German cinema from the early 1970's is amongst the most unique, original and in this case disturbing. Based on a predatory serial killer of the 1920's whose prey was young men and boys this piece of film certainly takes a bite.
28 Reviews
Not intended as a documentary...
axe_hallorann17 June 2006
I found this film to be more interesting than I expected. The film, to me, is clearly not meant to be a historic film about Fritz Haarmann. There is a line in the film that makes a reference to the Nazi's (their rise to power wasn't until nine years after Haarmann's execution) and how difficult life is for everyone in post-war Germany. The character of Fritz Haarmann was used as a metaphor for the German people "cannabalizing" each other just to survive. The costumes, language, and vehicles also seemed to be of a later decade. Much like Werner Herzog's "The Enegma of Kaspar Hauser", "Tenderness of the Wolves" uses a real historical figure (taken with some liberties) as a criticism of society as a whole. Having said that, the film is not particularly outstanding in any way. The concept is interesting, and contains the leading actors of Fassbinder's "Ali: Fear Eats the Soul", as well as Fissbinder himself. Still, I would have to say the film is only slightly above average; both as a Fassbinder film and the German New Wave.
Not for the squeamish.
Flixer195729 October 2006
Warning: Spoilers
Years before he came to America to delight us with THE DEVONSVILLE TERROR and THE BOOGEYMAN, Herr Lommel teamed up with the Fassbinder troupe to give us this beaut. It's based on the true story of Fritz Haarmann who prospered in post-World War I Germany by way of theft and murder. A police informer posing as a detective, he lures young lads from the train station to his apartment where they're drugged, raped and finally murdered by having their throats chewed open. Then they're hacked up and their flesh sold as beef or pork. Haarmann's neighbors complain about the noise he makesif they only knew. Much of his activity is left to the imagination but what's shown is truly disturbing and was considered mean stuff at the time. Shaven-headed and pointy-eared, Kurt Raab looks suitably predatory in the lead role. Jurgen Prochnow's name appears in the main credits but so far I haven't been able to spot him. This movie claims that Haarmann was hanged in 1925 but other sources say he was beheaded. His execution should have been shown; I really wanted to see this dirt-bag get it before the film's end. TENDERNESS...is all the more disturbing because it's so well made, possessing a grim, bleak atmosphere lacking in Lommel's later, more commercial work. Not for the squeamish, the homophobic or anyone expecting a normal motion picture.
Fascinating and eerie!
shaadowlove2 June 2002
This movie was one of the most interesting experiences that I have ever had! On one hand, it made me cringe. (The graphic sex was a surprise; I expected the gore.)On the other hand, it was beautiful and eerie. Great atmosphere... dark and smoky. Full of mystery and forbidden pleasures... cannibalism, vampirism, underage sex, corruption... the list goes on and on. Kurt Raab was frightening as Fritz Haarman: child molester, vampire, cannibal and black market salesman. He lures young boys off of the street and takes them back to his small, dingy apartment. Once there, he molests them (before, and sometimes after he kills them) murders them in cold blood and processes their carcasses to sell as meat in this post-WW2 drama. Both sexy and revolting, Raab draws the viewer into his dark, tortured psyche without garnering any sympathy for his dilemma. He is in one word, depraved.
Fritz' neighbor is hearing strange chopping noises in the night--- she does not like his way of bringing strange boys to the apartment. Suspicious, she contacts the police, who basically patronize her, until the murders become so numerous that they are impossible to ignore any longer. Go see this film. It is a truly disturbing experience.
Fritz' neighbor is hearing strange chopping noises in the night--- she does not like his way of bringing strange boys to the apartment. Suspicious, she contacts the police, who basically patronize her, until the murders become so numerous that they are impossible to ignore any longer. Go see this film. It is a truly disturbing experience.
Memorable lead performance
Horst_In_Translation5 July 2016
Warning: Spoilers
"Die Zärtlichkeit der Wölfe" or "Tenderness of the Wolves" is a West German German-language film from the year 1973, so this one has its 45th anniversary soon. Of course it is in color and has sound. The director here is Ulli Lommel and he is seen by many only as the make of a whole lot of trash movies. So this one here is possibly his most acclaimed work by critics. This may have a lot to do with the fact that he has not written the script for this one, maybe because it was very early in his career still. Lommel was still under 30 back then. The writer is Kurt Raab, who also plays the main character. One of the producers is Rainer Werner Fassbinder, which should not be too surprising as he worked with Raab on many occasions.
