Product Description

Jeff Goldblum (Jurassic Park, The Fly) as Adam Stein delivers one of the most powerful performances of his career in this compelling, unforgettably moving film. Tormented in a World War II concentration death camp by a high-ranking Nazi officer (Oscar® nominee* Willem Dafoe, Spider-Man), Adam spends the next 15 years tucked away in a remote experimental insane asylum with fellow Holocaust victims. Clinging to the remains of his sanity, Adam uses his amazing magic and comic skills to entertain the residents and develops a relationship with an attractive nurse (Ayelet Zurer, Angels & Demons). But only when he reaches out to a mentally scarred young boy does he begin to confront his own pain and guilt and start to heal in this extraordinary testament to the fierce resilience of the human spirit. *Best Supporting Actor: Platoon, 1986; Shadow of the Vampire, 2000

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #12536 in DVD
• Brand: Image Entertainment
• Released on: 2009-09-22
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Formats: Color, Dolby, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 106 minutes

Features

• ADAM RESURRECTED (DVD MOVIE)

Customer Reviews

As close to the horror as I've ever been
After a close friend "insisted" that I watch this film, I was absolutely torn apart by it, at times entertained by it and left with indelible images and feelings that may never leave me. It is a stunningly woven story of humanity at the peak of its potential for courage and resilience, as well as its unspeakable cruelty and taste for inflicting pain. I was startled, however, to discover that I was in the minority in my assessment. Most reviews, professional and otherwise, are either mixed or unfavorable. Is it too hard to take this film in? And if so, is it because of its intellectual or emotional demands - or both? As a psychologist and a Jew, let me say that I have never been made to feel the complex horrors of the holocaust on this level. Jeff Goldblum's performance is criminally unrecognized; it is the work of genius he has never before manifested. Perhaps the genius Goldblum found in the story itself, and in Paul Schrader's direction moved him to new heights. The rest of the cast is brilliant as well.

Adam Resurrected deals unflinchingly with the excruciating, bitterly ironic issues that Hitler's slaughterhouses have evoked in the area of faith and the Jewish attitude toward the God whose deliverance of their ancestors from slavery is celebrated year after year. The ironies and metaphors throughout the film involving men and dogs say more than any words of praise could possibly express.

Suffice it to say that this is, in my humble opinion, one of the finest films of the last decade, and perhaps the best work of art on the holocaust of all time. It is demanding, complex and disturbing, but highly worth your time and attention.

The images in this film stay with you long afterwards
I had to wait a few days in writing this review as I wanted to try and figure out everything I just saw, plus the special features take some patience.

Jeff Goldblum plays a death camp survivor that has been committed to an asylum (years after the war) for survivors in Israel. Willem Dafoe plays the Nazi officer who tortures him, with some excellent supporting performances by Ayelet Zurer and Derek Jacobi. The story spans 40 years and is told in a non-lineal format crossing between black and white and color. The Blu clarity is outstanding at times, grainy in others but those scenes are made to be that way, otherwise the entire production has a high budget feel but simple at the same time. The DTS is used very well, and gets utilized in ways one would not expect from a Holocaust film (the cabaret scenes, the echoing barks in the asylum halls, the narration, etc.). The special features are a long watch and include:
* Behind the scenes, 24 minutes: A thorough interview/film splice featurette that covers the entire production and the minds behind the film, if you have only a little time to watch everything this would be the extra to see.
* Deleted scenes, 9:30 minutes: The last half of these are more of a cutting room floor add-on and are dry. The only scene worth checking is the first one as it adds a whole other dynamic between Dafoe/Goldblum (post holocaust) that is never alluded to in the film.
* Haifa Film Festival Q&A, 72 minutes: Catered to the hardcore film fans that can sit through a hour+ of ESL participants, bad sound and garbled speeches. I tried to understand what was being said but it gets tedious, still some great inspiration and production info, but the making of covers it better.

By far, Goldblum's best performance to date - a pinnacle in his career. The imagery and disturbing asylum elements make for a difficult watch. I cannot be sure how to recommend this other than to say be prepared for an unusual character film on a solid BD. Region coded A, lasts 96 minutes and is a hard R for every theme listed.

Bunuel in the Negev
This masterpiece by Paul Schrader (who is not Jewish, but Pennsylvania-Dutch in origin, though you would not
know it from this work of art) is subliminal and heartbreaking on so many levels. I won't say this is
Jeff Goldblum's best performance because he has had several poor peformances; thus, it is impossible to
compare his phenomenal metaphysical psychotic discourse in this film to all his other mundane (whether
good or not so good) performances. The rest of the cast is stellar. The young boy ('dog') in the film
is heartbreaking. This film is not for the lighthearted or the impatient, nor is it for those seeking
easy answers or quik Hollywood cliches and fixes as it provides none. This film is wretched and
beautiful, painful and sublime and corroborates (though I doubt it needed confirmation) Paul Schrader
as a masterful Director and artist for the thinking adult and the scared child within. The anticipated
Academy Award's avoidance of this film is the degree of measure by which to judge its artistry and
profoundity. If you could imagine a collaboration by Luis Bunuel, Federico Fellini, Joel and Ethan Coen
and David Cronenberg, it would like something like this, and that is NO small compliment to Schrader
and what he has done here.