Circle of Deceit (1981 film)

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Circle of Deceit
File:Die Fälschung.jpg
Directed by Volker Schlöndorff
Produced by Eberhard Junkersdorf
Anatole Dauman
Based on Die Fälschung
by Nicolas Born
Starring Bruno Ganz
Hanna Schygulla
Jerzy Skolimowski
Gila von Weitershausen
Music by Maurice Jarre
Distributed by Kino International
Release dates
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[1]
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  • 28 October 1981 (1981-10-28) (France)
Running time
 110 minutes[1]
Country West Germany
France
Lebanon
Language German
English
French
Arabic

Circle of Deceit (German title: Die Fälschung, 'the fake'; French title: Le Faussaire) is an anti-war film[2] directed by Volker Schlöndorff and internationally released in 1981. An international co-production, it was an adaptation of Nicolas Born's novel of the same name, which had appeared in 1979. The film follows a German journalist sent to Beirut to report on the Lebanese Civil War, which had begun in 1975.

Cast

Story

Journalist Georg Laschen (Bruno Ganz) is sent to Beirut, where he is supposed to report on the local civil war.[3] His feelings about this mission are influenced by the fact that his marriage to his wife Greta (Gila von Weitershausen) back home is dysfunctional,[3] and the conflict in Lebanon remains incomprehensible to him.[4][5]

He feels that his comments and his own problems to understand the situation[6] don't really count[7] because violence sells anyway.[8] Subsequently, he feels that his reports aren't real journalism and by pretending to be that they can downright be considered deceit (or in German: Fälschung).

After a fling with a local lady named Arianna[9] (Hanna Schygulla) he happens to kill a man.[1] He realises how relatively easily one's moral standards can be corrupted in a violent environment and how hard or even impossible it is to remain unbiased[10] as a journalist.[11][12]

Production

The film was shot on location in Beirut.[2] The Lebanese Civil War, which began in 1975, would continue until 1990. The New York Times remarked that it was "filmed in 1980 under remarkable conditions: with its crew confined to "safe" portions of Beirut while the fighting went on elsewhere, but with ubiquitous evidence of real warfare everywhere."[13]

Reception

The New York Times described it as "a balanced, thoughtful, extremely moving vision of wartime tragedy."[13]

Awards

The film was nominated for the César Award for Best Foreign Film in 1981. Jerzy Skolimowski won the Best Supporting Actor Deutscher Filmpreis in 1982, for his role as the war photographer Hoffmann.

Discography

The original soundtrack music composed by Maurice Jarre for Le Faussaire was released on CD in 2013 by Canadian label Disques Cinemusique. More information here.[permanent dead link]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.[permanent dead link]
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Janet Maslin, The New York Times, 11 February 1982, Circle of Deceit (1981): 'CIRCLE OF DECEIT,' WAR CORRESPONDENT IN BEIRUT

External links

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