This is the story of Fritz Haarmann, a German mass murderer from the early 20th century. There are more films about him. Fritz Lang's "M" is also partially based on Haarmann and the recently deceased Götz George plays Haarmann in the critically acclaimed "Der Totmacher", a more recent version. But back to this one here. It is a fairly short film, closer to 80 than to 90 minutes. And the tender wolf here is Kurt Raab's character, a sensitive man who ends up abusing and murdering several boys in order to satisfy his desires. He is working undercover for the police, which makes it especially interesting as they really take a whole lot until they finally find out. This is also a reference to the real Haarmann. All in all, it is Kurt Raab's stunning performance that carries the film nicely from start to finish without dragging. I thought for the entire film Raab looked like a vampire in here, so the final scene was very appropriate. What a shame Raab did not end up playing Nosferatu or so in another movie. At least I think he did not. As for this one here, it is a pretty decent watch. The lead performance and the parallel to real events certainly elevate the material. Go check it out.
This is the story of Fritz Haarmann, a German mass murderer from the early 20th century. There are more films about him. Fritz Lang's "M" is also partially based on Haarmann and the recently deceased Götz George plays Haarmann in the critically acclaimed "Der Totmacher", a more recent version. But back to this one here. It is a fairly short film, closer to 80 than to 90 minutes. And the tender wolf here is Kurt Raab's character, a sensitive man who ends up abusing and murdering several boys in order to satisfy his desires. He is working undercover for the police, which makes it especially interesting as they really take a whole lot until they finally find out. This is also a reference to the real Haarmann. All in all, it is Kurt Raab's stunning performance that carries the film nicely from start to finish without dragging. I thought for the entire film Raab looked like a vampire in here, so the final scene was very appropriate. What a shame Raab did not end up playing Nosferatu or so in another movie. At least I think he did not. As for this one here, it is a pretty decent watch. The lead performance and the parallel to real events certainly elevate the material. Go check it out.
Proof that Ulli Lommel once knew how to make movies...
Jonny_Numb22 June 2008
Given his current output of grade-Z, direct-to-video schlock, it's pretty easy to be taken aback by Ulli Lommel's "Tenderness of the Wolves," a 1973 effort that, dare I say, shows all the signs of a competent--even promising--filmmaker. That being said, this effort isn't perfect. The story (apparently inspired by Fritz Lang's "M") is spare and nihilistic, and functions more as a vague exploration of one man's madness: Fritz Haarman (Kurt Raab) is a black-market butcher in economically impoverished 1920s Germany; due to his links to low-level criminals (his best 'friend'/lover is an unfaithful, zoot-suited pimp), the police agree to ignore his transgressions if he goes undercover to deliver the dirt on his fellow degenerates. But as irony would have it, Fritz is the most degenerate of all--a child murderer who cannibalizes his victims (and sells hocks of meat to a nearby restaurant) under the guise of helping transient youth. Lommel's stylistic approach is one of dreary subtlety--he evokes a downtrodden, pre-World War II Germany so convincingly that it is suggested (but never claimed or condoned) that serial murder and loose sex may be the only way of curbing one's madness. Yet while Lommel's direction is adept at revealing the unspoken nuances of Haarman, Raab's script ultimately left me wishing he had given us a few more insights into the character. Still, the film runs an economical 82 minutes and will provide viewers with a disturbing, yet surprisingly compelling experience. Those who think Lommel hasn't directed a decent film would be wise to check out "Tenderness of the Wolves."
6.5 out of 10
6.5 out of 10
Interesting but boring
preppy-38 September 2000
Never thought a film about a gay cannibal could be dull but...The movie IS well-done. It's well-directed, the acting is great and it has a creepy, unsettling atmosphere (as it should). It just gets bogged down, people acted REAL strange at times and just was downright dull! Still, it all happened and the film has artistic merit. There just wasn't enough material for a feature length film.
Bizarre Journey of the Maddening Anachronisms
om-345 December 2021
I will leave it to other reviewers when detailling this film, its plot, and the cultural impact of this film.
However, I had to write the review due to the shockingly amount of anachronisms and sloppy attention to the detail. Many people might not care about the "devil's in the detail", but the anachronisms jump out like the 100,000-candela searchlight at you.
