Living in Brazil, a reclusive Holocaust survivor convinces himself that his new neighbour is none other than Adolf Hitler. He soon forms a friendship with the mysterious man as he begins to collect evidence to prove his theory is correct.
My Neighbour Adolf...the title alone really gives you a good idea of what to expect; some kind of sitcom-level comedic twist on the usual search for Hitler. Insert a film period of post-World War II (the 1960s specifically), a holocaust survivor, and a minor dispute over property lines, and you have all of the ingredients for an intriguing viewing experience.
Nazis and Hitler have been covered by a wide array of films and television shows from a variety of perspectives. It wasn't really until Taika Waititi's 2019 hit Jojo Rabbit was released, that there was a portrayal of Hitler that was anything other than harsh, brutish, and megalomaniacal (for the first couple of acts at least). My Neighbour Adolf attempts to do just that. Not by downplaying any historical events, but by providing German "Mr Herzog" (portrayed by Udo Kier), a character that starts to cause our Holocaust-survivor protagonist, Mr Polsky (portrayed by David Hayman) to question his own biases as the film progresses.
The film works quickly to set expectations and roles in the film pitting two neighbours against each other. On the one side, a poor Jewish man who has survived a death camp, coming out the other end of the war as the sole survivor of his entire family, with only a rare species of black rose to remind him of his better days. On the other side is a seemingly well-off, secretive German man, with an unruly German Shepherd dog, and a convoy of "helpers" at his beck and call. They are juxtaposed in nearly every manner possible; car vs bike, followers vs alone, healthy vs sickly, bathed in light vs living in shadows, all designed to set up a hierarchy and place Mr Polsky as the underdog in this tale revolving around the care of a single bushel of roses.
While generally an enjoyable affair, My Neighbour Adolf struggles with tonal consistency. With safe but generally unemotional, wide-shot cinematography, and a soundtrack that fails to match the events onscreen, the film finds itself being pulled in two different directions; from the sensitive treatment of concentration camp trauma, betrayal and loss, to campy skits, physical slapstick, and toilet-based humour. While the drama and tension never reach the intensity of Schindler's List, the comedic portion skews Mr Polsky heavily towards becoming a carbon copy of Mr Bean. While the film has the opportunity to discuss and explore a multitude of deep and meaningful topics, it barely does more than skim the surface, instead allowing obsession to act as a tool to ignore many of these deeper elements and focus solely on whether Mr Polsky's neighbour is Adolf Hitler, judging every action independently, categorising everything as black or white, until the inevitable discovery of shades of grey.
The film creates tension from this mystery of identity and the clear potential implications of becoming friends with his enemy. Very much avoiding any sense of physical danger, the film leverages its comedic edge to maintain enough levity to ensure the tension is only light and psychological. It's a careful balance that creates a surprisingly enjoyable experience despite the inconsistent nature of the tone.
My Neighbour Adolf never really escalates to any level that one would expect, but one will come to expect and accept the unexpected by the end of the film and be met with a sense of relief.
My Neighbour Adolf is in selected cinemas from April 27, 2023