The Boys From Brazil was made in 1978, but it deals with human cloning. At the time, short sighted people dismissed it as ludicrous, but in light of recent cloning experiments the films has a topicality about it and probably seems marginally more plausible nowadays than it did when it was released.
So who are the boys from Brazil? They are young boys all bred from genetic skin grafts taken from the body of Adolf Hitler during the war years. In Paraguay, in the '70s, one of Hitler's most feared accomplices, Josef Menegele (Peck), has been toiling away in a jungle laboratory trying to breed young Hitler clones. A young reporter (Guttenberg) hits upon the plot, and is killed, but not before passing a message onto famed Nazi hunter Ezra Lieberman (Olivier). As Lieberman investigates, he realises that something is going on and tracks down Mengele when he visits one of his creations in America.
There are some surprisingly violent moments, such as the savage dog sequence near the end, and a shocking murder at a dam in Sweden. The performances range from excellent (Olivier, Palmer, Mason) to stiff and unconvincing (Peck). The film is pretty interesting and thought provoking. I still don't totally buy the idea that Hitler could be cloned so perfectly that he would turn out like a power-hungry, racist, evil Nazi (surely it would be impossible to recreate all the life experiences that turned hium into the type of man he was). However, it poses some disturbing thoughts and is worth seeing provided you don't try to pick out the plot holes.
So who are the boys from Brazil? They are young boys all bred from genetic skin grafts taken from the body of Adolf Hitler during the war years. In Paraguay, in the '70s, one of Hitler's most feared accomplices, Josef Menegele (Peck), has been toiling away in a jungle laboratory trying to breed young Hitler clones. A young reporter (Guttenberg) hits upon the plot, and is killed, but not before passing a message onto famed Nazi hunter Ezra Lieberman (Olivier). As Lieberman investigates, he realises that something is going on and tracks down Mengele when he visits one of his creations in America.
There are some surprisingly violent moments, such as the savage dog sequence near the end, and a shocking murder at a dam in Sweden. The performances range from excellent (Olivier, Palmer, Mason) to stiff and unconvincing (Peck). The film is pretty interesting and thought provoking. I still don't totally buy the idea that Hitler could be cloned so perfectly that he would turn out like a power-hungry, racist, evil Nazi (surely it would be impossible to recreate all the life experiences that turned hium into the type of man he was). However, it poses some disturbing thoughts and is worth seeing provided you don't try to pick out the plot holes.