Based on the eponymous non-fiction novel by French writer French Olivier Guez, The Disappearance of Josef Mengele represents Kirill Serebrennikov’s third incursion into the heart of historical figure of questionable character. He started out with Tchaikovsky’s Wife three years ago. The film depicted an intrinsically homophobic woman gradually losing her sanity. Then last year he directed Limonov – The Ballad, about the deeply pessimistic and misanthropic Russian poet. He now goes even one step further, portraying the life of mad German doctor who conducted the most shocking experiments on Auschwitz inmates. Serebrennikov couldn’t go any further in his “biopics of the evil series”. This is as low as humanity gets.
The story travels back and forth in time, gradually putting the puzzle pieces together. It begins in a Sao Paulo university in the year of 2023. A professor explains to his stidents the skeleton laying on the laboratory table belongs to prolific Nazi killer Josef Mengela, findings that were firmly confirmed after NDA technology and evidence emerged. Then we travel to 1956 in Argentina. Nazis have congregated with a view to implement their ideology in the Southern American. There are abundant “Sieg Hitler”s, “Heil Hitler” and Nazi salutes. It is disburting to watch these proud Nazies boast their racial superiority more than a decade after the War was finished. They look down on the locals with the same contempt bestown on Jews..
International investigators begin to press, and the circle begins to close. So Mengela assumes and alias and moves to a small rural in Brazil in 1962. Fastforward 15 ayears nd he’s now old and frail, begging his only child to visit him, but becoming furious when his old opffspring should ask questions about his work in Aschwitz. Mengele died by accidental drowning in 1979, after visiting the Bertioga beach in the coast of Sao Paulo. All of these images are presented in black and white.
The only coloured images are from 1943, Mengele collects twins and disabled people, and conducts shocming experiments on them (with the victims often still alive). We witness Mengele hijacking twins from their mothers, cutting up perfectly-fit adults, and dissolving their bodies in “gasoline bath”, all for pseudo-scientistic research aims. The intense relationship with a 32-year-old wife Irene (Dana Herfurth) is also portrayed in vivid hues. This same banality of evil observed in Jonathan Glazer’s spectacular The Zone of Interest (2023). The colour choice is a reflection of Mengele’s state of mind: the memories of WW2 are colourful and beautiful. Everything else is gloomy. It gradually dawns in Mengele: the future is not bright.
The main reason why The Disappearance of Josef Mengele is vastly superior to Limonov is the fact that Serebrennikov used the original languages of the nations in questions in order to convey a vague sense of authenticity, or at least relatability. People in Brazilian speak Portuguese with a local accent. Same with Hungarians, Argentinians and – of course – the neurotic Germans. Mengele often screams at people with all vigour from chest, and curses people with the determination of Adolf Hitler, combined with the certainty of impunity. He evaded the “Kangoroo courts” that he doesn’t recognise for decades, so why would they persecute him now? This changes at old age, after the Israeli government and the Simon Wiesenthal Foundation put a multi-millionaire bounty on his head.
The Disappearance of Josef Mengele paints an evocative picture of heartfelt and sincere depravity. Our protagonist is a ideologue convinced that his worldview is for the best for the planet. Not for one split second does he doubt that the Nazi ideals are for the good of mankind. Victims of racial hygiene should be thankful for being erased of the face of the earth. Inferior races should look upon Arians for inspiration.
Mengele remains unredcpentant his entire life, even at old age and after being confronted by his son Rolf (who assumed an alias in order to visit his ailing father in Brazil, in the year of 1977}. His world vision and his dreams endured for many decades. He consistently boasts about the master race, the expansion of the Third Reich, expresses his hate of Jews (whom he compares to bloodsucking mosquitoes) and his unwavering admiration of Adolf Hitler. He was far less magnanimous than Leni Riefenstahl. That in itself is a mammoth achievement!
The Disappearance of Josef Mengele just premiered in the 78th edition of the Festival de Cannes, where this piece was originally written. Also showing at the Tallinn Black Nights.
