Doppelganger, disguise and deceit are at the core of the post Holocaust paranoia pic, MY NEIGHBOUR ADOLF.

Set in South America, 1960, Polsky (David Hayman), a lonely and grumpy Holocaust survivor lives in the remote Colombian countryside, spending his days playing chess and tending to his beloved black rose bushes.

However, when a mysterious old German man, heavily bearded and constantly wearing dark glasses going under the name of Herzog, (Udo Kier) moves in next door there is an unpleasant boundary dispute, a confrontation over his flowers and a disagreement over Herzog’s hound.

Fuelled by the recent capture of Eichmann in a neighbouring South American jurisdiction, piece by paranoid piece, Polsky begins to suspect his new neighbour is none other than Adolf Hitler, survivor the bunker suicide and feted Fuhrer of a neo Nazi group.

Reporting to the local Israeli embassy, he is not taken seriously, dismissed as a crazy conspiracy theorist, so he embarks on a detective mission to find the evidence. But, in order to prove his suspicions, Polsky will need to be closer to his neighbour, his dog, and his formidable minder than he would like.

Writer Leon Prudovsky and his co-writer Dmitry Malinsky have fashioned an old fashioned plot with pace on the placid side but they do have the wonderful Udo Kier as the suspect former dictator.

Similarly, Olivia Silhavy as the frightening minder Frau Kaltenbrunner is impressively imposing, a protective adjutant you can imagine overseeing prison camps and leaving tower guards trembling. Also of note is Kineret Peled as the chain smoking, incredulous and condescending Mossad agent.

Too much of a confection, a contrivance that stretches the bounds of a cosy old codgers bonding over chess, MY NEIGHBOUR ADOLF becomes a little too cheesy, with a denouement that lacks drive.

 

 

Doppelganger, disguise and deceit are at the core of the post Holocaust paranoia pic, MY NEIGHBOUR ADOLF.

Set in South America, 1960, Polsky (David Hayman), a lonely and grumpy Holocaust survivor lives in the remote Colombian countryside, spending his days playing chess and tending to his beloved black rose bushes.

However, when a mysterious old German man, heavily bearded and constantly wearing dark glasses going under the name of Herzog, (Udo Kier) moves in next door there is an unpleasant boundary dispute, a confrontation over his flowers and a disagreement over Herzog’s hound.

Fuelled by the recent capture of Eichmann in a neighbouring South American jurisdiction, piece by paranoid piece, Polsky begins to suspect his new neighbour is none other than Adolf Hitler, survivor the bunker suicide and feted Fuhrer of a neo Nazi group.

Reporting to the local Israeli embassy, he is not taken seriously, dismissed as a crazy conspiracy theorist, so he embarks on a detective mission to find the evidence. But, in order to prove his suspicions, Polsky will need to be closer to his neighbour, his dog, and his formidable minder than he would like.

Writer Leon Prudovsky and his co-writer Dmitry Malinsky have fashioned an old fashioned plot with pace on the placid side but they do have the wonderful Udo Kier as the suspect former dictator.

Similarly, Olivia Silhavy as the frightening minder Frau Kaltenbrunner is impressively imposing, a protective adjutant you can imagine overseeing prison camps and leaving tower guards trembling. Also of note is Kineret Peled as the chain smoking, incredulous and condescending Mossad agent.

Too much of a confection, a contrivance that stretches the bounds of a cosy old codgers bonding over chess, MY NEIGHBOUR ADOLF becomes a little too cheesy, with a denouement that lacks drive.