Novelist and filmmaker Lucía Puenzo’s 2011 novel, Wakolda, brought to light an
open secret that had mystified her for years: Hundreds of Nazi war criminals found refuge in her native Argentina.
Now, she has adapted her novel into a feature film, The German Doctor, which explores the devious machinations of a German doctor in the Patagonian town of Bariloche, circa 1960, who befriends a young girl. Though her novel was told from the point of view of the maniacal doctor, the film shifts the perspective to the observant child.
“The film takes its time, accumulating evidence, building dread, alarming us with a seeming normalcy that we’re increasingly sure is anything but normal,” says NPR film critic Bob Mondello. “The German Doctor is never showy or melodramatic — just a kind of true-life horror story about the helpful, soft-spoken monster in our midst.”
The film opens May 23 at the Landmark Edina Cinema, 3911 W. 50th St. It
is in Spanish and German with English subtitles, and rated PG-13.
Here’s the trailer for The German Doctor:
