Purely Joyful Movie!

Best movie ever!

Am i the only one who thinks........Average?

The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

One thing I try to strive for is to watch as many movies from as wide a variety of sources and styles as possible. In doing so I might not like all of them but at least I've left myself open to seeing things outside of my comfort zone and exposed myself to things I might miss that are great and some that are the worst things imaginable.With that in mind I just watched TENDERNESS OF THE WOLVES, a 1973 movie directed by UIli Lommell. Lommell was a protégé of Rainer Werner Fassbinder and a part of the New German Cinema movement that ran during the early 70s. His career has gone up and down and he's delivered fairly mainstream films like THE BOOGEYMAN as well as several films that could be called "art films" before finally making his way to made for DVD movies that haven't fared that well. But there is always the possibility of his rising once more.TENDERNESS focuses on the true story of Fritz Haarmann, a German serial killer who did most of his nefarious deeds right after WWI. As played by Kurt Raab, Haarmann comes off as one of the most chilling murderers seen on screen. An out of the closet homosexual who preyed on young boys that he then murdered, Haarmann then went on to cut up his victims and sell their bodies as meat to friends who were in need of fresh meat. While that alone might make for a terrifying killer there is more behind the man to make him even more horrific.Raab plays Haarmann as a slightly shy yet smooth talking con man who convinces friends to ignore his odd behavior from time to time. Not only does he get them to ignore it, he talks his way out of an arrest by offering his services to the local police in helping them ferret out other criminals. With a fake badge in pocket he uses his influence to not only pass along information about his criminal competition, he also uses it to persuade young runaway boys to his apartment where he beds and then kills them. Raab has chosen a bald headed look that at times reminds us of Max Schreck as Nosferatu, a good comparison as Haarmann was also known as the vampire of Hanover due to his biting some of his victims on the neck.The movie takes on an odd feel for a number of reasons besides the pedophile serial killer at the center of it all. The people Haarmann associates with may belong to the lower criminal class but they are also seen as struggling to survive after their country has been beaten in war. There is a certain amount of sympathy to be felt for them and Lommell depicts that in subtle ways. The movie also has a bombed out feel in it's of settings and style of being filmed. The filmed world of Haarmann is a gray one lacking of color and life, much as that Germany would have been at the time. The few glimpses of color involve either his associations in a local bar or during the murder sequences.The life and times of Haarmann are seen here in the latter part of his life rather than attempting to cover his entire career. In the end the number of murders he committed with his lover Hans Grans has been listed as anywhere between 24 and 50 people. That many are not seen here. He isn't depicted as a raging lunatic but as I stated earlier, as a subtle and manipulative sort that isn't seen killing in the most brutal fashion of some movie killers but still in perhaps some of the most twisted ways.For a film coming out of the seventies it offers more full frontal nudity than most as well as touching on homosexuality that was still fairly taboo at the time. It doesn't condone or condemn the topic but instead uses it to develop its central character. If you find this offensive then the movie will do just that. I mention it so that those who might be are aware.In the end the movie is one I may have to watch a second time to fully understand or appreciate. While the story itself is interesting (enough so that another more famous movie, M, was based on this same tale), I found the pacing of the film to be slow and in trying to keep up with the translation of dialogue with what I was watching made me unable to fully appreciate what was on the screen at times. As a single viewing experience it was just so so for me. Perhaps my opinion will change the second time around. What I did find was an experience of watching a film from another country that didn't fit the Hollywood mold. That doesn't make it a good experience, just a different one.For the average viewer I'm not sure I would suggest watching this. For foreign film fans you will love it. For fans of Lommell and Fassbinder I have little doubt you will add it to your collection. For me, on the whole, it was interesting but nothing stupendous.

This is a true masterpiece. A classic Produced by Rainer Werner Fassbinder, who also plays a small role, and directed by Cult Filmmaker Ulli Lommel. It stars legendary Kurt Raab and it reminds you of Fritz Lang's masterpiece "M". Even though it is 37 years old, it feels like it was made yesterday. The camera work, the music, the acting, the directing, the lighting, the music, it's all as good as it gets! Based on a true crime story, it's about serial killer Fritz Haarmann, who murdered some 40 kids back around WWII in Germany. The mood, the settings, the whole feel of the film is so extraordinary, it keeps you glued to the screen from the first minute. And it's actually as good as the best Fassbinder films I have seen. I read a review back in the 70s by Vincent Canby in the New York Times, who loved this film and I saw it back then at a cinema in Manhattan, but this DVD I just screened is so cool so wonderful, this film is on my all time top ten list.

This film brilliantly captures the decay, both physical and moral, of post-WWI Germany. The movie explores 2 key questions - Why did Fritz Haarman brutally murder young men, and perhaps more importantly, why was he allowed to get away with it for so long?Kurt Raab is terrific is Haarman, but deserves praise as well for his set decoration. The movie is filled with rich colors and textures and often breath-taking locations. Director Ulli Lommel creates a creepy atmosphere that's hard to look away from.

Well, for starters, it's 1970s German cinema, the deepest pit in movie hell. Second, the dynamic story story of Fritz Haarmann is made completely artsily boring, as only the Europeans can do.Anyone who has studied the Haarmann/Grans case knows that the performances and attitudes of the actors are completely wrong. And someone mind telling me what time period this movie is supposed to be set in? Anyone with half a clue, please e-mail me.Oh, I almost forgot. It's a 1970s German movie. So, of course, there is going to be graphic graphic homosexual activity. Bring the kids.