Wakolda (2013) Reviews

• Argentinian family ostensibly "helped" by sadistic Nazi Dr Mengeles

  maurice_yacowar2014-04-25

  The original title of The German Doctor (and its source novel) is Wakolda. That's the name of little Lillith's (Florencia Bado) favourite doll, with a hole where its heart should be. When she drops the doll it's picked up and returned by the mysterious stranger, who turns out to be the sadistic Nazi scientist Dr. Josef Mengele (Alex Brendemuhl), operating under an assumed name. From that moment Mengele insinuates himself into Lillith's life and on into her parents'. The undersized girl and the empty doll attract Mengele's suspect interest, ostensibly out of compassion but really under cold detachment. The doll image is central. Lillith's father Enzo (Diego Peretti) is a meticulous one-of-a- kind doll maker who eventually gives Wakolda a mechanical heart. He also gives Lillith and her two brothers — via mother Eva (Natalia Orero), true — new sibling twins. Over Enzo's objections Eva lets Mengele treat Lillith's stunted growth and she takes his pregnancy prescriptions. At the twins' struggling birth Enzo is torn between wanting to banish the dangerous doctor and needing him to save them. In the end, after Mengele escapes the Mossad to Uraguay, he has branded the twins. One is normal, "the control"; the other struggles in Mengele's heartless experiment. When Mengele finances the mass production of Enzo's beautiful dolls he has several motives. One is to ingratiate himself yet further in the household, so he can continue his furtive and open measurements and experiments. His given excuse is "I love beauty." But he is fascinated by "the harmony of imperfections." The racks of porcelain dolls are more ominous than beautiful. They suggest an army of Aryan uniformity. In the piles of doll parts about to be assembled we are reminded of the images of concentration camp corpses. Both are Mengele's factories. Like any film set in some "then" the implicit pertinence is the "now." In 1960 Patagonia the German school remains passionately Nazi. When classmates beat up Lillith's friend for uncovering a buried cache of Nazi materials, the victim boy is expelled for belligerence. Lillith, born premature, is bullied and tormented for being short for her age. The archivist and photographer Nora (Elena Roger), an undercover agent who calls Mossad to arrest Mengele, is reported found dead in the snow the day after his escape. The film points ahead to both Argentina's Dirty War and the contemporary resurgence of anti-Semitism not just in Europe but on North American campuses. And of course, Mengele is only rumoured to have died by drowning. Wherever science proceeds blinded to humanity by a heartless curiosity the spirit of the Angel of Death survives. Those supermen who styled themselves Sonnenman, sun folk, were rather demons of the dark. For medicine, science, any branch of human learning, is like our last sense of those twins: possibly healthy, possibly deadly. The question always is: does the favourite have a heart? For more see www.yacowar.blogspot.com.

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• Fascinating, emotionally moving movie with solid performances!

  makocian-931-9205382013-09-14

  Seen at 2013 Cannes Film Festival, section "Un Certain Regard" Movie "Wakolda" challenges possible escape of Nazi physician Josef Mengele (Alex Brendemühl) to Bariloche, Argentina, in 1960, after being successfully in hiding for over a decade in Buenos Aires. On the road he meets an Argentinian family and becomes fascinated with their daughter Lilith (Florencia Bado) who was born premature and thus has smaller body for her age. Upon their arrival to Bariloche, Mengele, going by name Helmut Gregor, becomes a guest of family's lodging house. With permission of mother Eva (Natalia Oreiro) and behind father's Enzo (Diego Peretti) back, Mengele starts to treat Lilith with growth hormones, which reopens his fascination with pure Aryan race... The movie has exceptional score, cinematography and direction, almost fully shot in Bariloche's exteriors. The story develops into psychological thriller and suspense especially in moments where the family has no idea who the stranger in their house truly is, but spectators are fully aware of his true nature. Director Puenzo managed to incorporate into her movie elements of Nazi fascination by local community, mystery of genetic research and innocence of young Lilith who feels privileged to get stranger's attention. Alex Brendemühl is chilling as the "Angel of Death", while Florencia Bado gives solid performance, especially being it her first movie role. Natalia Oreiro, Diego Peretti and Elena Roger manage to capture essence of their diverse characters and have on-screen moments with stunning performances. Oreiro convincingly portrays a mother who submits her child to hormone experimentation believing it to be the only option to help Lilith as she blames herself for having her prematurely. The movie is multilayer and touches topics of Argentinian history that is not known to many. "Wakolda" is certainly an extraordinary movie experience.

