The Aryan Couple, (The Couple) (2004)
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12% of critics liked it
(26 reviews) -
59% of users liked it
(952 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… 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
Critic Reviews
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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.
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Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel
The worst Holocaust movie ever.
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, 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.
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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.
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Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer
A handsome Holocaust melodrama hobbled by a transparent and cartoonish script.
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Cast
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Martin Landau
as Joseph Krauzenberg
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Judy Parfitt
as Rachel Krauzenberg
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Kenny Doughty
as Hans Vassman
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Caroline Carver
as Ingrid Vassman
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Christopher Fulford
as Edelhein
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Steven Mackintosh
as Adolf Eichmann
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Daniel Webb
as Himmler
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Jake Wood
as Dressler
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Nolan Hemmings
as Gerhard
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Austen Palmer
as Becher
