Ha-Hov (Hebrew: החוב, a.k.a. HaChov), or in English, The Debt, is a 2007 Israeli drama-thriller film directed by Assaf Bernstein and starring Gila Almagor, Yuriy Chepurnov, and Oleg Drach, about three retired Mossad agents confronted by a challenge from their past.
It was remade as the 2010 American/British film The Debt, mixing the Mengele and Eichmann stories.
Cast Actors with corresponding major characters:
Gila Almagor (as Rachel Brener) Yuriy Chepurnov Oleg Drach Sergiy Dvoretskyy Netta Garti (as young Rachel Brener) Evgeniya Gladiy Reut Hajaj Eran Ivanir Aleksandr Kulish Yehezkel Lazarov (as young Ehud) Vlad Levitskyy Victoria Malektorovych Sergei Malyuga
Judith Naman Nadav Netz Alexander/ (as Zvi) Edgar Selge (as Max Rainer, "The Surgeon of Birkenau") Elena Sikorskaya Alexandra Smolyarova Dmitry Sova Viktor Stepanenko Sergiy Strelnikov Oded Teomi (as Ehud) Itay Tiran (as young Zvi) Alon Zamek Arieh Adler (narrator)
Plot The film is fictional"Director's statement" under "About the film" at the official web site. and centers on an Israeli-Mossad Kidon team. In 1964, they capture a notorious Nazi doctor, "The Surgeon of Birkenau", who had performed human experimentation 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 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 festivalsAustin Jewish Film Festival Brochure, accessed February 19, 2011.Tribeca Jewish Film Festival brochure , accessed February 19, 2011. and has been shown on the Sundance cable television channel.Sundance Channel , accessed February 19, 2011.
A U.S. remake titled The Debt starring Helen Mirren, Sam Worthington, Ciarán Hinds and Tom Wilkinson was directed by John Madden from a screenplay by Matthew Vaughn, Jane Goldman and Peter Straughan.IMDb.com: The Debt, retrieved March 2, 2011. It premiered at the Deauville American Film Festival 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.
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