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• A gripping drama about the Auschwitz Angel of Death

  jkbonner12014-05-04

  This is one of the best movies I've seen in quite a while. Although the Argentinian family in the movie is fictitious, there is much truth about the movie. It takes place in and around the city of San Carlos de Bariloche (aka simply Bariloche) in Argentinian Patagonia. Bariloche had a large contingent of German immigrants long before World War II and it was a recognized haven for Nazi war criminals after the War. It is also one of the most beautiful parts of Argentina known for its snow-capped mountains and Lake Nahuel Huapi, all of which are splendidly shown in the movie. There was even a rumor floating around at one time that Adolf Hitler and his mistress/wife, Eva Braun, lived there after the War. The Angel of Death is of course the infamous Dr. Josef Mengele (1911-1979?), chief SS staff physician at the notorious Auschwitz-Birkenau labor/death camp from early 1943 to early 1945. What makes Mengele so heinous were his genetic experiments, particularly on twins and dwarfs. He was also involved in making the decision at the camp as to who would be used for labor and who would be sent to the gas chamber and certain death. Reading even a bit about his life will quickly convince you he was a true psychopath. The movie opens in 1960. Mengele (Àlex Brendemühl)―known by his pseudonym Helmut Gregor―is traveling to Bariloche along a lone, unpaved road where he encounters an Argentinian family: Enzo (Diego Peretti), Eva (Natalia Oreiro), Lilith (Florencia Bado), and their teenage son. Gregor/Mengele notices that Lilith, twelve, is very short for her age. Although he is very friendly with her, you can see the wheels turning in his head that she would make an excellent subject for one of his experiments. BTW Bado in her first film role does an outstanding job portraying the intelligent, but vulnerable, Lilith. Even at this early stage Enzo subconsciously picks up on Gregor/Mengele as a threat to his family, but since he has nothing overt to go on, lets Gregor/Mengele follow him on the unpaved road toward Bariloche. Eva is of German descent but born in Argentina. She has learned German at a private school in Bariloche run by Germans for German Argentinians. The family plans to restore a resort hotel and Gregor/Mengele volunteers to become their first paying guest. Soon he is injecting hormones into Lilith with Eva's consent in an attempt to make her grow. This is despite Enzo warning Eva that she is specifically not to let Gregor/Mengele perform any experiments on Lilith without his consent. Eva is also pregnant with twins and soon lets Gregor/Mengele begin experimenting with her preborn children. Lilith becomes a student at the private school in Bariloche that her mother attended. She is befriended by a young photographer there, Nora Eldoc (Elena Roger). Eldoc recognizes Gregor as Mengele, confronts him, and shows the evidence of his experiments on Lilith and the twins. Eldoc has also reported his whereabouts, making it necessary for him to flee Argentina. For this he tells her in effect she will soon be murdered. The story ends with Eva realizing what a horrible mistake she has made by allowing Gregor/Mengele to treat her while pregnant and to treat Lilith. One of her twins is born with bad health from Gregor/Mengele's genetic/hormonal experimentation and Lilith may suffer from the injection of too much growth hormone for the rest of her life. At the very end we see a small seaplane flying off to Paraguay carrying Gregor/Mengele escaping the long arm of Mossad. The next day Eldoc is discovered in a cave in the mountains, dead, just as Gregor/Mengele has insinuated. Nora Eldoc was a real person who was an undercover Israeli agent in Bariloche who was murdered as described above. Although fictitious, the movie is supported by a solid bed of facts. There are subtleties in the movie I have neglected in order to keep this review manageable―such as the significance of the porcelain dolls, Gregor/Mengele's detailed notes of his experiments and his fascination with measurement, the abject respect many of the German Argentinians display towards Gregor/Mengele, and Eva's conflicts with Enzo. The acting's outstanding as is the cinematography. Written and directed by Lucía Puenzo. This movie ought to win some awards. I saw it at Laemmle's Playhouse 7 in Pasadena, California USA. The theater was not very crowded. Unfortunately this movie will probably not attract a large audience. This is a real shame because it really should be seen. And it should be seen because Mengele was a monster in reality and he truly existed. And he truly and habitually did the things that the movie depicts him doing. That such a person can really exist should be a lot more frightening than vampires and zombies. 10/10

