Betrayed (1988)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Betray |
| Original title | Betrayed |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1988 |
| length | 126 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 16 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Constantin Costa-Gavras |
| script | Joe Eszterhas |
| production | Joe Eszterhas, Hal W. Polaire , Irwin Winkler |
| music | Bill Conti |
| camera | Patrick Blossier |
| cut | Joële Van Effenterre |
| occupation | |
| |
Betrayed (Betrayed) is an American thriller from the year 1988 . Directed by Constantin Costa-Gavras ; the script was written by Joe Eszterhas , who also co-produced the film.
action
The Jewish radio presenter Sam Kraus from Chicago rarely ministers. In his program, he deals with controversial issues from US domestic and foreign policy and receives calls from fundamentalist Christians , right-wing extremists , anti-Semites , separatists and Holocaust deniers . He makes no secret of his contempt for these people, but he believes that discussions on these issues are necessary in a democracy. Insults to his callers are part of the show. One evening after work he was murdered in the parking garage by strangers who sprayed an anti-Semitic slogan on his body.
The FBI agent Catherine Weaver is covertly investigating this murder against a militant right-wing radical group based in the American province. She meets the farmer Gary Simmons, a widowed father of two and a highly decorated Vietnam veteran . Simmons was a member of the US Marines , but doesn't like talking about war. Weaver falls in love with Simmons and moves in with him because she gets along very well with his children. Catherine is quickly and warmly welcomed by Simmons 'friends, only Simmons' friend Wes is suspicious from the start.
The agent says at first that her superiors are wrong in suspecting Simmons and his friends. They would occasionally tell racist jokes, otherwise they were good, Bible-solid average Americans. After the relationship grew closer, she noticed a strange thing: When Gary argued with food suppliers, he was extremely aggressive. The feed suppliers, in turn, have a strong dislike for him, but do not dare to oppose him. That night, Gary takes the unsuspecting Catherine out hunting. She wonders which animal should be hunted at night. When she arrives at the meeting point, she sees to her horror that Gary and his friends have kidnapped a black man. For the sake of disguise, she has to watch the group murder the blacks. She exposes him to a field at night and chases him to death on a manhunt.
Weaver has to admit that she was completely wrong about Simmons. However, her superiors want her to investigate further to establish the murder and uncover other activities. She returns to Simmons, who tells her that blacks are not people. The shadowing becomes an ordeal for Weaver because of her feelings for Simmons and the forced participation in his actions. Weaver gets an insight into the world of thought of the right-wing scene and takes part in some secret meetings. She will witness how the children are indoctrinated with racist, anti-Semitic and National Socialist slogans and internalize them without questioning them. At a secret meeting in Montana, she meets neo-Nazis , members of the Ku Klux Klan and Christian extremists. She also learns about the motivation of some radicals. They cannot cope with their own lives and seek support and security in National Socialism. At night Catherine sneaks out of the tent and watches Wes and Gary as they secretly receive war weapons from members of the US Army. She is recognized by Wes and almost murdered. However, Gary stops him shortly. The next morning she witnesses the established politician Jack Carpenter visiting the camp and soliciting votes unobserved by the public. Gary, who had already messed with neo-Nazis in SA uniform the day before , openly tells the politician that he doesn't think much of him.
Finally, she is supposed to take part in a bank robbery of the group. She informs her FBI colleagues, but they ultimately do not arrest the group. At the company, she shoots a guard who wants to open fire. When the group jumps into their van, Catherine's colleague is there and shoots Wes. Catherine later learns that Wes was deliberately killed because he was endangering Catherine and the investigation. Catherine is frightened by this calculation. However, she also learns that the security guard was wearing a bulletproof vest and is alive. Gary proposes marriage to Catherine and confesses that he had his wife murdered by Wes. She betrayed Gary and wanted to turn his children against him.
The day before a planned assassination attempt on Jack Carpenter, Gary Simmons learns about Weaver's work as an agent from a politician who is secretly working with the right-wing extremists, but takes them away anyway. When he wants to carry out the assassination attempt on the politician Carpenter, Weaver shoots him at the last moment, but the assassination attempt is carried out by another shooter anyway. With the help of the evidence Cathy has gathered, the FBI arrests numerous right-wing extremists. In the end, Weaver leaves the FBI because she feels exploited and betrayed by her colleagues. She visits Simmons' daughter again, whom she has taken to heart. As she waits for her in front of the church, the priest calls her Jezebel .
Reviews
Roger Ebert wrote in the Chicago Sun-Times on August 26, 1988 that the film had aroused sympathy for the characters and " fundamental doubts " about the plot. The critic wondered how intelligent-looking characters could believe their story. The film was " deeply confused " ( " deeply confused "): Costa-Gavras saw him as a political film, Eszterhas have it " undoubtedly regarded" as a thriller, the main characters - the strong performance would have provided - would have him as a complex interpreted human story through the characters. From this " chaos " (" turmoil ") arose.
The lexicon of international films said: "Constructed, clichéd political thriller that uses elements from action film and melodrama instead of giving its characters and their milieu credible contours."
The German Film and Media Assessment FBW in Wiesbaden awarded the film the rating particularly valuable.
backgrounds
The real background of the film is the murder of the Jewish radio presenter Alan Berg in Denver in 1984 by the white supremacy group The Order . The film was shot in Chicago as well as Calgary and several other locations in Alberta . Its production amounted to an estimated 19 million US dollars . The film grossed approximately $ 25.8 million in US cinemas.
Web links
- Betrayed in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Betray at rotten tomatoes (English)