Stalking Nazis in Uruguay with “Mr. Kaplan”
By Skip Sheffield
There has been a spate of movies recently about elderly Nazi
war criminals hiding out or existing in plain sight in South America.
“Mr. Kaplan” is the latest of the crop. It has a doozy of a
twist ending that makes you go Hmm.
Director Alvaro Brechner wrote the story, which is both a
physical comedy and a solemn meditation on the meaning of life. The film begins
with a fully-clothed elderly man on a diving board, looking as if he is
contemplating jumping in.
It is 1997 and Jacob Kaplan (Hector Noguera) is nearing 80.
Shortly after his 1937 Bar Mitzvah in Poland, Jacob’s family prudently fled the
Nazis by immigrating to Montevideo, Uruguay. He has been married to Rebecca
(Nada Telles) 50 years. As he thinks back on his life and great things men like
Goethe and Churchill did late in life, Jacob feels he doesn’t have much to show
for his. Problems of old age are cropping up. Jacob can’t pass the eye test for
his driver’s license. He is becoming forgetful and disoriented.
Watching a TV news broadcast from France, Jacob learns
officials suspect a former high-ranking SS officer may be living as a civilian
in Uruguay. One of his granddaughter’s friends tells Jacob there may be such a
character living by the beach, owning a bar. Jacob recruits his screw-up son-in-law
Wilson Contreras (Nestor Guzzini) to hatch a scheme to stalk the German (Rolf
Becker), who is even called “Nazi’ by kids, to confirm their suspicions. Once
that is done they will boldly attempt to drug him, kidnap him, and take him to
Israel to face justice.
Let’s just say things don’t go exactly as planned. Try to
picture Mr. Magoo as a Nazi hunter, with a fat, often drunken bumbler as a
sidekick. “Mr. Kaplan” is at the same time very poignant on the difficulties of
aging, and very respectful to observant Jews. It is a completely different kind
of Holocaust movie.
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