Paul Schrader doesn’t merely make films, he pushes boundaries. Very few screenwriters and film directors have been able to build such solid careers from controversy than him, with his work in the industry, which extends back over half a century, defining him as one of the most interesting voices, in an era where New Hollywood saw many fascinating figures spring up. Like many of his contemporaries, he steadily made films into the 21st century, and while these may not strike as intensely as the ones he made during his earlier peak, there are still some incredible works hidden throughout this decade. Adam Resurrected is understandably a more obscure entry into his career, receiving negative reviews at the time for a number of reasons (some of them being quite valid, others more difficult to agree with), and considering the director’s steady output throughout the decades, it’s barely surprising that something as quiet and meditative as this would not be particularly well-regarded or even that notable outside of a few key components. It would be foolish to refer to Adam Resurrected as being amongst Schrader’s greatest works – such a bold statement would require dismissing a long career of brilliant filmmaking. However, as an intense psychological thriller with broad overtures of history embedded deep in its narrative, the film is worth seeking out for those who want to see a work of quintessential, boundary-pushing madness, facilitated by a director who may be well-known for his exceptional screenplays and masterful filmmaking efforts, but could derail a story like no other – and with as tricky subject matter as he is tasked with adapting here, Schrader does relatively well to put his signature on an already challenging and unconventional historical drama.

Adam Resurrected is based on the novel by Yoram Kaniuk, which follows a few decades in the life of Adam Stein, who was branded “the funniest man in Berlin” for his masterful acts that combined comedy, mime and macabre humour, derived from his ability to inflict harm on himself without any consequences. As the film progresses, we see Adam captured and sent to the Nazi death camps, where he is saved by a seemingly compassionate officer who saw his act previously, and wants to use him as his personal clown. The film navigates these years in Adam’s life, following him as he tries to adapt to life during and after the Holocaust, a challenge that he was clearly not equipped to handle, leading him to acquire the label of being psychologically insane, which alienates him from society, but is the source of a lot of curiosity from local scientists and psychoanalysts, who see him as a novelty, a missing link between sanity and madness. This is not an easy film to digest – it’s sprawling, inconsistent and challenging to fully comprehend at first, and the fact that it was made during the period when Schrader was at his most experimental, it’s difficult to see Adam Resurrected as anything other than a steadfast provocation of both form and content, a mercilessly dark and deranged character study of a man who lost two decades of his life (if not more) to the horrors of the Holocaust, which caused him to not only leave behind a promising career, but put aside his sanity, perhaps permanently. Schrader is not afraid to venture deep into this man’s soul, and throughout the film, we’re privy to a number of disconcerting moments that take us on the haunting journey, presented in vivid, unsettling detail.

In terms of construction, Adam Resurrected is one of the clearest examples of the “sad clown” sub-genre, which is not entirely absent in Holocaust literature – Jerry Lewis’ The Day the Clown Cried and Roberto Benigni’s Life is Beautiful both use the concept of buffoonery and physical comedy as a method of deconstructing history, putting it in direct contrast with inarguably one of the most despicable events in 20th-century history. What precisely makes this concept so enticing remains to be seen (as does the actual success – two of these films have received middling to negative reviews, while the other has been securely locked away from prying eyes since it was made, on the insistence of the director), but what is undeniable is how obvious it is in terms of drawing humour from a harrowing situation. Adam Resurrected avoids the overt comedy for the most part – the flashbacks to the titular characters’ performances are gently humorous, but the film itself removes all senses of traditional, laughter-provoking comedy, since there is obviously nothing about this story that should be entertaining – it’s a hard-hitting, deeply unsettling portrait of the Holocaust, filtered through the eyes of someone who survived it. As much as the film is about exploring the actual crimes against humanity perpetrated at the time, Adam Resurrected is really a film about trauma, and how one balances their own firsthand memories of the atrocities committed under Nazism, with their survivor’s guilt, which becomes even more difficult to embrace when it comes down to a matter of family. Schrader takes the material and infuses it with his distinctly acerbic, devil-may-care attitude, without being disrespectful, which only makes the idiosyncracies native to this film all the more fascinating.

The idea of Jeff Goldblum playing the protagonist in a bleak Holocaust drama seems bizarre in theory, even considering he’s an actor who has done a fair share of dramatic work in the past. As much experience as he has in this regard, Adam Resurrected was supposed to be his major breakthrough as a serious actor, rather than a beloved presence in a range of genre films that saw him having fun, even when the subject matter could be more bleak. I’m very tempted to call this one of Goldblum’s most interesting performances, an easy task when we realize how the actor who confronted with an enormous challenge, and his methods of not only rising to the occasion, but taking us entirely by surprise at how deep he could descend into this man’s mind. Navigating the changing attitudes and quirks inherent to Adam, and finding the balance between them all, Goldblum is doing absolutely staggering work, quietly looking through the layers of this complex character, and finding the genuine, earnest qualities that we’d expect from such an individual. Willem Dafoe, one of the director’s most frequent collaborators, plays the embodiment of evil itself, a grinning Nazi officer who may show some semblance of kindness at first, but which proves to only be a case of getting what he desires. Both Goldblum and Dafoe are excellent, doing some of their most solid, reliable work without becoming too heavy-handed in the process, an enormous challenge considering the requirements of the film and its story.

By all standards, Adam Resurrected is not a perfect film – its flaws are very clear, particularly in terms of the direction, with Schrader often going too deep into the psychological side of the character, which puts his actual real-world plight at a disadvantage, especially in the more disquieting moments where the director is actually making some profound statements on the intricacies of the Holocaust and those who survived this brutal moment in history. Yet, there is something so enthralling about the film, a sense of mystery and intrigue that persists through every frame, gradually becomes a poignant, unsettling portrait of a time when identity was enough to qualify someone to be subjected to brutal practices – and the realization that this isn’t even referring to the Holocaust itself, but the decades that followed it, where many of those on both sides drifted across the world, is absolutely powerful. There are some sequences in Adam Resurrected that are absolutely stunning, in both senses of the word, leaving the viewer both spellbound and absolutely shocked, which is one of the most significant talents that we’ve seen emerge from Schrader’s career as a filmmaker, where he pushed the envelope so far, it’s extraordinary that he actually has managed to remain sane all this time, his films reflecting a curious but deranged mind that is not afraid to take some risks. Adam Resurrected sees the esteemed provocateur playing in an undeniably minor key, but its one that is always interesting to watch, and with a pair of wonderful performances at the core, and a sense of fascinating, resonant storytelling that will both bewilder and touch viewers, the film is well worth the time and effort, even if it can be a challenging one at times.