Argentina’s official entry into 2014’s Academy Awards finally gets a cinema release in the UK. Wakolda (also known as The German Doctor) is set in 1960 and is the true story of an Argentine family who unwittingly lived with Dr. Josef Mengele (aka The Angel of Death). Before escaping to South America with fellow Nazis following World War Two, Mengele was the chief SS physician at the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp during 1943-45. As well as being involved in making the decision at the camp as to who would be used for labour and who would be sent to the gas chamber, he was infamous for his genetic experiments, particularly on twins and dwarfs. A right cunt, basically.
Lucía Puenzo takes on the dark subject matter, with the screenplay, producing and directing credits all going to her – not only that, she wrote the novel that the film is based on. The film is mostly seen through the eyes of Lilith (Florencia Bado, in her first film role), who is charmed by Mengele upon his arrival and subsequent stay at her parents’ hotel. Mengele is also taken with her, but in a psychopathic/experimenting kinda way.
The film builds slowly, revealing facts sparingly and subtly, and becomes part-thriller, part-drama, even part-horror. The cinematography, atmosphere, and score all help create a tension about the eventual fate of the family, and, in particular, Lilith and the soon to be born twins. The performances are great, too - Alex Brendemuhl as Mengele gets the balance of charm and menace just right, while newcomer Bado has a good chemistry with him, in what is a twisted coming–of-age drama for her character.
Although I am unable to vouch for how true all the film’s events are, Wakolda still remains an interesting snapshot of a dark part of history, reminding us that, despite the overall win against the Nazis in 1945, not all of them faced the justice they deserved.
Wakolda will be shown at Broadway Cinema until Thursday 14 August 2014.
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