Adam Resurrected has a slackness that makes one think Paul Schrader had to actively try to maintain interest in his project during production. Penned not by the celebrated writer/director but by Noah Stollman (adapting Yoram Kaniuk’s controversial Israeli novel), Schrader’s film is beleaguered by a general dearth of energy, despite being an eccentric time-hopping saga about a popular German cabaret clown named Adam Stein (Jeff Goldblum) who’s shipped to the concentration camps and, later, finds himself the star attraction of a psychiatric institute for Holocaust survivors located in the Israeli desert. Stein had been forced, during his stay in the camps, to act like a pooch by Commandant Klein (Willem Dafoe), a trauma subsequently suppressed until the arrival at the institute of a young boy who thinks himself a canine. It’s a convenient development that simplistically lays the groundwork for the titular rebirth, though it’s no more awkward than the incessant symbolism (such as Adam’s ability to bleed on cue, without apparent injury) that Schrader’s apathetic camerawork turns dully literal. Despite a heavy accent that tends to fluctuate, Goldblum’s performance is initially a delight, yet never manages to convey the roiling inner tumult that Adams masks with showman flair, and his scenes with Dafoe outline the material’s themes with sledgehammer subtlety. There are a few beautiful shots scattered throughout, such as Adam playing violin for campmates, including his wife and young daughter, on their way to the gas chamber, but they’re ultimately overshadowed by a raft of misbegotten ones (including Dafoe’s first post-Last Temptation of Christ return to the burning bush), leaving the Cat People director’s latest something of a dog.
Funny, I was just thinking of watching this, though more for Goldblum than Schrader.
Posted by: rob | November 25, 2008 at 01:31 PM
That's certainly the better reason to sit through it.
Posted by: nschager | November 25, 2008 at 01:34 PM