Perlasca
Encyclopedia
Perlasca, un Eroe Italiano (English: Perlasca, an Italian Hero also known as Perlasca, The Courage of a Just Man) is a 2002 Italian
drama about the real-life hero Giorgio Perlasca
, who posed as a Spanish
ambassador
and tricked Nazi officials to save the lives of five thousand Jews
during the Holocaust. The Village Voice deemed the first-time account "more courageous than Spielberg
."
Some of the film’s scenes feature cameos by historical persons these encounters aren't based on fictions but less-known facts, like when Perlasca rescues two children from deportation and certain death right under the nose of Adolf Eichman, “the architect of the Holocaust.” Although it seems like cinematic enhancement, the incident is reported to have actually occurred in fact, under the presence of Raoul Wallenberg
.
After the war, the real Perlasca returned to his home in Padua
and never spoke about his war-time experiences. For forty-five years his deeds remained a secret.
air strike hits the station allowing Perlasca an opportunity to escape. He arrives to a bourgeois party where he is trying to get in formation from Contessa Eleonora about resistance members ready to help him in leaving the country. Meanwhile another squad of troopers led by captain Bleiber arrive on the scene and arrest some of the party guests but the contessa uses her social rank to elude from the place and sends Perlasca to Professor Balázs who rescues Jews from persecution. Perlasca follows the advise and goes to his clinic where he spends the night but the place is again investigated by Bleiber and his henchman Lieut. Nagy. the Professor evades the clean-up, though the Jews - afraid of being caught the next day - leave the house and subsequently runs into the trap of Bleiber, who is waiting outside and slaughter them with a night raid. Perlasce survives in the confusion with Magda and her daughter Lili. They reach the Spanish Embassy where - thanks to a self-written letter by Francisco Franco
- he is granted to speak with the ambassador Sanz Briz. He sends them to a Spanish safe house of Spain's possession thus no Hungarian laws apply in them (out of territory). They are accompanied by a local lawyer working for the embassy. There Perlasca meets some refugees from the clinic as well as Eva and Sándor, a Jewish couple and unifies the opposing Jewish parties within the house. He and the lawyer leave the house for s drink but upon his return he recognizes that the house was indeed cleaned up illegally by the Arrow Cross soldiers. He begins searching for Magda first in the railway station where the fascists has already started to gather and load the Jews to wagons ready to roll out. He confronts Glückmer for the second time who helps him instead of putting him in custody. Perlasca is sent to the SS-Führer of the station who is easy to bribe and thus lets him compile a list of Jews needed by the Spanish Embassy. He cheats with the list and actually calls more people to his truck than it is permitted except Magda, who isn't on the train. He then visits an Arrow Cross Interrogation base, where he finds a lot of executed Jews but saves those few who survived the torture with Magde among them. Returning to the Embassy, Briz tells him that they withdraw from Hungary and cease to operate. This is the point where Perlasca decides to take the role of a so-called consul and to lie to be of Spanish nationality and make others call him "Jorge". He refuses to let the Arrow troopers in and acts as if the Embassy would still functioning thus is a neutral territory. He organizes education, alert duty and supplies within these buildings. He visits Gábor Vajna, the Arrow Cross Interior Minister of Hungary as a consul and claim that the Jews housed by the Spanish are Sephardi Jews
. Meanwhile Lt. Nagy collects - according to the local rules - the protected Jews to the streets to dump debris caused by air raids. He attempts to escort the group to the railway station for deportation, but is stopped again by a dispatch reporting Perlasca and Vajna's agreement. Then comes the aforementioned encounter with Adolf Eichman where Perlasca saves the lives of two siblings. He then falsifies 5000 'Schutzbriefs' (protection letters) when he is informed of his own Spanish visa waiting for him at the Hungarian border. He still chooses to stay because Magda's life is in danger. A final raid on the safehouse results in Nagy taking all the Jews (except a dozen of them hiding) to the Danube bank, while Perlasca is attending to a ball where he tries to borrow a train wagon for his protégés to be sent to Switzerland. While running away from the safehouse, Magda's father is shot at sight by a young militiaman, who tries to test him by asking to finish the prayer "Our father, who art in ... ". As being Jewish he can not do so and the soldier yells "Where is our father?" while Sándor responds "I don't know where he is" and is shot immediately. Perlasca and the few remained Jews find shelter at the Professor Balázs' flat. At the Danube river the 1944-45 Danube executions
take place and despite recruiting Major Glückmer, Perlasca arrives late to the scene. He only manages to save Eva. Upon hearing the news of a preparation of the elimination of the Budapest ghetto and its inhabitants, he decides to convince the Jewish community to take up arms and to fight if necessary. He also has his final visit at Vajna's office and with a successful bluff he convinces him to let the ghetto stay and thus freed by the Red Army
days later. At the finals scenes Cpt. Bleiber is seen hung in the street and Perlasca is leaving the city with the help of Glückmer who was originally ordered to arrest him because of his former fascist affiliations.
