Wakolda

[Beate]

Saw this at Greenwich Picturehouse this morning. Thought it was excellent. Quite tense. And I remembered I really don't like dolls, especially china dolls. They give me the creeps.

8/10

[funthing29]

There is a sinister chilling undercurrent throughout the entire film which is eerily successful. The 94 minutes just flew by. 8/10.

[jojojoanne]

I too thought this was very good. Nice to see Beate and OH. And Beate pointed elski out to me, so I made myself known to her on the way out!!

[JMP]

Very creepy...but what beautiful scenery.

[RAZORBACK]

Thought this was just okay, the characters weren't particularly likeable & as I found the conclusion to be relatively unsatisfying it only gets 6/10 from me...

[RevKeith39]

Thought this an excellent film. Because the horror of what Mengele had done was not shown but simply referred to made the atmosphere more compelling. All performances were excellent. The use of dolls was well done. The scene in the doll factory like a charnel house...or concentration camp, was particularly effective. 9/10

[umral]

I found this an interesting meditation on the banality of evil, set amongst spectacular scenery on the Argentine / Chile border, with a lovely performance from Florencia Bado as Lilith. Unfairly treated by some professional critics, admittedly (until almost the end) it lacked menace, but was unsettling and gripping throughout.

[IProspero]

Hello,

I saw The German Doctor at Harbour Lights, Southampton last Sunday. It was set in 1960, the year I was born. At the start of the film, an enigmatic, yet charismatic, man gazes at a girl he doesn't know. Is it just me, or are other people now conditioned to interpret such a gaze as sexual? The film soon reveals he isn't undressing her with his eyes, he is measuring her limbs. He is dedicated to weighing and measuring people, especially children. And when he discovers the girl's mother is expecting twins, well . . .

A few conceits which probably worked well in the original novel jar a little on screen, most obviously the child/doll development plot line. That being said, this one thread leads to revelations about the true extent of the doctor's power, the meaning of perfection, the artisan idealist become industrialist capitalist, the nature of childhood. Hey, it's also a proper education about this period in history. It plays down the tension which surrounds the subterfuge which ensues. This may be a mistake. I'd have liked the suspense racked up a notch. The story certainly merits it. Do go see . . .

IProspero

[Cortone]

Great performances, and the story built well to produce a credible thriller. Deeply troubling content though, and also in some of the comments at the end of the film

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about the photographer

. Bit of a morality tale too, in terms of thinking about being 'better' than you are.

Having seen this, I am concerned about national schools in other lands - e.g. the German school in Patagonia - where the values of the school students and the teachers did not fill me with hope.

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At least the wads of cash seemed to dwindle over time. Not much of a consolation though. http://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/n ... ndworldwar

The landscape was truly stunning, although some parts of the hotel looked rather more glamorous than I would have expected at that time. (Another place to go if I win the lottery. )

[stuartboy]

Saw this tonight as part of OurScreen.
Must admit that I was sadly disappointed. Having read a synopsis I was expecting so much more. What we got was lots and lots of Argentinian landscapes and mountain scenery, and repeated glances at this notebook that the doctor kept drawing in. So much was implied and for a subject matter that could have commanded a rather good horror movie/thriller this was more of a damp squib. Indeed the doctor's name wasn't even made evident until the closing credits. A real missed oppertunity.
That said, perhaps such subject matter should not be glorified into something that would otherwise serve to entertain. Perhaps this then should have been more of a documentary.

6/10

Wanted more from this.