Fateless poster
Review

Fateless 2005

Directed by Lajos Koltai · 140 mins · 2,027 views

3.1 Letterboxd 3.41(1,626)
Ratings S E T S D E T H D S

Synopsis

A Hungarian youth comes of age at Buchenwald during World War II. György Köves is 14, the son of a merchant who's sent to a forced labor camp. After his father's departure, György gets a job at a brickyard; his bus is stopped and its Jewish occupants sent to camps. There, György find camaraderie, suffering, cruelty, illness, and death. He hears advice on preserving one's dignity and self-esteem. He discovers hatred. If he does survive and returns to Budapest, what will he find? What is natural; what is it to be a Jew? Sepia, black and white, and color alternate to shade the mood.

Trailers

Reviews (71)

  1. S
    Spencer Sheridan 8 月 24, 2026

    One of the more generic Holocaust films I have seen. Heartbreaking, but really nothing special cinematically. Not sure why every scene ended with a fade to black.

    7
  2. E
    Ethan Kozo 8 月 24, 2026

    Super random Daniel Craig appearance

    3
  3. T
    Tarryn-tino 8 月 24, 2026

    “I was beginning to grasp the simple secret of my universe. I could be killed anywhere, any time.” Woah… Fateless was a pretty powerful film. I’m not even sure what to write or where to start. The end totally devastated me and I can’t even put in to words exactly what it was that did it…the hopelessness? The light trying to shine through? The total despair? I’m not even sure, but it had me in chest-wracking sobs, utterly breathless with sadness. The score was AMAZING and was basically another character of the film. I’m both surprised and not surprised to find out that it was none other than Ennio Morricone at the helm of this! Marcell Nagy was fantastic, I really have no words for him other than that. Not an easy watch, but one I would definitely recommend. I’m seeing some great films out of Hungary lately. Well done!

    8
  4. S
    Sage 8 月 24, 2026

    didn’t know fade to black transitions could make me so angry

    6
  5. D
    dezsob 8 月 24, 2026

    ha bármikor úgy érzed, hogy pótolnod kéne a Sorstalanságot, inkább tedd be az Ilsa: She-Wolf of the SS-t, jobban jársz, hidd el

    18
  6. E
    Emma Fogarty✝️☮️ 8 月 24, 2026

    Lajos Koltai directs a 140 minute war film starring Marcell Nagy as a boy who finds himself getting locked up in a concentration camp during the second world war. Had this at four stars for the first 40 or so minutes, and I’m not sure if it was like this for others, seeing what he has to lose is of more effectingness or interest than what takes it away from him. It’s exactly why think the slow start here works, him trying to live his life as things bubble up in the background. Noway is this to diminish the middle and much of the second half, because you really do feel the length of this segment and that’s important because…

    4
  7. T
    Tarod 🎬 🍿 8 月 24, 2026

    Si mezclas La Lista de Schindler y el Pianista sale esto ¿y porque no ha tenido una repercusión parecida? pues porque no es americana ni la dirige Spielberg y por supuesto no ha contado con los mismos medios ni de lejos, pero aún así la película es extraordinaria, hecha de una forma casi fría y sin emotividad, lo cual consigue paradójicamente que te acojones mas aún y no se te quite el nudo en el estómago incluso horas después de ver la película. La interpretación del chaval se te mete en el alma. Una de las mejores películas sobre el holocausto que he visto, y ya he visto unas cuantas.

    5
  8. H
    Hunter Friesen 8 月 24, 2026

    And the award for most fade to blacks goes to…

    15 1
  9. D
    Dániel Orosdy 8 月 24, 2026

    SORSTALANSÁG – Az első óra egész korrekt, csak Kertész papírízű mondataival kell folyamatosan küzdeniük szegény színészeknek, de aztán a lágerbe érve Koltai megtalálja a giccs-potmétert, és egy zsák szarért abba nem hagyná a csavargatását. Szép emberek szép képeken szép zenére szépen szenvednek — ez már a Saul fia előtt sem működhetett, azóta meg pláne. (És közben azt is megtudhattuk, milyen ajánlattól korpásodik* Koltai Lajos haja: ő RENDEZŐ, kérem, nehogymár operatőröket kelljen tanítania! Valahol azért mókás, hogy korábban Auschwitz-filmet rendezett, ami egyben “szoci kurzusfilmnek” is minősült.) Írnék szépeket a fényképezésről, de állítólag ez szélesvásznú film, viszont a tévé 4:3-ban adta, szóval csak annyiban vagyok biztos, hogy _amit_ láttam, jól (néha TÚL jól, ld. korábban) néz ki. (10/5) * Fiatalok kedvéért: annak…

