Plot
The true story of an Argentine 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.
Release Year: 2013
Rating: 7.0/10 (1,344 voted)
Critic's Score: 55/100
Director: Lucía Puenzo
Stars: Àlex Brendemühl, Diego Peretti, Guillermo Pfening
Storyline
Patagonia, 1960. A German doctor (Alex Brendemühl) meets an Argentinean family and follows them on a long desert road to a small town where the family will be starting a new life. Eva (Natalia Oreiro), Enzo (Diego Peretti) and their three children welcome the doctor into their home and entrust their young daughter, Lilith (Florencia Bado), to his care, not knowing that they are harboring one of the most dangerous criminals in the world. At the same time, Israeli agents are desperately looking to bring THE GERMAN DOCTOR to justice. Based on filmmaker Lucía Puenzo's (XXY) fifth novel, the story follows Josef Mengele, the "Angel of Death," a German SS officer and a physician at the Auschwitz concentration camp, in the years he spent "hiding", along with many other Nazi's, in South America following his escape from Germany. Mengele was considered to be one of WWII's most heinous Nazi war criminals.
Cast: Natalia Oreiro -
Eva
Àlex Brendemühl -
Josef Mengele
Diego Peretti -
Enzo
Florencia Bado -
Lilith
Guillermo Pfening -
Klaus
Elena Roger -
Nora Eldoc
Ana Pauls -
Nurse
Alan Daicz -
Tomás
Abril Braunstein -
Ailín
Juan I. Martínez -
Otto
Taglines:
Nada es más misterioso que la sangre. (Nothing is more mysterious than the blood.)
Filming Locations: Bariloche, Río Negro, Argentina
Box Office Details
Budget: $2,000,000
(estimated)
Technical Specs
Runtime:
Did You Know?
Trivia:
Director Lucía Puenzo decided to cast actress Natalia Oreiro into leading role after seeing her performance in Clandestine Childhood (2011). See more »
User Review
Author:
Rating: 10/10
Seen at 2013 Cannes Film Festival, section "Un Certain Regard"
Movie "Wakolda" challenges possible escape of Nazi physician Josef
Mengele (Alex Brendemühl) to Bariloche, Argentina, in 1960, after being
successfully in hiding for over a decade in Buenos Aires. On the road
he meets an Argentinian family and becomes fascinated with their
daughter Lilith (Florencia Bado) who was born premature and thus has
smaller body for her age. Upon their arrival to Bariloche, Mengele,
going by name Helmut Gregor, becomes a guest of family's lodging house.
With permission of mother Eva (Natalia Oreiro) and behind father's Enzo
(Diego Peretti) back, Mengele starts to treat Lilith with growth
hormones, which reopens his fascination with pure Aryan race...
The movie has exceptional score, cinematography and direction, almost
fully shot in Bariloche's exteriors. The story develops into
psychological thriller and suspense especially in moments where the
family has no idea who the stranger in their house truly is, but
spectators are fully aware of his true nature. Director Puenzo managed
to incorporate into her movie elements of Nazi fascination by local
community, mystery of genetic research and innocence of young Lilith
who feels privileged to get stranger's attention.
Alex Brendemühl is chilling as the "Angel of Death", while Florencia
Bado gives solid performance, especially being it her first movie role.
Natalia Oreiro, Diego Peretti and Elena Roger manage to capture essence
of their diverse characters and have on-screen moments with stunning
performances. Oreiro convincingly portrays a mother who submits her
child to hormone experimentation believing it to be the only option to
help Lilith as she blames herself for having her prematurely.
The movie is multilayer and touches topics of Argentinian history that
is not known to many. "Wakolda" is certainly an extraordinary movie
experience.
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