema of the United States, American cinema, which has taken place since 1975 in Deauville, France.
It was established by Lionel Chouchan, André Halimi, and then ...
on September 4, 2010, and was originally scheduled for wide release in December 2010 until this date was pushed back to August 31, 2011.PunchDrunkCritics, February 9, 2011 , accessed February 19, 2011.
"The Debt" (2007) garnered recognition in the cinematic world, receiving four nominations at the Israeli Film Academy Awards in 2007. These nominations included Best Art Direction, acknowledging the work of Ido Dolev; Best Cinematography, attributed to Giora Bejach; Best Costumes, designed by Inbal Shuki; and a nod for Best Supporting Actress, recognizing Neta Garty's performance in the film.