The Aryan Couple, (The Couple) (2004)

12% of critics liked it
(26 reviews)
58% of users liked it
(907 ratings)

In this drama set in Eastern Europe in 1944, (Martin Landau) plays Josef Krauzenberg, a wealthy Hungarian Jewish business owner who, despite his fortune, finds his life hanging in the balance as the Nazi "final solution" is being enacted throughout Eastern Europe. Under the terms of the Third… More In this drama set in Eastern Europe in 1944, (Martin Landau) plays Josef Krauzenberg, a wealthy Hungarian Jewish business owner who, despite his fortune, finds his life hanging in the balance as the Nazi "final solution" is being enacted throughout Eastern Europe. Under the terms of the Third Reich's "Europa Plan," Krauzenberg arranges with Nazi leaders to exchange his fortune, his business holdings (textile plants, steel mills, ownership of several banks) and a collection of rare art for safe passage to Switzerland for himself, his wife Rachel (Judy Parfitt), and their family. Such is Krauzenberg's wealth and power that when he agrees to sign over his property, two of the most powerful men in the Nazi regime announce they will come to his house to handle the paperwork -- Adolf Eichmann (Steven Mackintosh) and Heinrich Himmler (Danny Webb); however, as the Nazi leaders are ushered into Krauzenberg's home, they notice something unusual -- his two most trusted servants, Hans Vassmann (Kenny Doughty) and his wife Ingrid (Caroline Carver) are a married Aryan couple who are still working for a Jew despite the pogrom. As it happens, Eichmann and Himmler's suspicions are well-founded -- Hans and Ingrid are actually Jews working undercover with a team of resistance fighters, and as they serve the Nazis, they wonder if they should kill Eichmann and Himmler for the greater good, even if it would mean certain death for the Krauzenbergs and themselves. While The Aryan Couple is fictional, it was inspired by actual events, and the existence of the "Europa Plan" has been documented, though no one appears to have been saved from death through its application. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: PG-13, 1 hr. 59 min.
Directed By: John Daly
Genres: Drama

In Theaters: Nov 18, 2005 Wide
On DVD: Oct 13, 2006
Studio: Slow Hand Releasing

Critic Reviews

Michael Hardy, Boston Globe
Mainly notable for its inappropriate, blithe sentimentality. In another film this would be the usual Hollywood hokum. In a film about the most serious subject imaginable, it amounts to moral idiocy.
Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel
The worst Holocaust movie ever.
Stephen Hunter, Washington Post
The whole thing is coarse and vulgar, as it hides its low fascinations behind a scrim of Holocaust piety until it becomes pure kitsch.
Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer
A handsome Holocaust melodrama hobbled by a transparent and cartoonish script.
Richard Nilsen, Arizona Republic
Pure sentimental melodrama, with not a moment's reflection on any issue larger than the fate of our heroes.
Frank Scheck, Hollywood Reporter
Potentially powerful subject matter is given an unconvincingly melodramatic treatment.
Amber Wilkinson, Eye for Film
The most mawkish and shallow take on the holocaust committed to screen in many a long year.
David Mattin, BBC
A case study in why Holocaust movies are so difficult to get right.
Robert Hanks, Independent
Its intentions are doubtless good, but it ends up exploiting the Holocaust for cheap suspense.
Peter Bradshaw, Guardian [UK]
It's a sucrose period piece that somehow averts its gaze from the brutal reality of Nazi genocide, and manages to conjure a fatuous feelgood happy ending.
David Parkinson, Empire Magazine
Is over-arching sincerity only results in a stiffness that gives way to B-movie melodramatics in time for the cliché-ridden finale.
Doug Brunell, Film Threat
Despite some tense scenes, this movie still falls fairly flat.
Steve Schneider, Orlando Weekly
Put-upon Jews weep on cue or stare defiantly into the camera, spouting impromptu speeches about getting some of their own back one day; all the while, violins wail in the background.
Dan Hudak, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
The Aryan Couple gets great mileage out of its tension and suspense, and its commitment to developing its characters as real people in an unthinkable dilemma.
, Time Out
he story loses its grip and momentum during the laboriously realized denouement, which follows the hired help's struggle to escape to Switzerland amid overwrought action sequences propelled by a shrieking violin-driven soundtrack.
Tim Grierson, L.A. Weekly
These two are so pretty and vacant they seem better suited to modeling for a perfume ad than taking on the Third Reich.
Noel Murray, AV Club
It turns real genocide into another kind of B-movie moustache-twirling.
Kim Morgan, L.A. Weekly
Directed with the flat artlessness of a lower-rung Masterpiece Theater entry, pulling heartstrings with Igor Khoroshev's lugubrious score and scripted with banal bromides insulting to its subject matter.