leethomas-11621 From what I watched, magnificent setting for blandly told dramatic story.

movies-by-db A simple Argentinian family makes a fresh start by reopening a hotel in the Pategonian mountains left behind by the mothers parents.Their first guest is a well spoken foreign man, who seems as mysterious as he is intelligent. His interest in this family and his further activities in the nearby town make us wonder about the double agenda he is keeping. As the family starts to doubt his motives, and other characters also start to show their true colors, we are presented with an intricate tale of mounting tension and international mystery. Of course we know who we are dealing with, and this type of story would work even better if that detail was unknown, but it still works so well as it remains, for the biggest part, fiction. So anything can happen. The fact that we are dealing with THIS monster just gives the whole film an extra layer of creepiness.The film, to me, didn't come across as Argentinian at all, but I guess the mountainous (and snowy) surroundings and bilingual dialogue caused that. However this didn't matter as these surroundings where pretty spectacular and almost a character of their own.Sollid acting, all around. Particularly the doctor and the girl, but really everyone involved. As said, beautiful surroundings and locations and always nice to watch a period based story (eventhough some details may not have been entirely right). And above all, great storytelling. Nicely built up tension, never too sensational and it thankfully steers clear of the expected clichés dealing with a character of such history.Great, engaging, emotional, old fashioned, must see film 8/10

Turfseer "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.

Larry Silverstein This Argentinian drama, written and directed by Lucia Puenzo, based on her novel "Wakolda", maintains a great deal of creepiness and subtle tension throughout. There are also lots of fine and realistic performances by pretty much the entire cast here.Set in 1960, in the Argentine city of Bariloche, Alex Brendemuhl leads the way here with a understated and chilling performance as Helmut Gregor, a German refugee and physician, and whom we slowly learn may indeed be Josef Mengele, aka "The Angel of Death", for his atrocities and human experiments at the Auschwitz death camp during WW2.He begins to utilize every opportunity to ingratiate himself with an Argentinian family, who are trying to reopen a hotel, in Bariloche, that was bequeathed to them by a recently deceased family member. The family consists of the father Enzo (Diego Paretti), the mother Eva (Natalia Oreiro), their daughter Lilith (Florencia Bado), who by the way is remarkable in her screen debut, and Lilith's two brothers Tomas and Polo.Lilith is quite small for a 12-year-old girl, and is being bullied and harassed by her classmates at her new school. She'll become a particular target for the doctor, as he tries to convince her parents that he can help her to grow with an experimental hormone treatment. Lilith and Eva are receptive to his offers , but Enzo is wisely suspicious of the doctor's intentions from the very start. The doctor even tries to win over Enzo by investing in his part-time doll making business.However, when a local archivist and photographer at the school, Nora Eldoc (Elena Roger), who may also be acting as an Isreali Mossad agent, spots the doctor, she quickly discovers he may indeed be Mengele. Tensions will quickly grow in the town, which is filled with Nazi sympathizers, who even celebrate the birth date of Hitler each year. Things will reach a boiling point when the doctor gets involved in the care of treatment of Eva's newly born twins.In summary, although there were some plot details that didn't quite add up near the end, I felt overall this movie was very engrossing and, as mentioned, maintained a tone of tension throughout and I would say is certainly worth a watch. By the way, just to mention the cinematography outside of the hotel, with the beautiful lake at the base of the snow capped Andes mountains was truly spectacular.