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THE ARYAN COUPLE Send This Review to a Friend
The Nazi horrors inflicted on Jews during World War II continue to resonate in works of art. ‘The Aryan Couple,” directed co-written and produced by John Daly, is set in 1944 Hungary and loosely based on the true story of a Jewish steel mill owner who signed over his mill and other property to the Nazis in exchange for allowing him and nearly 50 of his family members to escape with their lives. Daly’s work is engrossing because of the subject, the low-key manner in which it has been made and the stakes involved against the background of ever-present danger. But it also becomes quite melodramatic and not always credible.
There are really two stories intertwined. One is that of the wealthy Jew, in this case a Josef Krauzenberg, played with stoic dignity by Martin Landau. (The person on whose story the film has been based was Manfred Weiss, whose name figured in the Eichman trial.) Krauzenberg’s elegant wife Rachel is played with tightly controlled but nonetheless expressed anger by Judy Parfitt. The film concentrates on the drama of their efforts to arrange passage from Hungary to Switzerland, along with that of their extended family, and also guarantee no harm to their many employees. In exchange they must sign away their sumptuous country home, their art work—everything they own.
The other story involves two of their faithful married young servants, who have been posing as Aryans, and have an agenda of their own. They are suddenly imperiled when discovered to be Jews. Kenny Doughty and Caroline Carver portray them sympathetically and effectively. The couple’s impending fate adds particularly to the mounting melodrama of the intricate plot.
What’s hard to take in the film is the premise that the Nazi bigwig Heinrich Himmler, played by Danny Webb with both a devotion to ethical honoring of the safe passage agreement and a smile that could kill, would be such a man of his word, although he is shown to expect a large personal gain by the transaction. Eichmann, portrayed without flourish by Steve Mackintosh, is depicted as Himmler’s underling, and he, too, plays by the rules set, until he believes he has been deceived. We know that deals were made under which Jews could buy their freedom by submitting to extortion, and one of the film’s best scenes is the dinner meeting and painful transaction to which the Krauzenbergs must submit. One suspects that they will be cruelly double crossed because it is difficult to accept the honorability of the horrible Himmler. Another Nazi officer of lesser authority becomes the heavy.
Daly’s film was made with great sincerity and much attention to visual detail--Poland was used instead of Hungary)--and impressive locations were found. But as absorbing as the story is, the screenplay, co-written by Daly with Kendrew Lascelles, asks a lot in the credibility department. Still, who would be expected to believe much of what really happened in that period of persecution and horror? A Celebration International Pictures Ltd. release.
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