'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.

"The German Doctor" is an Argentinean film based on real events. Interestingly, the man who wrote the novel, Lucía Puenzo, also wrote the screenplay, produced AND directed this movie. It's also really worth your time, as Puenzo shows a very deft hand helming this interesting picture.

The story is set in Argentina in 1960*. A family has decided to move into the Patagonian countryside and open up a bed guesthouse. Their first customer is a handsome and genial German man who is very easy to like. The daughter in particular spends a lot of time with this man. This is because he is a doctor and claims he might be able to help the girl. After all, although she's 12, she appears to be about 9 years- old and the kids at school make fun of her because of this. With the mother's permission, the good doctor tests out his new formula which might help her to grow. They have no idea exactly what he's giving her, but the formula does seem to help. In addition, since the doctor is such a nice man, he offers to help the pregnant mother who soon learns from the doctor that she's going to have twins. Unfortunately, it turns out that the doctor isn't who he says he is...he's Joseph Mengele-- the notoriously evil Nazi who worked at Auschwitz. And why was he so notorious? Because he performed all sorts of ungodly experiments on people...and his subjects of choice were twins. And, according to the film, his wicked experiments continued long after the war had ended.

While I would love to tell you that the film has a happy ending**, it didn't. After all, this psychopath was one of the most important Nazi war criminals to escape prosecution. So, if you are the type that expects or needs a happy ending, then you just might want to pick another movie. Nevertheless, it is exquisitely crafted and not excessively sad nor graphic--at least in regard to what you see and hear during the course of the film. It's much more thought- provoking than anything else--and a movie that is well worth your time.

*Although I loved the film, the attention to period detail was poor. The film was set in 1960 but many of the cars are late 1960s vintage. **My daughter saw this in the theater and was shocked to hear several people complain about the film because it did not have a happy ending. I hate to think that they wanted them to change history and have the doctor captured and shot. While satisfying, this just isn't what happened to the guy!

Entertaining and suspenseful thriller about Joseph Mengele and a good family , starring an excellent plethora of actors as Àlex Brendemühl, Diego Peretti, Guillermo Pfening, Natalia Oreiro, Florencia Bado and Elena Roger and being Argentina's submission for the Oscar for best foreign language film . Based on Lucia Puenzo's readable novel , and also filmmaker , this is an exciting thriller about The Doctor "Joseph Méngüele", (Àlex Brendemühl) known member of the Nazi party German, and cruel doctor of the concentration camp of Auschwitz ; concerning in the years he spent "hiding", along with many other Nazi's, in South America following his escape from Germany . He escaped and pursued by the Mossad took refuge in Paraguay and Brazil after the fall of the Third Reich as many war criminals did after the war . There in South America get together a group of young people , militants of the Third Reich, to work in strange issues in which he can proceed their repugnant experiments on genetic engineering and twins . As the subtle veil of horror draped over things we take for granted as good and wonderful aspects of humanity is deeply unsettling . Mengele attempts to reconstitute the Nazi movement from his sanctuary cloning of boys' genes and carrying out terrible practices ; in fact , at that time cloning was on initial developing . As his clammy presence returns to the big screen with this Argentine drama based on the true story of a family who lived with Josef Mengele without knowing his true identity, and of a girl who fell in love with one of the biggest criminals of all time . Patagonia, 1960 . A German doctor (Alex Brendemühl) meets an Argentinean family and follows them on a long desert road to Bariloche , arriving in a small town where the family will be starting a new life , there they run a hotel in the icy boondocks , but 'once a Nazi scumbag, always a Nazi scumbag', and soon Mengele's back pursuing his interest in eugenics on the youngest member of the clan . As Eva (Natalia Oreiro),Enzo (Diego Peretti) and their three children welcome the doctor into their inherited hotel and entrust their young daughter, Lilith (Florencia Bado) . Lilith (played by the newcomer Florencia Bado) is remarkably small for her age, and is often the victim of much teasing at school as a result. However there appears to be a cure for her lack of growth , as the local German doctor . Soon Mengele is living in the lakeside hotel the family operates, investing in dad Enzo's custom doll-making business, and making medical suggestions for how undersized Lilith — who looks like an eight-year-old and is teased at school as a "dwarf" — might jump start her growth and kick-start her delayed adolescence . Wakolda is the name of our 12 year old protagonist's doll, and is therefore emblematic of her innocence, which is far more poignant. Meanwhile , a photographer begins to investigate and discovers the horrible plan of "Méngüele¨ , the "Angel of Death," , one of the most dangerous criminals in the world.

The screenplay by Lucia Puenzo takes some licenses about Mengele real-life but is nicely developed and gets certain tension and amusement with moral dilemma included . Its importance lies mostly in its dramatic as well as thrilling approach . Wakolda" (original title) which represents a more fitting , symbolic title to truly capture the essence of this moving, disquieting drama ; being also titled "The German Doctor" or ¨El medico Aleman" results to be a suspense movie that amuses and entertains , has good taste and in general lines is above average . Story is not boring , neither tiring but is entertaining at any time, though it is true that turns into a picture that tends to underline its latent absurdities and entangled in his ending . After all, this picture is not about the doctor, as such , but his relationship with the young Lilith , finding a strand of intimacy amidst an otherwise comprehensive, implicative narrative . In the picture appears some of the best Argentinean actors such as Natalia Oreiro as Eva , Diego Peretti as Enzo , both of whom give nice interpretations . Special mention to Spanish Àlex Brendemühl , he is terrific as a brutal Josef Mengele .

The motion picture was well written and directed by Lucia Puenzo . As Puenzo efficiently seeks to explore the banality - and impunity - of a devastating evil . Lucía Puenzo's third feature film to follow the critically acclaimed Xxy and The Fish Child . Wakoda premiering in the Un Certain Regard programme at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival ; Puenzo's latest went on to be nominated as Argentina's official entry at this year's Academy Awards amidst much acclaim .