Adam Resurrected

''Adam Resurrected'' (other titles: , : "Life for Life") is a 2008 drama film directed by Paul Schrader and written by Noah Stollman, based on the 1969 novel of the same name by Israeli author Yoram Kaniuk. The Hebrew title literally translates to ''Adam, Son of a Dog''.

The film tells the story of a Jewish man who, before the Holocaust, was considered Germany's greatest entertainer. He is forced by a concentration camp commander to live like a dog and entertain those condemned to death. After the war, in the early 1960s, he is hospitalized in a psychiatric institution for Holocaust survivors in the Judean Desert.

Premise

The film, part of which is told through a series of flashbacks, follows the story of Adam Stein, a charismatic patient of a fictitious psychiatric asylum for Holocaust survivors in Israel, in 1961. Adam was a comedian in Berlin prior to the Second World War, during which he was sent to a concentration camp. Adam manages to survive the war only because his pre-war act was recalled by an SS officer, who takes Adam as his "pet," insisting he act like a dog (as he did during one of his sketches). His humiliation was his ticket to survival, as he was even forced to play the fiddle as his wife and daughter were led to the gas chambers. While he is outwardly charming and witty, Adam is tormented by survivor's guilt and delusions that he is a dog. While at the institution, he engages in a romantic relationship with a nurse, takes on a quasi-mentor role for a younger patient sharing a similar delusion of being a dog, and undergoes a profound revelation of psychic ability during a religious ecstasy, seeing himself as a potential messiah for the other patients.

Cast

* Jeff Goldblum as Adam Stein
* Willem Dafoe as Commandant Klein
* Derek Jacobi as Nathan Gross
* Ayelet Zurer as Gina Grey
* Hana Laszlo as Rachel Shwester
* Joachim Król as Abe Wolfowitz
* Jenya Dodina as Gretchen Stein
* Veronica Ferres as Frau Fogel

Release

The film was screened at several film festivals, including Telluride, Toronto, Mill Valley, AFI, Haifa Film Festival, Valladolid Film Festival, the Palm Springs International Film Festival and the London Jewish Film Festival. It was released in Germany on January 22, 2009.

Reception

''Adam Resurrected'' received a mixed response from critics. Film review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported an approval rating of 35%, based on , with a rating average of 5.2/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "Such an unusual tale might have made for a compelling drama, but ''Adam Resurrected'' suffers from narrative confusion and an emotional detachment at its core." The website Metacritic gave the film a weighted average score of 58 out of 100, based on , indicating "mixed or average" reviews.

''Adam Resurrected'' received several positive reviews. Gary Goldstein of the ''Los Angeles Times'' wrote: "In a less competitive year, Jeff Goldblum would have had a shot at an Oscar nod for his performance in ''Adam Resurrected'', in which he plays Adam Stein, a mental patient irrevocably haunted by his Holocaust survival. This original drama is less glum than it might sound, thanks to Goldblum's spirited, go-for-broke portrayal and director Paul Schrader's distinctive translation of Noah Stollman's script."

Nathan Rabin of ''The A.V. Club'' graded the film a B, also praising Goldblum, whom he credits with a "stunning lead performance." He compared the film's concept with the "notorious unreleased Jerry Lewis monstrosity" that is '' The Day the Clown Cried'', but that Goldblum's performance made ''Adam Resurrected'' work. Rabin writes: "Goldblum sells this wildly theatrical character through sheer magnetism. The otherworldly nature of his restless, nervous charisma has seldom been put to better use. Even when it flies off the rails deep into its third act, ''Resurrected'' remains strangely hypnotic."

F. X. Feeney of ''LA Weekly'' gave a rave review. He compared the film's structure to Federico Fellini's classic ''8½'', writing: "Where Fellini made ecstasy contagious, Schrader is after much darker vistas — the mystery of how good men fail, and condemn themselves. One cannot recommend this film strongly enough."

Stephen Holden of ''The New York Times'' gave the film a negative review, finding it unfunny and full of missed opportunities. "Savage gallows humor might have substituted for pathos. But ''Adam Resurrected'' feels so detached that there is not a laugh, nor even a wicked smirk of nihilistic glee, to be gleaned."

See also

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Notes

References

External links

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{{Paul Schrader

2008 films
2008 drama films
American drama films
2000s English-language films
English-language German films
English-language Israeli films
Films about Jews and Judaism
Films based on Israeli novels
Films directed by Paul Schrader
Films set in 1961
German drama films
2000s German-language films
Films about the aftermath of the Holocaust
Israeli drama films
Films scored by Gabriel Yared
Films set in psychiatric hospitals
2000s American films
2000s German films