Perlasca: The Courage of a Just Man

2002 · Drama · 1h 44m

The real story of Giorgio Perlasca (Luca Zingaretti). During the 1920s he was an Italian Fascist supporter, fighting in Africa and in the Spanish Civil War where he received safe conduct credential for Spanish embassies. After some years, disillusioned by fascism, he became a supplier for the Italian army. During the war he was in business in Budapest. He lives an easy life there, well introduced into the Hungarian high society, without any problems being caused by the war. When the Germans occupied Hungary, in 1944, he escaped to the Spanish embassy in Budapest using his old safe conduct credential and becoming a Spanish citizen, changing his name to Jorge Perlasca. He starts working as a diplomat there. When Sanz Briz (Geza Tordy), the Spanish consul, is removed, Perlasca immediately substitutes him, like if he was officially appointed from Spanish authorities. All the Germans and the Hungarian authorities believe him. In his new fake assignment, he starts immediately to hide, shield, and feed thousands of Jews issuing fake Spanish safe conducts for the Jews of Sephardic origin. He is in contact with Raoul Wallenberg, another hero of that time. The two, together with other volunteers, running incredible risks had saved thousands of Hungarian Jews from a tragic death. Incredibly, Perlasca succeeded to save two boys directly from the hands of Adolf Eichmann at the train station. This hero, after the war, was completely forgotten, and his story comes out just in the 1980s because some of the Hungarian Jews wanted to meet him again.