After he portrayed one of Russia’s classical-music masters through his spouse’s frustration with his homosexuality in Tchaikovsky’s Wife [+leggi anche:
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scheda film], and smuggled us through the backdoor of Cold War affairs via the unconventional gaze of a frenzied, politically controversial poet in Limonov: The Ballad [+leggi anche:
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scheda film], we can expect nothing less from Kirill Serebrennikov than a deeper, alternative view on official history and its key figures. His newest feature, The Disappearance of Josef Mengele, which has just been shown in the Cannes Première section of the 78th Cannes Film Festival, is based on the French non-fiction novel by Olivier Guez and offers a close-up personality exploration of infamous Nazi doctor Josef Mengele (performed by the demonically impeccable August Diehl), who fled his native Germany for Latin America after World War II, living a life on the run and in hiding across Argentina, Paraguay and Brazil. Through time-jumping flashbacks and depictions of the post-war fascist circles surrounding Mengele in Latin America, Serebrennikov recreates a chilling atmosphere shaped by the apparently immortal ideology concerning a pure race of perfect humans. And once again, as in Limonov: The Ballad, he centres on an unlikeable character but devotes equal attention to his surroundings in order to probe rarely discussed controversies.

Starting off as a noir genre movie, with the undercover Mengele immersed in a jazzy atmosphere, the film gradually unfolds into a close-up introduction to the world of the Nazi diaspora across the Atlantic – an “immigrant” community with its own nostalgic fetishes, continuing life in quiet suburban settlements with gardens decorated with swastikas. Legally pursued by the “purified” German state that, in a public quest to clean up its reputation, has declared him a wanted man, Mengele is warmly embraced in exile by like-minded fellows who openly claim the Jewish genocide was a delusional fabrication and who keep dreaming of a disciplined, ordered world with no “useless” individuals in it. Only the dates marked at the bottom of the screen remind us that Nazi Germany is no more.

Though predominantly filmed in black and white, The Disappearance of Josef Mengele is by no means monochrome in its perspective on the main character. There is no doubt that Mengele was a monster, but far more compelling are the revelations about his many fellow villains who went on to live comfortable lives, apparently untouched by the Nuremberg trials, as well as about the industry that profited immensely from the forced labour in the concentration camps. Much of this, along with the detailed accounts of racial cleansing and human experimentation, is revealed through Mengele’s testimonies to his terrified son, who insists on learning the truth about his father – recollections that are intercut with the Latin American period in the form of simulated “archival footage”, constituting the film’s most harrowing scenes, side by side with colour retrospections of the doctor’s joyful days amidst the gas chambers. Mengele’s chaotic stream of memories is conveyed with authenticity yet remains accessible through a precise and original visual language that blends dynamic storytelling with the attentive framing of gestures, atmospheric explorations of space, and subtle toying with light and reflections – thanks to DoP Vladislav Opelyants and, of course, the director’s profound understanding of cinematic means of expression. Meanwhile, Serebrennikov has once again found the most fitting form – in this case, to capture the sterile aura of his character and convey a message about the shared responsibility for the atrocities of this wretched world – all in the service of a masterful work of art and without imposing his artistic ego, a rare quality in contemporary auteur cinema.

The Disappearance of Josef Mengele is a French-German-Mexican-US-UK co-production staged by Hype Studios, CG Cinema, Lupa Film GmbH, Piano, ARTE France Cinéma, Scala Films, Lorem Ipsum Corp and Goldrush Films.