I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

So much average

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

'The German Doctor' is a quiet movie, but with a dark undertone, telling of the sojourn of escaped Nazi doctor Josef Mengele in southern Argentina (in fact, the plot is fiction, but also a surmisable version of the truth). What I liked about this film is that it inclines us to see Mengele as monstrously wrong-headed, but still in some senses still human, while a late revelation still shocks us by revealing the true awfulness of this man. Also, the Patagonian scenery is beautiful and the use of creepy mechanical dolls as a visual metaphor for how Mengele sees humans is also nicely done. But we know that Mengele got away in the end, and the film also tells us (by dint of a voice over, delivered with hindsight) that the girl we see him experiment with also survives. And thus there's just not so much dramatic tension, and the movie is rather slow to advance beyond its premise: most of the impact comes at the end.

a special film. not for the theme. only for its subtle, touching, precise exploration. because an ordinary event becomes root for a fascinating trip in the essence of evil. a film who use in perfect manner each of elements who defines it. cold and dramatic, useful remember about the Nazi policy, using a dark figure who, for many, is only a name among many others. the film is remarkable for the inspired style to present the work of a doctor who continues use the people as objects for his plans. the realism, the science to respect the thin line between drama and pink nuances of each dramatic story, the tension are pieces of a film who is out of entertainment's circle but could be a good support for reflection about a period and its sinister figures.

"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.

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