    8 2
  10. S
    Startug 8 月 24, 2026

    A Holocaust drama of the appropriate deathly solemnity, which quickly had me ashen-faced, and continued to crush my spirit, as it delivered its story of lost humanity in a series of short, sufficient chapters. Tough to watch, undoubtedly, but an extremely well made granter of that rare offering, ‘perspective’. At first, the draining of the palette of more or less all but the colour brown, such that the film was practically sepia, struck me as overdoing things, but as the logistics and administration of mass execution soon caught hold of the picture, the wan brown showed itself to be an accurate summation of mood. Even the brown was lost as the film became ever more harrowing, leaving just the grey,…

    4 2
  11. T
    Taylor 8 月 24, 2026

    Daniel Craig ?

    4
  12. M
    MC_Ren 3 月 14, 2026

    “Fateless” has this look to the film like you’re looking at a historical picture. From the color palette, the blown out windows with light, and this almost faraway camera angle… even with the close up. Also hopeless is a friend to this film.

    1
  13. C
    cinedeconstruct 3 月 11, 2026

    Être sans destin (Lajos Koltai, 2006) – Pour ceux qui ont vécu la Shoah, la vie s’est arrêtée : il ne reste plus que des survivants – cinemadecons.fr/index.php/2024/02/10/etre-sans-destin-lajos-koltai-2006/

  14. A
    Anna 3 月 3, 2026

    cosa cavolo era quel monologo finale scusa😔🙏🏻 vita pura e semplice nei campi di concentramento? ok…

    1
  15. M
    M🗡️ 3 月 3, 2026

    non penso ci sia stata cosi tanta felicità nei campi lager come dice lui…. follia

    1
  16. M
    Maria Isabella 2 月 26, 2026

    man how can anyone make up for how horrible this war was

  17. E
    emm 2 月 23, 2026

    devastating

  18. S
    Samuel Lewis 1 月 28, 2026

    Terribly beautiful.

  19. G
    Gezet Ghaza 1 月 7, 2026

    The last 20 minutes make this movie a bit trashy

  20. E
    Emma 12 月 13, 2025

    Daniel Craig what are you doing here?

    1
  21. I
    Ignacio Blanco 11 月 26, 2025

    Cómo terminó Ennio Morricone acá nosé. Holdvilágos éjszakán !!

  22. I
    Iloveumiayam 11 月 1, 2025

    I really like thi film for no reason

  23. D
    DazeYT 11 月 1, 2025

    Much better than the movie it is portraying. Story can be a little confusing at times. Characters development is lacking, but it stays incredibly accurate to the book. The cinematography is amazing, and it does feel as if I am in the movie at some points.

  24. E
    ErlanTime 9 月 17, 2025

    Intresting. Kinda Perfectly Mid.

  25. H
    Henry Legedza 8 月 30, 2025

    It was based on the semi-autobiographical novel of the same title by the Nobel Prize winner author Imre Kertész, who also wrote the screenplay it tells the story of 14 year old Hungarian Jew, Gyorgy Koves who spent several years being shunted from one concentration camp to the next spending most of his timne in Buchenwald. The scenes in the camps are harrowing as the Jewish prisoners undergo all sorts of demeaning and brutal treatment, all the while accepting it…

  26. A
    Atthaman 8 月 20, 2025

    a very faithful adaptation of the novel (to a fault). also, the sheer number of fade to black transitions in this is almost intolerable

  27. S
    Stephen 8 月 2, 2025

    Extraordinary. One of the best movies to depict the Holocaust and for sure the most underrated

  28. P
    PerczeBlanka 7 月 24, 2025

    Főleg a könyv után nem szabad megnézni, de leginkább semmikor. Botrányos.

