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Receiving Fateless by Lajos Koltai : The scandal and the enigmaThe film directed by Lajos Koltai in 2005, was based on the novel Sorstalansdg (Fateless) (1975) by Imre Kertesz, and is far from having achieved the same success as this one : having been controversial when it was released, it was quickly forgotten. However, this reception is unusual by virtue of its contrast: extremely severe in Germany, where the film was described as “kitsch”, criticism was often complimentary in the UK and in the US, where the film is considered to be strong, innovative, or even a turning point in the cinematic representation of the Nazi camps. In France, the comments range from exasperated abhorrence to gushing praise, to more nuanced analysis. These have enabled Kertesz, who wrote the script and worked closely with the director, to clarify his intentions, particularly in the contentious issue of the “beauty” of images that represent the camp experience, building up to some exceptionally “happy” moments; moments that the novel expressed by a verbal irony in which the “beautiful” image tried to give an equivalent effect. These explanations merit consideration, given self-acceptance: beyond the cultural differences related to gender more or less on the “Holocaust movie”, they are seizing what misunderstandings are made for representing and prohibiting aestheticism of the experience of the camps. The authorization that Kertesz is given to break this double ban in the name of testimony must be heard beyond the judgments in the clout that the film has raised. It is a fresh take on the relationship between the witness, art and kitsch.