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THE GERMAN DOCTOR Send This Review to a Friend
An eerie atmosphere hangs over this compelling film written and directed by Lucia Puenzo, based on her novel “Wakolda” and set in Patagonia, Argentina in 1960. As we come to know, the German doctor in question who insinuates himself into a family that provides living space in the hotel it operates is none other than the infamous escaped Nazi butcher Josef Mengele, then one of the most sought after of Nazi war criminals. He has his reasons for his attraction to the Argentine family and they are soon connected to the kind of experiments he did during the Holocaust.
Alex Brendemühl plays him with cool determination and what interests him is a young daughter of the family. Lillith (Florencia Bado) is very short, and the ever-experimental Mengele believes that his injection of hormones, regardless of side effects, can make the girl grow, which is indeed happening. Enzo (Diego Peretti), who repairs and makes dolls, is apprehensive and doesn’t want the doctor, of whose identity he is unaware, to work on his daughter. But Enzo’s wife Eva (Natalia Oreiro) is more trusting.
The situation gets even more complicated when Eva becomes pregnant with twins. Mengele purports to help her through the birth. He relishes the opportunity, especially when the birth becomes difficult, and unbeknownst to the family as to what he is up to, he is experimenting with how to enable one twin survive at the expense of the other.
Mengele has support from those in a Nazi-oriented enclave, emblematic of the existence of Nazis who fled to Argentina and elsewhere in Latin America to save themselves and further promote their master races theories.
The film takes a sharp turn when news reports detail the Israeli capture of Adolf Eichmann, which triggers an immediate escape plan to spirit Mengele out of Argentina. A heroic woman who has discovered the doctor’s identity has attempted to aid in his capture, and knowing this, Mengele threatens her with death. We see a plane flying off with him.
Mengele was never captured. His death in 1979 was eventually confirmed.
Puenzo’z film, in Spanish and German with English subtitles, is a haunting fictional exploration against a background of realty, with effective story-telling that keeps one engaged throughout. A Samuel Goldwyn Films release. Reviewed April 25, 2014.
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