  29. N
    Nitroisgreat 7 月 15, 2025

    Vakáció során végre elolvastam a Sorstalanság című könyvet, amiért Kertész Imre Irodalmi Nobel-díjjat nyert. A könyvben lévő párbeszédekkel és Kertész írói készségeivel komolyan küzdenem kellett, de a könyv központi üzenete és a holokausztról való álláspontja annyira egyedi és szokatlan volt, hogy összességében megérte nekem elolvasni a regényt. Ennek ellenére az egyik első gondolatom, ami a könyv befejezése után eszembe jutott, az volt, hogy: “Azt a kibaszott kurva…ebből hogyan készítettek anno filmet?” Annyira epizódikus szerkezetű és egyenes egyszerű megfogalmazású volt, hogy…

  30. N
    nóri⭐️ 6 月 22, 2025

    never again

  31. J
    jacket 6 月 13, 2025

    for school

  32. V
    Venkman11 5 月 28, 2025

    The true story of a Jewish, fourteen-year-old Hungarian boy who survives the horrors of Auschwitz and Buchenwald. A flawed, but powerful movie. The fade outs and ins grew tiresome over the two hour and twenty minute run time. The score was done by Ennio Morricone and fit the subject matter well. I was impressed with the work done by Marcell Nagy in the central role. The young man did a commendable job playing the young Holocaust survivor. His acting was…

    1
  33. A
    Arnel Vargas 4 月 29, 2025

    *AmazonPrime start time 2:20pm

  34. K
    kara 🎱 4 月 17, 2025

    so insanely disturbing

  35. E
    Emma Fogarty✝️☮️ 4 月 14, 2025

    Lajos Koltai directs a 140 minute war film starring Marcell Nagy as a boy who finds himself getting locked up in a concentration camp during the second world war. Had this at four stars for the first 40 or so minutes, and I’m not sure if it was like this for others, seeing what he has to lose is of more effectingness or interest than what takes it away from him. It’s exactly why think the slow start here works,…

    4
  36. L
    lukeaw 4 月 9, 2025

    Piss-poor editing. Like…astoundingly bad. Pretty average, run-of-the-mill Holocaust narrative aside from that though

    1
  37. R
    Richysaurio777 3 月 11, 2025

    La nostalgia y melancolía de una tragedia es lo que nos hace volver a nuestra humanidad después de que nos arrebaten nuestra esencia como seres humanos, el proceso que se vive entre mantener el autoestima y la cordura como un prisionero en un campo de concentración, por más fuerte que sea el alma y espíritu de un hombre siempre caerá rendido ante la tiranía de emocional de los que tienen poder de tu vida.

  38. K
    Kaleb63 2 月 24, 2025

    I don’t know what to write for this one.

  39. M
    Michael Heiserman 2 月 24, 2025

    Taking a breather from depressing Oscar nom docs to watch a depressing Holocaust movie for class. Now back to the depressing documentaries…yay.

  40. J
    JeffBeachnau 2 月 14, 2025

    (11-2-08) Excellent Hungarian film about a teenager during WWII who gets sent to a concentration camp. Very powerful with some pretty disturbing scenes, though I noticed for a Holocaust film, there really wasn’t much death in the film. There are many quite beautiful moments, my favorite being the extremely well made scene involving the Jews being forced to stand in the same place for many hours. And the young actor who plays the main character is excellent. The ending is also very good, a different but powerful Holocaust film.

  41. B
    Balázs Somogyi 2 月 11, 2025

    This boy couldn’t deliver a line convincingly to save his life

    1
  42. V
    vivi 1 月 28, 2025

    masterpiece that broke my heart

  43. I
    István János Pekár 1 月 27, 2025

    I remember Koltai himself saying that this film was a mistake. The leaders of the Hungarian film industry at the time thought they would win an Oscar for making a film about the eternal cliché of the universal victim role. Interestingly enough, they didn’t succeed, both Hungarian and international critics panned the film, and rightly so. It’s trivial, that they put Daniel Craig in for those two minutes, hoping that his presence would attract more viewers. Even with him, this film became a piece of shit.

  44. H
    Haci 1 月 25, 2025

    “Aku pernah mati. Aku tak bisa marah lagi.”

  45. T
    tchajann 12 月 28, 2024

    “aku mulai sadar akan rahasia sederhana di dunia ini, bahwa aku bisa mati kapan saja, dan di mana saja” Really intense movie. Salah satu film yg menggambarkan gimana kerasnya kehidupan di camp kerja paksa World War II. Yaa… Cukup depressing lah nnton ni pilem :’) FAKKKKKKMMM

  46. S
    Siva 12 月 10, 2024

    No one deserves to suffer this pain 😞

  47. B
    Brutus 12 月 8, 2024

    Watched this in grade 10 history still think about it

  48. M
    mhaag1 11 月 27, 2024

    really liked the cinematography

  49. M
    Mishel Stoun 11 月 6, 2024

    I don’t really know how to review these movies Again, I can’t say i loved it because in a weird way it sort of makes the Holocaust seem okay, even though its trying to be self-reflexive and show you how fucked up that is I still can’t get behind the concept.. two stars for Daniel Craig

    1
  50. Z
    Zach Correia 11 月 4, 2024

    how tf did daniel craig get into this?