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• More Creepy than Scary but still good

  jeremyochsgonzales2014-05-03

  Last weekend my husband and I went to see the movie "The German Doctor". The film is set in Argentina in the early 1960's and is based on true events. I am both a film buff and a history buff so the film was right up my alley. After World War 2 there were many Nazi war criminals that fled to South America to escape prosecution for their crimes against humanity. One of them was Josef Mengele, who had done human experimentation at Auschwitz during the holocaust and was known as the "angel of death". In the film an Argentine family is traveling to the Patagonia region of Argentina to reopen a family hotel. As they travel they meet a German doctor who befriends them. Although the father of the family is never really keen on the doctor the mother and daughter do take a liking to him. Once the family reaches their destination it is clear there is something not quite right about the doctor. The daughter was born prematurely and has always been the smallest girl her age. The doctor promises that growth hormones that have been used on cows could help the girl catch up to her peers. Is he trying to help or his he just experimenting on this poor Argentine girl for the sake of experimenting? What is interesting about the film is seeing the close relationship between Argentina and Germany. I already know about the Nazi's that escaped there after World War 2 but I hadn't really thought about the connection during or before the war. That connection becomes obvious early in the film when the mother is talking about how she went to the German school in Patagonia when she was a child. She is looking at some old pictures and in the background is the Nazi flag. It was a shocking image but it made sense. When somebody takes a foreign language class the classroom usually has flags and pictures of countries that speak that language. Why would a German school in Argentina in the 1930s or 1940s be any different? It also made me really understand that there had to already be Nazi sympathizers in Argentina during the Holocaust who would have been willing to help the Nazi's escape after the war. The acting is good and I enjoyed the film switching back and forth from Spanish to German. I thought the movie would be an intense thriller but in the end the film was more creepy than scary. Still, it was a good film worth seeing. I think it is important for Americans to understand the history of other parts of the world. The film has gotten a very limited release so if it isn't in theater near you be sure to check it out on video. For more movie reviews check out my blog http://jeremyochsgonzales.wordpress.com/

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• Compelling

  jeffk-19622014-09-16

  Just saw one of the most compelling movies I have seen in quite a long time. "The German Doctor". It has the beautiful scenery of Bariloche Argentina shot throughout and some of the best acting I have seen in years along with a compelling musical score. It's basic plot deals with Mengele, perhaps one of the greatest villains to have survived the fall of the Nazi empire. He travels into Argentina and ingratiates himself with an Argentine family of Germany ethnicity. The role played by the doctor is both chilling and fascinating. Mengele comes across at first as a benevolent force, but soon we develop the insight not only as to who this person is, but how casually he dehumanizes everyone to meet his own terms of science and beauty. Pay special attention to the symbolism of dolls and their "sameness". The acting is exquisite, with Florencia Bado who conveys the innocence of a young girl who trusts "the German Doctor" as well as Natalia Oriero and Diego Peretti. There is no gruesome violence in this movie, no "action sequence", no CGI, no bad language, no nudity. Only the chilling suspense and dialogue of an evil passing itself as benevolence. The stark winter landscape and beautiful forests of that region are known to me and they were captured in a magnificent way. I cannot recommend this movie enough.

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