The New York Daily News
said:
Zingaretti does a fine job shading a character that is written as an unalloyed saint. But the most touching moments come at the end, when we see documentary footage of his true-life inspiration.
TV Guide
's Movie Guide:
Negrin's film is a well-deserved tribute to a principled man who dared to act when principles no longer counted for anything.
New York Post
:
A well-made and heart-rending Italian Schindler's List.
, in Italy.
Other Holocaust dramas based on true stories:
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
drama about the real-life hero Giorgio Perlasca
Giorgio Perlasca
Giorgio Perlasca was an Italian who posed as the Spanish consul-general to Hungary in the winter of 1944, and saved thousands of Jews from Nazi Germany and the Holocaust.-Early life:...
, who posed as a Spanish
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
ambassador
Ambassador
An ambassador is the highest ranking diplomat who represents a nation and is usually accredited to a foreign sovereign or government, or to an international organization....
and tricked Nazi officials to save the lives of five thousand Jews
Jews
The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
during the Holocaust. The Village Voice deemed the first-time account "more courageous than Spielberg
Steven Spielberg
Steven Allan Spielberg KBE is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, video game designer, and studio entrepreneur. In a career of more than four decades, Spielberg's films have covered many themes and genres. Spielberg's early science-fiction and adventure films were seen as an...
."
Background
During World War II, Perlasca worked at procuring supplies for the Italian Army in the Balkans. In the autumn of 1943, he was appointed as an official delegate of the Italian government with diplomatic status and sent to Eastern Europe with the mission of buying meat for the Italian army. On October 8, the American general Dwight Eisenhower announced the unconditional surrender of Italy to the allied forces thus all Italian citizens became the subject of warrant for caption by the Hungarian Government loyal to Germany.Some of the film’s scenes feature cameos by historical persons these encounters aren't based on fictions but less-known facts, like when Perlasca rescues two children from deportation and certain death right under the nose of Adolf Eichman, “the architect of the Holocaust.” Although it seems like cinematic enhancement, the incident is reported to have actually occurred in fact, under the presence of Raoul Wallenberg
Raoul Wallenberg
Raoul Wallenberg was a Swedish businessman, diplomat and humanitarian. He is widely celebrated for his successful efforts to rescue thousands of Jews in Nazi-occupied Hungary from the Holocaust, during the later stages of World War II...
.
After the war, the real Perlasca returned to his home in Padua
Padua
Padua is a city and comune in the Veneto, northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Padua and the economic and communications hub of the area. Padua's population is 212,500 . The city is sometimes included, with Venice and Treviso, in the Padua-Treviso-Venice Metropolitan Area, having...
and never spoke about his war-time experiences. For forty-five years his deeds remained a secret.
