Showing @ Cineworld, Glasgow, Thu 27 and Fri 28 Feb
Lucía Puenzo / Argentina/France/Spain/Norway / 2013 / 93 mins
Based on the novel by director Lucía Puenzo, this cold and pensive drama depicts the infamous Nazi scientist Josef Mengele’s exile in South America. Eva (Natalia Oreiro) and Enzo (Diego Peretti) have recently taken over a guesthouse in Patagonia when an elusive German-speaking doctor (Àlex Brendemühl) takes residence. It’s not long before he’s taking an uncomfortably keen interest in the stunted growth of their youngest daughter Lilith (Florencia Bado).
The understand menace of Brendemühl’s tight-lipped Mengele seeps out from him before any reason to suspect him of wrongdoing has been presented on screen. This is partly due to the calm, medical precision of Mengele’s actions: writing notes, taking measurements and even when speaking, reflected in the unhurried pace of the film and lingering panoramas of the bleak countryside. The subplot of Enzo’s pastime in making dolls makes for a nice parallel to Mengele’s morbid hobby but is overstated, forcing the theme down the audience’s throat. Through the torment of the waif-like Lilith’s by the school bullies, Puenzo balances the malevolent view of Mengele, with how he views himself: a scientific saviour of curable ailments. Despite the juxtaposition of this polarity in opinion, the obvious direction of the narrative coupled with the sedentary pace, inhibits the film’s ability to sustain its suspense and tension.