''The German Doctor'' ( es, Wakolda) is a 2013 Argentine historical drama film directed, produced, and written by
Lucía Puenzo
Lucía Puenzo (born 28 November 1976, Buenos Aires) is an Argentine author, screenwriter and film director. She is the daughter of the Oscar-winning film director, producer, and screenplay writer, Luis Puenzo.
Early life
Puenzo studied literat ...
, based on her own novel ''Wakolda'' (2011). The film stars
Àlex Brendemühl
Àlex Brendemühl i Gubern (born 27 November 1972) is a Spanish-German actor. Born in Barcelona to a Spanish mother and a German father, he has appeared in more than 60 films and television shows since 1995. Brendemühl played the lead role of ...
as Nazi
SS officer and physician
Josef Mengele
, allegiance =
, branch = Schutzstaffel
, serviceyears = 1938–1945
, rank = '' SS''-'' Hauptsturmführer'' (Captain)
, servicenumber =
, battles =
, unit =
, awards =
, commands =
, ...
, infamous for performing
human experiments
''Human Experiments'' (also known as ''Beyond the Gate'') is a 1979 American horror film directed and co-produced by Gregory Goodell. It stars Linda Haynes, Geoffrey Lewis, Ellen Travolta, Aldo Ray,
Jackie Coogan and Lurene Tuttle. This fil ...
in the
Auschwitz concentration camp. It also stars Florencia Bado,
Natalia Oreiro
Natalia Marisa Oreiro Iglesias (; born 19 May 1977) is a Uruguayan actress, singer, songwriter, model, television presenter and fashion designer. Oreiro began her career in telenovelas. Since 2008 she has switched to work primarily in films. O ...
,
Diego Peretti
Diego Peretti (born 10 February 1963) is an Argentine actor, screenwriter and former psychiatrist.
Peretti was born in Buenos Aires, and practiced as a psychiatrist for fourteen years. He took part in several movies and TV series, including ...
,
Elena Roger, and Guillermo Pfening.
Plot
Josef Mengele
, allegiance =
, branch = Schutzstaffel
, serviceyears = 1938–1945
, rank = '' SS''-'' Hauptsturmführer'' (Captain)
, servicenumber =
, battles =
, unit =
, awards =
, commands =
, ...
is in exile in Argentina in 1960, living under a new identity. He makes a long journey by road to a new location by following a family, as the roads are dangerous. Mengele has his own place to stay in
Bariloche
San Carlos de Bariloche, usually known as Bariloche (), is a city in the province of Río Negro, Argentina, situated in the foothills of the Andes on the southern shores of Nahuel Huapi Lake. It is located within the Nahuel Huapi National Park ...
, in western
Patagonia
Patagonia () refers to a geographical region that encompasses the southern end of South America, governed by Argentina and Chile. The region comprises the southern section of the Andes Mountains with lakes, fjords, temperate rainforests, and g ...
, but he takes an interest in Lilith, who is the daughter of the family, and he moves into their hotel by paying six months' rent.
Lilith was born prematurely and, as a result, she is much shorter than her classmates. She is bullied at school because of her size. Mengele is working as a doctor and suggests that he can help her grow more quickly, and Lilith's mother Eva agrees to this. Both Lilith and her mother conceal this from Lilith's father who has forbidden any such treatments. Meanwhile, people who have been searching for Mengele believe that they have found him and begin to gather evidence on his true identity.
Eva is pregnant with twins, to Mengele's fascination. He compiles copious notes on them, Lilith, and the rest of her family as he continues to aid in her growth. Lilith becomes sick as a side effect of the growth hormones that Mengele has given her. Her father Enzo is furious and demands that Mengele leave the hotel. Eva goes into labor, and Mengele is the only doctor nearby and is allowed to help with the care of the newborn twins. They are born prematurely, and Mengele starts to experiment on them. He is conscious of the fact that people are trying to find his true identity, but is hesitant to leave due to his interest in the newborn twins. Throughout the story Mengele is being tracked by a photographer, Nora Eldoc, who is in contact with Israeli Nazi war criminal hunters. The Nazi hunters act too slowly on her information allowing Mengele to escape as they watch a sea plane with Mengele on board depart. The epilogue informs us that she was murdered the day after Mengele's escape, her body found two days later buried in the snow, and that Mengele was never captured and drowned in 1979 in Brazil.
Cast
*
Àlex Brendemühl
Àlex Brendemühl i Gubern (born 27 November 1972) is a Spanish-German actor. Born in Barcelona to a Spanish mother and a German father, he has appeared in more than 60 films and television shows since 1995. Brendemühl played the lead role of ...
as
Josef Mengele
, allegiance =
, branch = Schutzstaffel
, serviceyears = 1938–1945
, rank = '' SS''-'' Hauptsturmführer'' (Captain)
, servicenumber =
, battles =
, unit =
, awards =
, commands =
, ...
alias Helmut Gregor
*Florencia Bado as Lilith
*
Diego Peretti
Diego Peretti (born 10 February 1963) is an Argentine actor, screenwriter and former psychiatrist.
Peretti was born in Buenos Aires, and practiced as a psychiatrist for fourteen years. He took part in several movies and TV series, including ...
as Enzo
*
Natalia Oreiro
Natalia Marisa Oreiro Iglesias (; born 19 May 1977) is a Uruguayan actress, singer, songwriter, model, television presenter and fashion designer. Oreiro began her career in telenovelas. Since 2008 she has switched to work primarily in films. O ...
as Eva
*
Elena Roger as Nora Eldoc
*Guillermo Pfening as Klaus
*Alan Daicz as Tomás
*Ana Pauls as Nurse
*Abril Braunstein as Ailín
*Juani Martínez as Otto
Release
It was screened in the
Un Certain Regard
(, meaning 'a certain glance') is a section of the Cannes Film Festival's official selection. It is run at the Debussy, parallel to the competition for the . This section was introduced in 1978 by Gilles Jacob.
The section presents 20 films w ...
section at the
2013 Cannes Film Festival
The 66th Cannes Film Festival took place in Cannes, France, from 15 to 26 May 2013. Steven Spielberg was the head of the jury for the main competition. New Zealand film director Jane Campion was the head of the jury for the Cinéfondation and ...
. The film was selected as the Argentine entry for the
Best Foreign Language Film
This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards.
Best Actor/Best Actress
*See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...
at the
86th Academy Awards, but it was not nominated.
Reception
On
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, the film has a "Certified Fresh" approval rating of 75% based on reviews from 63 critics, with an average score of 6.5/10. The site's consensus reads, "''The German Doctor'' applies a refreshing level of restraint to its intriguing premise, and boasts solid performances from a talented cast." On
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...
, it has a score of 62% based on reviews from 18 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
Accolades
See also
*
*
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:German Doctor, The
2013 drama films
2013 films
2013 thriller films
Argentine thriller films
French thriller films
Norwegian thriller films
Spanish thriller films
Films set in 1960
Films set in Argentina
Films about Nazi hunters
Films about Nazi fugitives in South America
Cultural depictions of Josef Mengele
2010s French films
2010s Argentine films