Adam Resurrected (2008)

The trouble with Holocaust movies is that they're about the Holocaust; they resurrect an illustrious horror, habited by history's most reliable demons, with little to say except that, yes, this was a tragedy. ADAM RESURRECTED isn't likely to fit anyone's definition of a Holocaust movie. As director Paul Schrader (AFFLICTION) summarized, "It's a film about a man who once was a dog who meets a dog who once was a boy." Clear enough? Jeff Goldblum plays Adam Stein, a Jeff Goldblum-esque Jewish entertainer who survived the concentration camps by being the personal dog for Commandant Klein (Willem Dafoe). While his wif...
Read more

e and daughter were being incinerated, Adam was entertaining on all fours, fighting with a German Shepherd over scraps, and getting his ears lovingly scratched. Ever since, he's been in and out of a psychiatric hospital for survivors in Israel. There, the ex-magician casts his spell over patients and staff, particularly his gorgeous nurse Gina (Ayelet Zurer). But when Adam discovers an abused child in the hospital who acts like a dog, it brings back his traumatic past--and may offer a chance for redemption.

Based on the novel by Yoram Kaniuk, ADAM RESURRECTED is a mystifying mixed metaphor that skirts the edge between reality and dream. Enhancing the uncanny atmosphere is Goldblum who, warbling in and out of his German accent, is a delight to watch. If meaning is opaque, the film is resolutely fearless, with many moments not often seen on film--including a Nazi appearing from a burning bush, canine sexual roleplay, and an adolescent in loincloth being led by chain--or likely seen again.
Read less..

Set jinni.com as default synopis Visit jinni.com

Author Yoram Kaniuk's celebrated 1971 novel concerning a charismatic yet questionably sane Holocaust survivor comes to the screen in this dark drama starring Jeff Goldblum, Willem Dafoe, and Derek Jacobi. In the years before World War II, Adam Stein (Goldblum) was a Berlin entertainer who thrilled audiences with extravagant circus acts and spectacular magic tricks. Later, when Hitler took power and Europe was plunged into chaos, Stein and his family were locked away in a concentration camp presided over by the sadistic Commandant Klein (Dafoe). The only reason Stein survived those dreadful years was because he ma...
Read more

naged to become the commandant's personal "dog," entertaining his captors even as his wife and daughter are marched off to die. Flash-forward to 1961, when Stein is a patient at an Israeli mental hospital for Holocaust survivors. Seemingly able to read minds, Stein confounds head doctor Nathan Gross (Jacobi) with the question "Who brought a dog in here?" Despite Gross' vehement denial that any such animal is on the premises, Stein soon tracks the scent to a young boy who has spent his entire youth locked in a basement and chained to a wall. Over time, Stein and the boy see in each other something undeniably familiar, and the two kindred spirits set out on a remarkable journey together.
Read less..

Set AllMovie.com as default synopis Visit AM

In de nasleep van de Tweede Oorlog kijkt Adam Stein (Goldblum) terug op de jaren die in zijn gedachten haast eeuwen lijken. Ironisch genoeg spaarde de Nazi's hem, omdat hij als voormalig circusartiest de overige Joden nog kon vermaken op weg naar de gaskamers. Nu, na de oorlog zit Adam in een centrum voor overlevenden van de Holocaust en probeert zijn gedachten weer op orde te krijgen.

Set MovieMeter.nl as default synopis Visit MM