"The German Doctor" is Lucía Puenzo's take on what Nazi war criminal Josef Mengele (aka "The Angel of Death") might have been doing while he was on the run in Argentina in the early 60s. Puenzo has fashioned her story based on her own 2011 novel, "Wakolda." Since Mengele is revealed to be Puenzo's protagonist from the get go, the film offers little in terms of suspense. Nonetheless, "The German Doctor" is worthwhile in other respects and Puenzo manages to convey a believable tale despite its fictional underpinnings.
Puenzo's framing device is a coming of age story focusing on 12 year old Lillith, who has arrived in 1960 with her Argentinian father, Enzo, German-speaking mother, Eva (descended from German immigrants who came to Argentina years before), and brothers Tomas and Polo, to the town of Bariloche, a German enclave in the Patagonian region of Argentina. Enzo and Eva are re-opening a family held inn and their first paying guest is Helmut Gregor, a creepy doctor who actually is Josef Mengele, responsible for ghastly crimes against humanity while he was head doctor at Auschwitz during World War II.
Lillith, a victim of stunted physical development, is unmercifully mocked by fellow students at the German speaking school she attends. In steps Gregor who offers Eva assistance in helping to advance Lillith's maturation by administering growth hormone injections.
As a descendant of ethnic Germans, Eva trusts Gregor instinctively and perhaps is symbolic of the Nazi sympathizers during the Third Reich, whom were seduced by promises of national victory via theories of racial superiority. In order to help her daughter, Eva is willing to betray her husband, who is dead set against the idea of hormone injections that, in his opinion, are against nature.
Not only is Eva seduced, but later Gregor seduces Enzo, by offering to mass produce his special children's porcelain doll design. Enzo perhaps represents the "Good Germans" who were opposed to Nazi theories of racial superiority but were taken in by the quest for material advancement.
Puenzo also does well in reminding us that individuals such as Mengele could not have thrived without the support of the community who gave comfort to him. Gregor aka Mengele received money from ex-Nazis and Nazi sympathizers which was passed on to him by members of the ethnic German community in Argentina. The violence underneath the surface is perhaps best illustrated by the brutal beating of one of the children at the German speaking school by a coterie of latter day descendants of the Hitler Youth.
When Mengele was at Auschwitz, his obsession with twins, would often lead him to conduct barbaric experiments (such as surgically attaching twins together to observe their behavior). Here too he appears to be taking an unhealthy interest in Eva, who is now about to give birth to a set of twins herself. But when Enzo learns of Gregor's administration of hormone treatments on Lillith, he orders the bad doctor off the premises immediately.
In a twist, Eva gives birth to twins who are premature and Enzo has no choice to allow Gregor to assist in helping the twins hours after their birth. Puenzo makes things uncomfortable for everyone by suggesting that evil (in the shape of monster Mengele) has a human face (Gregor), who can harbor ordinary benevolent feelings alongside the monstrous (Gregor's treatment involves prescribing different doses of milk for each infant).
In the end, it hardly matters whether this Mengele is real or a fake. Puenzo's makes the good point that seemingly normal people, irrespective of a past positive ethical history, can be easily seduced by evil, when it suits their interests.
Puenzo's framing device is a coming of age story focusing on 12 year old Lillith, who has arrived in 1960 with her Argentinian father, Enzo, German-speaking mother, Eva (descended from German immigrants who came to Argentina years before), and brothers Tomas and Polo, to the town of Bariloche, a German enclave in the Patagonian region of Argentina. Enzo and Eva are re-opening a family held inn and their first paying guest is Helmut Gregor, a creepy doctor who actually is Josef Mengele, responsible for ghastly crimes against humanity while he was head doctor at Auschwitz during World War II.
Lillith, a victim of stunted physical development, is unmercifully mocked by fellow students at the German speaking school she attends. In steps Gregor who offers Eva assistance in helping to advance Lillith's maturation by administering growth hormone injections.
As a descendant of ethnic Germans, Eva trusts Gregor instinctively and perhaps is symbolic of the Nazi sympathizers during the Third Reich, whom were seduced by promises of national victory via theories of racial superiority. In order to help her daughter, Eva is willing to betray her husband, who is dead set against the idea of hormone injections that, in his opinion, are against nature.
Not only is Eva seduced, but later Gregor seduces Enzo, by offering to mass produce his special children's porcelain doll design. Enzo perhaps represents the "Good Germans" who were opposed to Nazi theories of racial superiority but were taken in by the quest for material advancement.
Puenzo also does well in reminding us that individuals such as Mengele could not have thrived without the support of the community who gave comfort to him. Gregor aka Mengele received money from ex-Nazis and Nazi sympathizers which was passed on to him by members of the ethnic German community in Argentina. The violence underneath the surface is perhaps best illustrated by the brutal beating of one of the children at the German speaking school by a coterie of latter day descendants of the Hitler Youth.
When Mengele was at Auschwitz, his obsession with twins, would often lead him to conduct barbaric experiments (such as surgically attaching twins together to observe their behavior). Here too he appears to be taking an unhealthy interest in Eva, who is now about to give birth to a set of twins herself. But when Enzo learns of Gregor's administration of hormone treatments on Lillith, he orders the bad doctor off the premises immediately.
In a twist, Eva gives birth to twins who are premature and Enzo has no choice to allow Gregor to assist in helping the twins hours after their birth. Puenzo makes things uncomfortable for everyone by suggesting that evil (in the shape of monster Mengele) has a human face (Gregor), who can harbor ordinary benevolent feelings alongside the monstrous (Gregor's treatment involves prescribing different doses of milk for each infant).
In the end, it hardly matters whether this Mengele is real or a fake. Puenzo's makes the good point that seemingly normal people, irrespective of a past positive ethical history, can be easily seduced by evil, when it suits their interests.