Colette, also released under the name Prisoner of Auschwitz, is a 2013 English language Czech-Slovak-Dutch war film written and directed by Milan Cieslar and starring Jirí Mádl and Clémence Thioly. It is set in World War II and based on the Arnošt Lustig book, A girl from Antwerp.
Contents
Plot
It is 1943 and Colette Cohen, a beautiful young Belgian-Jewish woman, is imprisoned in Auschwitz -Birkenau where she meets a fellow prisoner, Vili Feld, a Slovak-Jew, and they fall in love. They both experience the daily torture and slave labour in the camp, and one day Colette is selected for the gas chambers but is luckily saved by Vili, who tells her what to say so that she can avoid the sentence.
An SS official, Weisacker, who is captivated by her beauty, sends her to work as a seamstress at his manufactory, where she is granted a slight amount of protection in comparison to some other prisoners in the concentration camp. During her time, she falls more deeply in love with Vili and vice versa. They eventually decide that they are going to escape.
It is twenty-eight years since the war has ended. Vili, is now living in New York City, and recalls his relationship with Colette and the torture of their time in Auschwitz.
Cast
Clémence Thioly as Colette
Jiří Mádl as Vili Feld
Eric Bouwer as Weissacker
Andrej Hryc as Fritz
Zuzana Mauréry as Broderova
Ondřej Vetchý as Elli
Helena Dvořáková as Kordula
Kristína Svarinská
Juraj Adamík
Jiří Bartoška as Old Vili (voice)
Dan Brown
Lubomir Burgr
Václav Chalupa
Jan Cina as Jeremiás
Michal Dlouhý
Jeremi Durand as François Platard (voice)
Ivan Franěk
Pavel Gajdoš
Jordan Haj
Robert Holik as Mourning Brother
Juraj Hrcka
Jitka Jackuliak
Anna Kocicová
Barbora Kodetová
Ondrej Kovaľ
Philipp Kraiczy
Jakub Lorencovič as Sowa
Denisa Pfauserová
Elena Podzámska
Kajetán Písarovic
Balcárek Radek
Eva Reiterová
Sabina Rojková
Pavel Rímský
Emma Smetana
Tomas Sotak
Josef Tkác
Miroslav Táborský
Petr Vaněk