    2
  51. R
    ryanrakowsky 10 月 23, 2024

    prob the best and most unrelenting portrayal i’ve seen. defo a hard ass watch but hundos tried to put me in the shoes. pretty good job.

    1
  52. J
    javi 10 月 11, 2024

    es una pena que películas como estas no tengan la repercusión que se merecen por el país donde han sido producidas. daniel craig jumpscare

  53. B
    benedekG 9 月 27, 2024

    Could have been shorter, wait what ar- *Fades to black*

  54. V
    vinisoos 8 月 26, 2024

    Gave me depression at 12

  55. B
    BRabb04 8 月 13, 2024

    Class

  56. S
    samer_machine 6 月 17, 2024

    “La diferencia de esos cinco minutos”. El protagonista es conducido junto a una gran multitud de judíos por el centro de Budapest. Al llegar a un cruce, el paso del tranvía divide al grupo en dos. En ese momento, algunas personas aprovechan para escapar. El guardia parece hacer la vista gorda y entonces, observa al protagonista y, tras encadenar varios planos y contraplanos de uno y otro, le hace un gesto invitándole a huir. Él sonríe pero se mantiene en…

  57. L
    louise_corne 6 月 17, 2024

    a vágóval olyan beefem van mint a rohadt élet lehet nem a vágásról kéne beszélnem de nézhetetlen egy film ha minden jelenet 30 másodperc Kertész Imre nem forgatókönyvíró

  58. A
    aaronlowy 4 月 29, 2024

    There will never be a film that is able to capture the horrors of the holocaust, there are few that come close. Fateless captures, to a fine degree, the dehumanizing aspects of the camps and through György we experience just a glimpse of the descent into inhumanity.

    1
  59. C
    Claire 4 月 23, 2024

    daniel craig as a u.s. sergeant 🇺🇸🦅

    1
  60. L
    lorriesavage 3 月 9, 2024

    Sad log for arts and cultures class

  61. R
    Roach1 3 月 6, 2024

    Just really didn’t care for the way the film was structured, so much of it was just thing happens then fade to black over and over.

    1
  62. X
    Xander Haan 3 月 6, 2024

    Watched for FVS 491(JC) This movie was a tough watch. Nothing epic about the content of it. I wonder if the actors have any bad exp points I ended with it. Like trauma or bad memories from filming. It’s just so real

  63. R
    Robert Fuller 3 月 1, 2024

    There’s a sentence from the novel on which this movie is based that I always try to remember, because this sentence, this one sentence, might be the most profound statement ever made about the Holocaust and maybe the most profound statement ever made about anything, and all I have to do is think about it to bring tears to my eyes. This is the sentence: “Despite all deliberation, sense, insight, and sober reason, I could not fail to recognize within…

  64. S
    Sylsajo 1 月 22, 2024

    Un triste relato sobre el holocausto, con escenas que realmente ponen la piel de gallina ante tanta crueldad. Algo floja, pero bonita. Eso sí, el final es muy breve 👍🏻 La música de Morricone 👎🏻 Los innumerables fundidos a negro.

  65. L
    lais_0 12 月 15, 2023

    Um filme cruel e doloroso. Uma cena que não sai da minha cabeça, é o garoto e os outros prisioneiros ao serem forçados a carregar nas costas sacos pesados, e quando vão colocar nas costas do garoto, o outro prisioneiro olha para ele com pena. Também notei o quão morto era o olhar dele, e você acaba o filme tendo certeza de que ele nunca mais será o mesmo.

  66. 3
    3 12 月 14, 2023

    Zavaróan kurva ronda amúgy ez a film bazdmeg, a táboron kívül sárga hugy filter van rajta, azon belül meg szinte teljesen fekete fehér, de nem ilyen ízlésesen hanem mint mikor emberek először felfedezik az insta filtereket. ugyanitt MIAFASZ MIT KERES DANIEL CRAIG EBBEN A FILMBEN???????

