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