Plot
The film starts in a Budapest Hotel with a narrative introduction by Perlasca, which reveals the historical background of the story told. Disturbed by his chambermaid he is warned of the raid of Arrow Cross storm troopers coming up on the stairs to arrest him. He escapes before being caught and manages to get at the railway station where he tries to sneak onto a sheep transport wagon. Discovered by a local officer named Glückmer he is put under arrest but the while being taken away an AllyAllies
In everyday English usage, allies are people, groups, or nations that have joined together in an association for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out between them...
air strike hits the station allowing Perlasca an opportunity to escape. He arrives to a bourgeois party where he is trying to get in formation from Contessa Eleonora about resistance members ready to help him in leaving the country. Meanwhile another squad of troopers led by captain Bleiber arrive on the scene and arrest some of the party guests but the contessa uses her social rank to elude from the place and sends Perlasca to Professor Balázs who rescues Jews from persecution. Perlasca follows the advise and goes to his clinic where he spends the night but the place is again investigated by Bleiber and his henchman Lieut. Nagy. the Professor evades the clean-up, though the Jews - afraid of being caught the next day - leave the house and subsequently runs into the trap of Bleiber, who is waiting outside and slaughter them with a night raid. Perlasce survives in the confusion with Magda and her daughter Lili. They reach the Spanish Embassy where - thanks to a self-written letter by Francisco Franco
Francisco Franco
Francisco Franco y Bahamonde was a Spanish general, dictator and head of state of Spain from October 1936 , and de facto regent of the nominally restored Kingdom of Spain from 1947 until his death in November, 1975...
- he is granted to speak with the ambassador Sanz Briz. He sends them to a Spanish safe house of Spain's possession thus no Hungarian laws apply in them (out of territory). They are accompanied by a local lawyer working for the embassy. There Perlasca meets some refugees from the clinic as well as Eva and Sándor, a Jewish couple and unifies the opposing Jewish parties within the house. He and the lawyer leave the house for s drink but upon his return he recognizes that the house was indeed cleaned up illegally by the Arrow Cross soldiers. He begins searching for Magda first in the railway station where the fascists has already started to gather and load the Jews to wagons ready to roll out. He confronts Glückmer for the second time who helps him instead of putting him in custody. Perlasca is sent to the SS-Führer of the station who is easy to bribe and thus lets him compile a list of Jews needed by the Spanish Embassy. He cheats with the list and actually calls more people to his truck than it is permitted except Magda, who isn't on the train. He then visits an Arrow Cross Interrogation base, where he finds a lot of executed Jews but saves those few who survived the torture with Magde among them. Returning to the Embassy, Briz tells him that they withdraw from Hungary and cease to operate. This is the point where Perlasca decides to take the role of a so-called consul and to lie to be of Spanish nationality and make others call him "Jorge". He refuses to let the Arrow troopers in and acts as if the Embassy would still functioning thus is a neutral territory. He organizes education, alert duty and supplies within these buildings. He visits Gábor Vajna, the Arrow Cross Interior Minister of Hungary as a consul and claim that the Jews housed by the Spanish are Sephardi Jews
Sephardi Jews
Sephardi Jews is a general term referring to the descendants of the Jews who lived in the Iberian Peninsula before their expulsion in the Spanish Inquisition. It can also refer to those who use a Sephardic style of liturgy or would otherwise define themselves in terms of the Jewish customs and...
