The Debt is a brilliant espionage thriller film directed by John Madden and released in 2010. The central character is Rachel Singer (Helen Mirren) and the supporting actors are Stephan Gold (Tom Wilkinson) and David Peretz (Ciaran Hinds). The film is about three Mossad agents sent to East Germany in 1965 to capture a Nazi war criminal Dr. Vogel (Jesper Christensen) and bring him back to trial in Israel. The opening scene shows the three agents returning home after successfully completing their mission. The middle part of the film shows conflict among the three agents in how they handle the doctor. The mission fails when Dr. Vogel escapes and they are forced into a pact by Stephan to admit that the mission was successful and that Dr. Vogel was shot by Rachael. The three agents live through this lie for thirty-three years until David commits suicide and they are forced to bring out the truth to the public.
The ideology if the film is implicit because the protagonists Rachel and David are in conflicting views against the antagonist Stephan who forces them to cover up about what really happened with Dr. Vogel. The true ideological problem that needs to be raised is why the viewers have not been asked to question the Israel government’s commitment to resolve war atrocities committed by Nazi war criminals. But instead, the viewers are asked to look closely at the three Mossad agents and the turmoil they go through for thirty-three years. The message being sent in this film is that the government does not want to be involved when there is a mess up or in failed missions. Instead the film shows how the blame is shifted squarely on patriotic people who are used as pawns and scapegoats to partake in government missions. In the end, it is unfortunate that the three innocent Mossad agents are left to resolve the conflict by cleaning up the mess of 1966, thirty-three years later by killing Dr. Vogel.
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