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Forgiving Dr. Mengele (2005)

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Top Critics

Average Rating: 7/10
Reviews Counted: 21
Fresh: 19 | Rotten: 2

No consensus yet.

Average Rating: 6.9/10
Critic Reviews: 10
Fresh: 9 | Rotten: 1

No consensus yet.

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Average Rating: 3.7/5
User Ratings: 700

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Movie Info

A former concentration-camp detainee who, alongside her sister, suffered unthinkable experiments at the hands of the Third Reich's most notorious medical monster attempts to reconcile her past by forgiving the Nazis for their genocidal atrocities in directors Bob Hercules and Cheri Pugh's deeply personal documentary. Spurned on in her mission by the recent death of her sister -- a belated but direct result of the horrors that befell the then-young girl during World War II -- one-time "Mengele

Unrated, 1 hr. 20 min.

Documentary, Special Interest

Directed By: Bob Hercules , Cheri Pugh

In Theaters: Apr 28, 2006 Wide

On DVD: Apr 17, 2007

First Run Features

Cast

Eva Mozes Kor

Critic Reviews for Forgiving Dr. Mengele

All Critics (21) | Top Critics (10) | Fresh (20) | Rotten (2) | DVD (1)

... compelling and provocative ...

November 16, 2006 Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times

| Comment

Kevin Thomas

Los Angeles Times

Top Critic

This tale of one survivor determined not to let those horrific experiences define her is moving enough to make Forgiving Dr. Mengele a worthy addition to the ever-growing canon of Holocaust-related films.

June 13, 2006 Comment

Frank Scheck

Hollywood Reporter

Top Critic

For a film about death-camp survivors Forgiving Dr. Mengele is surprisingly uplifting and, at times, even lighthearted.

May 27, 2006 Comment

Dana Stevens

New York Times

Top Critic

The film is mostly dry and uninspired. An extraordinary woman like Eva Kor deserves a less ordinary biography.

May 20, 2006 Comment

V.A. Musetto

New York Post

Top Critic

This moving film explores the trauma of a Holocaust survivor with rare complexity.

May 20, 2006 Full Review Source: Entertainment Weekly

| Comment

Owen Gleiberman

Entertainment Weekly

Top Critic

This provocative Holocaust documentary explores vast issues by narrowing its focus to the intimate impulses of a single woman.

May 19, 2006 Full Review Source: New York Daily News

| Comment

Elizabeth Weitzman

New York Daily News

Top Critic

A thought-provoking documentary about the difficulty people have with the spiritual practice of forgiveness.

March 6, 2007 Full Review Source: Spirituality and Practice

| Comment

Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat

Spirituality and Practice

Short, simple but powerfully provocative documentary.

March 1, 2007 Full Review Source: Film Journal International

| Comment

Eric Monder

Film Journal International

It's hard to know whether to be impressed or appalled by Eva Mozes Kor, the Holocaust survivor in Bob Hercules and Cheri Pugh's fascinating documentary.

November 16, 2006 Full Review Source: L.A. Weekly

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Ella Taylor

L.A. Weekly

Eva's story could have been a solely tragic one, but she has some powerful words of wisdom that could help anyone deal with traumatic events.

June 16, 2006 Full Review Source: TheMovieChicks.com

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Cherryl Dawson and Leigh Ann Palone

TheMovieChicks.com

The politics of forgiveness cast a heavy shadow over Bob Hercules and Cheri Pugh's documentary about Romanian-born Eva Mozes Kor, who endured 10 months of Dr. Josef Mengele's notorious medical experiments.

May 19, 2006 Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide

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Maitland McDonagh

TV Guide's Movie Guide

a rickety thing

May 18, 2006 Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com

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Chris Barsanti

Filmcritic.com

A favorable depiction of a Holocaust survivor who forgives.

May 12, 2006 Full Review Source: Compuserve

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Harvey S. Karten

Compuserve

The film's visual style is unremarkable and includes some really jejune transpositions and graphic matches the filmmakers use to bridge the past and present, but the woman's memories are vivid enough without such affectations.

May 3, 2006 Full Review Source: Slant Magazine

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Ed Gonzalez

Slant Magazine

Though dry in spots, Forgiving Dr. Mengele is a provocative, emotionally affecting film.

February 24, 2006 Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine

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Shlomo Schwartzberg

Boxoffice Magazine

Though some of the heated exchanges in Forgiving Dr. Mengele seem awkward and staged, they put Kor at the center of a riveting debate over how best to come to terms with past horrors, and the potential (and limits) of putting them to rest.

February 21, 2006 Full Review Source: AV Club

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Scott Tobias

AV Club

More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for Forgiving Dr. Mengele

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An extremely interesting documentary about a survivor of the Mengele twin experiments in Auschwitz, who decides she needs to forgive Dr. Mengele and the rest of the Nazis, as an act of self-healing (releasing herself from their hold on her through bitterness). Understandably, she meets with a lot of resistance as she

September 29, 2006

Hannah Megill

It would be tough not to be moved by this documentary. Eva Kor is an amazing woman who has to be admired, whether one agrees or disagrees with her standpoints. This documentary is well pieced together, with a good balance of living today and living then. It does however get a bit repetitive, but overall the effect is powerful.

April 15, 2010