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My Neighbor Adolf

My Neighbor Adolf
Directed byLeon Prudovsky
Written byLeon Prudovsky
Dmitry Malinsky
Produced by
  • Stanislaw Dziedzic
  • Haim Mecklberg
  • Klaudia Smieja
  • Estee Yacov-Mecklberg
Starring
CinematographyRadek Ladczuk
Edited byHervé Schneid
Production
companies
Release dates
  • 4 August 2022 (2022-08-04) (Locarno)
  • 26 January 2023 (2023-01-26) (Israel)
  • 9 June 2023 (2023-06-09) (Poland)
Running time
96 minutes
Countries
  • Israel
  • Poland
  • Colombia
Languages
  • English
  • German
  • Polish
  • Yiddish
  • Spanish
Box office$7,876[1]

My Neighbor Adolf (Hebrew: השכן שלי אדולף) is a 2022 comedy-drama film directed by Leon Prudovsky. Set in Colombia in the early 1960s, the film follows a lonely and grumpy Holocaust survivor, Mr. Polsky (David Hayman), who is convinced that his German neighbor, Mr. Herzog (Udo Kier), is Adolf Hitler.[2][3][4][5]

An international co-production of Israel, Poland and Colombia, the film premiered at the 75th Locarno Film Festival before being released in Israel on 26 January 2023.[6]

Plot

In May 1960, Mr. Polsky, an elderly and grumpy Polish Jew and Holocaust survivor, lives alone in the remote countryside of Colombia, spending his time gardening and playing chess. One day, shortly after the abduction of the Nazi criminal Adolf Eichmann by Mossad agents in Argentina, a mysterious old German man, Herzog, moves in next door. Polsky starts suspecting that the man is none other than Adolf Hitler himself, believing that Hitler faked his own suicide, changed his appearance, and fled to South America. Despite nobody believing him, Polsky is determined to prove his view, so he decides to get closer to Herzog in order to gather evidence.

Cast

  • David Hayman as Mr. Marek Polsky
  • Udo Kier as Mr. Hermann Herzog
  • Olivia Silhavy as Frau Kaltenbrunner
  • Kineret Peled as intelligence officer

Reception

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 58% based on 12 reviews, with an average rating of 5.1/10.[7]

Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian wrote "Kier, as ever, delivers a spoonful of black-comic menace and Hayman does an honest job. But there's something treacly about it."[8]

Kevin Maher of The Times called the film "A nifty dramatic premise [that's] squandered with camp inconsequence".[9]

References