'Fateless': A gruesome story told beautifully

Even filmgoers who have been emotionally wrung out by such Holocaust epics as Schindler's List and The Pianist may not be prepared for Fateless, the ordeal of 14-year-old Gyura Koves.

The Hungarian youngster was separated from his family and sent on an odyssey of several concentration camps before facing the most severe test — survival back at home.

ThinkFilm 'Fateless' A The verdict: Harrowing Holocaust experiences of a 14-year-old Hungarian boy, powerfully understated and visually stunning. Director: Lajos Koltai Starring: Marcell Nagy, Bela Dora, Balint Pentek, Aron Dimeny, Peter Fancsikai, Zsolt Der, Andras M. Kecskes, Dani Szabo, Tibor Mertz, Peter Vida Run time: 136 minutes Release date: Jan. 6, 2006 Rating: Not rated, but there are very disturbing concentration camp scenes. Language: Hungarian, English and German, with subtitles. See showtimes On the web Official movie site View the trailer    Trailers require Quicktime Rate 'Fateless'   Go see it   Make it a matinee   Wait to rent   Don't bother Voter Limit: Once per Hour View Poll Results

The film is most effective for its understated tone and stunning visuals, which find an ironic beauty in the bleakness. For both achievements, credit Lajos Koltai, a veteran Oscar-nominated (Malena) cinematographer making his directing debut.

He unblinkingly re-creates the horrors that young Gyura observes and endures, without drifting into melodrama. Although some of what he photographs is necessarily horrific, his use of bleached-out sepia tones is strikingly attractive.

Gyura's world is thrown into crisis early on, when his father is separated from the family and forced into a labor camp. The boy soon learns first-hand what it means to be Jewish in Nazi-occupied Budapest, when all those wearing yellow six-pointed stars are herded off in a public bus and incarcerated in camps.

There we see, through his eyes, the matter-of-fact indignities and acts of cruelty endured in the name of survival.

As Gyura, Marcell Nagy is remarkable, suffering brutal, inhuman conditions with stoic resignation. Significantly, it is after liberation, when Gyuri returns to what was his home, he encounters some of the most callous treatment, as his former neighbors cannot accept the reality of the emaciated figure before them.

Fateless is not an easy film to sit through, but those who do will not soon forget it.

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