    1
  67. G
    gaddy 11 月 20, 2023

    the last 20 minutes of the movie made this 4 star movie into a 3 star movie

    1
  68. F
    F A 11 月 5, 2023

    The film Fateless (Hungarian: Sorstalanság) by Hungarian Film director Lajos Koltai covers the story of a fourteen-year-old Jewish boy, Gyurka, surviving the horrors of the Nazi regime. The narrator, Gyurka himself, is reminiscing about the war; he starts his story from the moment his father left as he was sent off to the labor camp, forcing Gyurka to grow up and start working in an oil plant as a bricklayer, passing mortar and passing bricks. However, he is tricked by…

  69. Z
    Zedda Zogenau 2 月 18, 2008

    BERLINALE 2005: Nominierung für den Goldenen Bären

  70. S
    SvenDS 7 月 6, 2006

    De Hongaarse Lajos Koltai nadert weliswaar de zestig, maar debuteert na meer dan dertig jaar ervaring als cameraman dan toch als regisseur, met de vrij conventionele Holocaustfilm Fateless. Dat de man de voorbije vijftien jaar in Hollywood aan het werk was, heeft zijn sporen nagelaten. We krijgen zelfs een gastoptreden van Daniel Craig. De film is gebaseerd op de autobiografische roman van Nobelprijswinnaar Imre Kertész en draait om een 14-jarige Gyuri die in verschillende concentratiekampen belandt tijdens de Tweede Wereldoorlog.…

  71. N
    Not Joe Morgenstern 1 月 27, 2006

    When the sun shines in Lajos Koltai’s “Fateless,” which is seldom, the light that’s cast is a dull reddish orange. And when life comes to an end, which is often, the penultimate stage is a dull, hollow stare. This Hungarian-language drama, based on a novel by the Nobel laureate Imre Kertész, follows a Jewish boy, Gyuri Köves, from his happy home in Budapest through the concentration camps of the Holocaust. The director, a distinguished cinematographer, has aestheticized Gyuri’s experience with…

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My rating

M Marcell Nagy György Köves
B Béla Dóra Smoker
B Bálint Péntek Pretty boy
Á Áron Dimény Bandi Citrom
P Péter Fancsikai Older Kollmann boy
Z Zsolt Dér Rozi
A András M. Kecskés Finn
D Dani Szabó Moskovich
T Tibor Mertz Fodor
P Péter Vida Lénárt
E Endre Harkányi Old Kollmann
M Márton Brezina Younger Kollmann boy
D Daniel Craig US sergeant
J József Gyabronka Balszerencsés
S Szabolcs Thuróczy SS Soldier
M Máté Haumann SS Soldier
E Ernő Fekete Inspector
P Piroska Molnár Terka
R Rajhona Ádám Mr. Steiner
K Károly Nemcsák German officer
Director Lajos Koltai
Writer Imre Kertész
Producer Péter Barbalics, András Hámori, Ildikó Kemény, Jonathan Olsberg, András Benyó, Jonathan Haren, Tibor Krsko, Michael Reuter, Károly Varga, Miriam Zachar
Executive Producer Robert Buckler, Bernd Helthaler, László Vincze
Editor Hajnal Sellő
Original Music Ennio Morricone, Denes Redly
Special Effects Furedi Csaba, Alistair Hamer, Tibor Skornyak, György Solymosi
Stunts Kasi Béla, Katona Péter, Levente Lezsák, Béla Unger
Art Direction Zsuzsanna Borvendég, Natalja Meier
Casting Heta Mantscheff, Péter Szuchy, Tamás Zilahy
Synopsis
A Hungarian youth comes of age at Buchenwald during World War II. György Köves is 14, the son of a merchant who's sent to a forced labor camp. After his father's departure, György gets a job at a brickyard; his bus is stopped and its Jewish occupants sent to camps. There, György find camaraderie, suffering, cruelty, illness, and death. He hears advice on preserving one's dignity and self-esteem. He discovers hatred. If he does survive and returns to Budapest, what will he find? What is natural; what is it to be a Jew? Sepia, black and white, and color alternate to shade the mood.
Director
Lajos Koltai
Writer
Imre Kertész
Studio
Hungarian Motion Picture Ltd., Magic Media, EuroArts, Renegade Films
Country
France, Germany, Israel, UK
Language
Hungarian, English, Hebrew (modern), Yiddish
Year
2005
Runtime
140 mins

View all genres »

  • Hungary10 Feb 2005
  • Netherlands07 Sep 2006
  • Netherlands31 May 2007