. Meanwhile Lt. Nagy collects - according to the local rules - the protected Jews to the streets to dump debris caused by air raids. He attempts to escort the group to the railway station for deportation, but is stopped again by a dispatch reporting Perlasca and Vajna's agreement. Then comes the aforementioned encounter with Adolf Eichman where Perlasca saves the lives of two siblings. He then falsifies 5000 'Schutzbriefs' (protection letters) when he is informed of his own Spanish visa waiting for him at the Hungarian border. He still chooses to stay because Magda's life is in danger. A final raid on the safehouse results in Nagy taking all the Jews (except a dozen of them hiding) to the Danube bank, while Perlasca is attending to a ball where he tries to borrow a train wagon for his protégés to be sent to Switzerland. While running away from the safehouse, Magda's father is shot at sight by a young militiaman, who tries to test him by asking to finish the prayer "Our father, who art in ... ". As being Jewish he can not do so and the soldier yells "Where is our father?" while Sándor responds "I don't know where he is" and is shot immediately. Perlasca and the few remained Jews find shelter at the Professor Balázs' flat. At the Danube river the 1944-45 Danube executions
Shoes on the Danube Promenade
The Shoes on the Danube Promenade is a memorial created by Gyula Pauer and Can Togay on the bank of the Danube River in Budapest. It honors the Jews who fell victim to fascist Arrow Cross militiamen in Budapest during World War II, and represents their shoes left behind on the bank when they fell...
take place and despite recruiting Major Glückmer, Perlasca arrives late to the scene. He only manages to save Eva. Upon hearing the news of a preparation of the elimination of the Budapest ghetto and its inhabitants, he decides to convince the Jewish community to take up arms and to fight if necessary. He also has his final visit at Vajna's office and with a successful bluff he convinces him to let the ghetto stay and thus freed by the Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
days later. At the finals scenes Cpt. Bleiber is seen hung in the street and Perlasca is leaving the city with the help of Glückmer who was originally ordered to arrest him because of his former fascist affiliations.
Main
- Luca ZingarettiLuca ZingarettiLuca Zingaretti is an Italian actor, known for playing Salvo Montalbano in Il commissario Montalbano mystery series based on the character and novels created by Andrea Camilleri. Zingaretti is a native of Rome...
as Giorgio PerlascaGiorgio PerlascaGiorgio Perlasca was an Italian who posed as the Spanish consul-general to Hungary in the winter of 1944, and saved thousands of Jews from Nazi Germany and the Holocaust.-Early life:...
, an Italian veteran and businessman who saves the lives of over 5,200 Jews by investing in bribing those funds he received for buying livestock for the Italian troops. - Géza Tordy as Sanz Briz, the ambassador of Spain in Hungary.
- Jérôme Anger as lawyer Farkas, an assistant to Mr. Briz, who become Perlasca's accomplice.
- Giuliana Lojodice as Mme Tournè the secretary of Mr. Briz, who helps Perlasca to give out false 'Schutzbriefs' (protection letters).
- Mathilda MayMathilda MayMathilda May is a French film actress.-Early life:May was born in Paris. Her father is playwright Victor Haïm, who is of Greek and Turkish descent. Her mother is Swedish ballet teacher and choreographer Margareta Hanson...
as Contessa Eleonora, the lonely wife of a Hungarian high officer commissioned to the Soviet UnionSoviet UnionThe Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
. - György CserhalmiGyörgy CserhalmiGyörgy Cserhalmi was born on February 17, 1948 in Budapest, Hungary. He is a Hungarian actor. He graduated from the Actors Academy in 1971. He is also the founder of the Labdater Theatre in the Globe cultural centre.-Employment:...
as SS captain Bleiber, the main antagonist who persecutes the deserters, Jews and opposition members. - Amanda SandrelliAmanda SandrelliAmanda Sandrelli is an Italian actress.Born in Lausanne, she is the daughter of singer Gino Paoli and actress Stefania Sandrelli. She debuted in L'Attenzione, from director Giovanni Soldati, in 1984....
as Magda, the ingenue and the motif for Perlasca to stay in Hungary. - Christiane Filangieri as Eva, a Jewish bride
- Marco Bonini as Sándor, Eva's fiancé
- Dezső GarasDezső GarasDezső Garas is a Hungarian actor. He has appeared in over 145 films and television shows since 1956. He starred in the 1993 film Whoops, which was entered into the 43rd Berlin International Film Festival.-Selected filmography:...
as the Rabbi of the Budapest GhettoBudapest ghettoThe Budapest Ghetto was a ghetto where Jews were forced to live in Budapest, Hungary during the Second World War.- History :The area consisted of several blocks of the old Jewish quarter of the city surrounding the main synagogue, and was surrounded by a high fence and stone wall that was guarded...
