Facing this monster nearly destroys all of them
It is likely
that you will be scared, without relief, for two hours if you decide to see
The Debt. Director John Madden, his actors, and his crew have given us an
expertly crafted espionage thriller that is a riveting adventure for the
audience.
But first, a
few words about structure. The movie cuts back and forth between 1966 Berlin and
1997 Israel. In '66, a team of three Mossad agents plans to kidnap Dieter Vogel
(Jesper Christensen), the "Surgeon of Birkenau," in order to return him to
Israel for trial. In '97, one of the three has been celebrated for thirty years
for her part in the operation.
The
characters are Rachel, Stephan, and David, all sharply honed in Mossad attack
and defense techniques. Rachel is played in her 20s by Jessica Chastain, later
by Helen Mirren, Stephan by Martin Csokas, then by Tom Wilkinson, David by Sam
Worthington, later by Ciaran Hinds. The fast cuts to thirty years hence are
confusing, but you'll get the hang of it because the actors - in gestures and
emotions are effective reflections of their older and younger selves.
The film
opens with grim photographs of the surgeon's unspeakable medical experiments,
giving us the why of the impending abduction. In their derelict apartment the
three plan the intricacies of their mission. Despite their exacting plotting, a
stranger on a train platform sends things awry and the team ends up with the
prisoner, now bound and gagged, in their apartment for a terrible ten days.
The heart of
the film lies in the reactions of the characters to the moral dilemmas thrown at
them by circumstance. Young, and older, they all react in tune with their
characters, each an outgrowth of his younger self. But the surprises, none
anticipated, test them mightily. A voice on the soundtrack intones "In the
simple act of facing the monster, they helped vanquish it." But facing this
monster nearly destroys all of them.
All six
actors have created their three characters in close collaboration. Helen Mirren,
fearless as always and unadorned, is the perfect embodiment of Jessica
Chastain's younger Rachel. In 1999 she is still strung tight from what can only
be described as the erosion of her soul over thirty years' time. Tom Wilkinson
and Martin Csokas are credible and consistent as Stephan, project leader, and
Ciaran Hinds and Sam Worthington make David enormously sympathetic. Six actors
create three lives damaged forever by a gruesome mission whose effects worsen
over the years. The awful pain in Jessica Chastain's expressions is haunting and
memorable. Hers was the most difficult acting assignment, and she is marvelous.
Poor Jesper Christensen is so compelling as the monster he may well be known
forevermore for this role. Flaws? A touch, though nothing fatal, of excessive
final melodrama.
Be warned to
expect horrific violence and suspense. My own response when the lights went up
was "Please, let me breathe again."
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