History Film / TheDebt

''The Debt'' is an Israeli [[SpyFiction espionage drama]] released in 2007 and an American remake released in 2011. The latter stars Creator/HelenMirren, Sam Worthington, JessicaChastain, [[Creator/CiaranHinds Ciarán Hinds]]and Tom Wilkinson.

''The Debt'' is an Israeli [[SpyFiction espionage drama]] released in 2007 and an American remake released in 2011. The latter stars Creator/HelenMirren, Sam Worthington, JessicaChastain, and Tom Wilkinson.

* FakeNationality: Helen Mirren, Tom Wilkinson (both English), Jessica Chastain (American), Ciarán Hinds (Irish), Sam Worthington (Australian) and Marton Csokas (New Zealander) all play Israelis.

* TimeshiftedActor: Jessica Chastain becomes Helen Mirren, Marton Csokas becomes Tom Wilkinson, and Sam Worthington becomes Ciarán Hinds.

-->''"The truth stays in this room with us."''

The original film was set in {{Israel}}, 1997, and {{Berlin}}, {{Germany}}, 1965, and follows three young {{Mossad}} agents, Ehud, Zvi, and Rachel. In 1965, the three agents were sent to Berlin to capture a Nazi war criminal named Dieter Vogel (a.k.a. the Surgeon of Birkenau). Despite careful planning, their inexperience and poor luck threaten their mission. The film cuts between 1965 and 1997, where the three agents deal with the aftermath of their mission 30 years later.

!!These films provide examples of:

* CheckpointCharlie: Through the BerlinWall, naturally.

* FakeNationality: Helen Mirren, Tom Wilkinson (both English), Jessica Chastain (American), Ciarán Hinds (Irish), Sam Worthington (Australian) and Marton Csokas (from New Zealand)[[note]] what ''is'' the term? New Zealish?[[/note]] all play Israelis.

* FakeNationality: Helen Mirren, Tom Wilkinson (both English), Jessica Chastain (American), Ciarán Hinds (Irish), Sam Worthington (Australian) and Marton Csokas (from New Zealand)[[hottip:*: what ''is'' the term? New Zealish?]] all play Israelis.

* TimeshiftedActor: Jessica Chastain becomes Creator/HelenMirren, Marton Csokas becomes Tom Wilkinson, and Sam Worthington becomes Ciarán Hinds.

* FakeNationality: Helen Mirren, Tom Wilkinson (both English), Jessica Chastain (American), Ciarán Hinds (Irish), Sam Worthington (Australian) and Marton Csokas (from New Zealand[[hottip:*: what ''is'' the term? New Zealish?]] all play Israelis.

* CheckpointCharlie: Through the BerlinWall, naturally.
* CompleteMonster: Dieter Vogel.

* FakeNationality: Creator/HelenMirren, Tom Wilkinson (both English), Jessica Chastain (American), Ciarán Hinds (Irish), Sam Worthington (Australian) and Marton Csokas (from New Zealand[[hottip:*: what ''is'' the term? New Zealish?]] all play Israelis.

* FakeNationality: English actors Creator/HelenMirren, Tom Wilkinson and Jessica Chastain, Irishman Ciarán Hinds and Australians Sam Worthington and Marton Csokas all play Israelis.
** Within the story, Stephan and David are Israelis pretending to be Germans, and Rachel is an Israeli pretending to be an Argentinian

* FakeNationality: English actors HelenMirren, Tom Wilkinson and Jessica Chastain, Irishman Ciarán Hinds and Australians Sam Worthington and Marton Csokas all play Israelis.

* TimeshiftedActor: Jessica Chastain becomes HelenMirren, Marton Csokas becomes Tom Wilkinson, and Sam Worthington becomes Ciarán Hinds.

''The Debt'' is an Israeli [[SpyFiction espionage drama]] released in 2007 and an American remake released in 2011. The latter stars HelenMirren, Sam Worthington, JessicaChastain, and Tom Wilkinson.

* HowWeGotHere: Subverted. Near the beginning of the film, Rachel (in 1997) reads a passage from her daughter's book about the 1965 mission. As she reads, we see the scene -- the climax of the mission -- unfold as an isolated {{Flashback}}. The events leading up to the climax take up most of the rest of the film, until we reach the scene from the book again. But this time, [[spoiler:when the Nazi prisoner bashes Rachel's head against the radiator, she loses consciousness, and Vogel gets away]]. We then see some of the aftermath of what really happened before shifting back to 1997 for the real climax of the story.

* HowWeGotHere: Brilliantly subverted with the climax of the 1965 mission. See trope page for details.

* BadassIsraeli: Deconstructed. The Israeli agents are filled with rage over the atrocities of the Nazis. They show off a number of spy and combat skills, but they're still human and prone to mistakes. Their hatred of the Nazis also makes them unwilling to admit when they've lost a fight against them. The shame of it is too much for them to bear.

** Kind of confusing, though, because Marton Csokas looks more like Ciarán Hinds, and Sam Worthington looks more like Tom Wilkinson.

* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: "Doktor Bernhardt" (Vogel) is married to one of the nurses at his clinic.

* BadassIsraeli: Subverted at first when the main characters are young and inexperienced. They are quite skilled in combat and operations, but the second things go bad, their calm goes out the window.

''The Debt'' is an Israeli [[SpyFiction espionage drama]] released in 2007 and an American remake released in 2011. The latter stars HelenMirren, Sam Worthington, and Tom Wilkinson.

* FakeNationality: English actors HelenMirren, Tom Wilkinson and Jessica Chastain, Irishman Ciarán Hinds and Australians SamWorthington and Marton Csokas all play Israelis.

''The Debt'' is an Israeli [[SpyFiction espionage drama]] released in 2007 and an American remake released in 2011. The latter stars HelenMirren, SamWorthington, and TomWilkinson.

The 2011 remake followed the exact same plot, however the [[DubNameChange names of some characters are changed]]. When reading this page, remember that Zvi (2007) = Stefan (2011) and that Ehud (2007) = David (2011). Both films use two casts to play the agents in both time periods.

* FakeNationality: English actors HelenMirren, TomWilkinson and Jessica Chastain, Irishman Ciaran Hinds and Australians SamWorthington and Marton Csokas all play Israelis.

* HandicappedBadass: 1997 Stefan is stuck in a wheelchair thanks to a carbomb somewhere during the time skip. But there's no doubt he's a badass.

* LonelyPianoPiece: In-universe. Rachel, feeling down, plays [[LudwigVanBeethoven Beethoven]]'s ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moonlight_Sonata Mondscheinsonate]]'' on the apartment piano. Stefan, who is a better pianist, sits beside her and gives it more emotion.

* MyGreatestFailure: [[spoiler:While Stefan and Rachel are able to put the past behind them, David never forgives himself.]]

* ShotgunWedding: Most likely the main reason Rachel and Stefan get married. They get divorced sometime before the 1997 scenes.