.
Secondary
- Zoltán BezerédyZoltán BezerédyZoltán Bezerédy is a Hungarian actor. He has appeared in 65 films and television shows since 1980. He starred in the 1985 film Elsö kétszáz évem, which was entered into the 36th Berlin International Film Festival.-Selected filmography:...
as Gábor Vajna, the Arrow Cross Interior Minister of Hungary. - Ferenc Borbiczky as Major Glückmer, a Hungarian royal gendarmerie officer, who doesn't befriends Nazi ideology and drifts with the events.
- Imre Csuja as a corrupt SS Officer.
- Tamás Puskás as Adolf Eichman.
- András StohlAndrás StohlStohl András is a Hungarian actor.-Career:Stohl graduated from the Academy of Drama and Film in Budapest in 1990. He became a member of the Katona József Theatre in Budapest. In 2001 he became a freelancer, after the leadership of the theater decided that his work on television was irreconcilable...
as Arrow CrossArrow CrossA cross whose arms end in arrowheads is called a "cross barby" or "cross barbee" in the traditional terminology of heraldry. In Christian use, the ends of this cross resemble the barbs of fish hooks, or fish spears...
Lieutenant Nagy, an inferior of Bleiber. - Giorgio PerlascaGiorgio PerlascaGiorgio Perlasca was an Italian who posed as the Spanish consul-general to Hungary in the winter of 1944, and saved thousands of Jews from Nazi Germany and the Holocaust.-Early life:...
as himself (interview excerpt). - László Szacsvay as László, a Hungarian violinist, a friend and informator of Perlasca.
Reception
In Italy the film was cut into two episodes to make it a television film. When the premiere of the second part was broadcasted it attracted 13 million viewers with a 43% share of TV coverage in Italy.The New York Daily News
New York Daily News
The Daily News of New York City is the fourth most widely circulated daily newspaper in the United States with a daily circulation of 605,677, as of November 1, 2011....
said:
Zingaretti does a fine job shading a character that is written as an unalloyed saint. But the most touching moments come at the end, when we see documentary footage of his true-life inspiration.
TV Guide
TV Guide
TV Guide is a weekly American magazine with listings of TV shows.In addition to TV listings, the publication features television-related news, celebrity interviews, gossip and film reviews and crossword puzzles...
's Movie Guide:
Negrin's film is a well-deserved tribute to a principled man who dared to act when principles no longer counted for anything.
New York Post
New York Post
The New York Post is the 13th-oldest newspaper published in the United States and is generally acknowledged as the oldest to have been published continuously as a daily, although – as is the case with most other papers – its publication has been periodically interrupted by labor actions...
:
A well-made and heart-rending Italian Schindler's List.
Awards
Perlasca won Best Actor and the Humanitarian Award at the Ft. Lauderdale International Film Festival, and won best TV Movie TelegattoTelegatto
Telegatto is an Italian television award first given out in 1971 following the contest "Gran Premio internazionale dello Spettacolo", sponsored by the weekly magazine TV Sorrisi e Canzoni and aired on Canale 5...
, in Italy.
See also
- Holocaust
- Giorgio PerlascaGiorgio PerlascaGiorgio Perlasca was an Italian who posed as the Spanish consul-general to Hungary in the winter of 1944, and saved thousands of Jews from Nazi Germany and the Holocaust.-Early life:...
Other Holocaust dramas based on true stories:
- Schindler's ListSchindler's ListSchindler's List is a 1993 American film about Oskar Schindler, a German businessman who saved the lives of more than a thousand mostly Polish-Jewish refugees during the Holocaust by employing them in his factories. The film was directed by Steven Spielberg, and based on the novel Schindler's Ark...
- Amen.