Inexplicably, the film production made no attempt to ensure the historical accuracies in the film. Without knowing much about the main character, Fritz Haarmann, I had trouble figuring out the era when I noticed the children wearing the modern clothes, including the colourful rubber boots. That disrupted my "suspension of belief". The German boys during the 1920s mostly wore the Lederhosen and leather shoes. The German girls wore the dresses back then. Then, the US Army general showed up at the police station in the uniform and mentioned the term, "Nazi". Neither the uniform and the term were used in the early 1920s. The train carriages with silver exterior and flush-mounted doors were from the late 1960s. Now, the vehicles didn't resemble anything from the 1920s. When I saw the "1925" at the end, I was perturbed about how much the anachronisms had ruined the film...
Other than the maddening anachronisms, I find the film very creepy and disturbing. Something that will stick to you for a long time.
However, I had to write the review due to the shockingly amount of anachronisms and sloppy attention to the detail. Many people might not care about the "devil's in the detail", but the anachronisms jump out like the 100,000-candela searchlight at you.
Inexplicably, the film production made no attempt to ensure the historical accuracies in the film. Without knowing much about the main character, Fritz Haarmann, I had trouble figuring out the era when I noticed the children wearing the modern clothes, including the colourful rubber boots. That disrupted my "suspension of belief". The German boys during the 1920s mostly wore the Lederhosen and leather shoes. The German girls wore the dresses back then. Then, the US Army general showed up at the police station in the uniform and mentioned the term, "Nazi". Neither the uniform and the term were used in the early 1920s. The train carriages with silver exterior and flush-mounted doors were from the late 1960s. Now, the vehicles didn't resemble anything from the 1920s. When I saw the "1925" at the end, I was perturbed about how much the anachronisms had ruined the film...
Other than the maddening anachronisms, I find the film very creepy and disturbing. Something that will stick to you for a long time.
The Cinema of Ulli Lommel: A creepy serial killer film.
Captain_Couth12 November 2003
Tenderness of the Wolf (1973) is an excellent film about a serial killer living in war torn Germany. Fritz Haarman was a pedophile psychopath who lived during WWI Germany (the time period in the movie was moved up to WWII). Ulli Lommel's style of directing was a nod to Fritz Lang and the other German expressionist filmmakers of the the 20's and 30's. Beware, I must warn you that this film has some strong adult content matter that most people will find repulsing. But those who are open minded will find this movie an interesting and honest portrait of a madman. Lommel and Kurt Raab (who also wrote the screenplay) portray Fritz Haarman as a tortured soul who can never truly express himself or convey his emotions. In his twisted mind he sees no harm in what he does. Several Fassbinder stock players have supporting and minor roles in this picture including Fassbinder (he cameos as a real shady slug). Kurt Raab does an excellent character study of one of Germany's most notorious serial killers.
Highly recommended (if you can stomach the content).
Highly recommended (if you can stomach the content).
A Very Weird German Movie, 28 November 2005
claudio_carvalho13 December 2009
In 1925, in Germany, Fritz Haarmann (Kurt Raab) is a homosexual, thief and sneak, having a special license from the police. He sells meat in the black market. He also kills boys and young men, drinking their bloods, quarter-sewing their bodies and throwing away the parts in a river. Certainly what he sells in the black market is human meat.
This movie is very weird. The period (1925) is only defined in the last scene, and apparently it is based on a true story. In Brazil, the VHS is spoken in Italian having delay in the subtitles in Portuguese. My vote is six.
Title (Brazil): 'O Delírio Assassino em Adolfo e Marlene' ('The Assassination Delirium in Adolf and Marlene')
This movie is very weird. The period (1925) is only defined in the last scene, and apparently it is based on a true story. In Brazil, the VHS is spoken in Italian having delay in the subtitles in Portuguese. My vote is six.
Title (Brazil): 'O Delírio Assassino em Adolfo e Marlene' ('The Assassination Delirium in Adolf and Marlene')
worthless
edgein153 February 2001
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.
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.
Ulli Lommel's disturbing shocker!
HumanoidOfFlesh14 June 2002
Fritz Haarman-the infamous "Butcher of Hanover" was one of the worst serial killers in the recent history.During five years(1919-1924)with the help of his homosexual partner Hans Grans he butchered nearly fifty youths.Their method was always the same:they enticed a youth from railway station back to Haarman's room,Haarman killed him(according to his account by biting his throat)and the boy's body was dismembered and sold as meat.His clothes were sold,and the useless(i.e. uneatable)body parts were thrown into the river Leine.Haarman was sentenced to death,Grans to twelve years in jail.Ulli Lommel's "The Tenderness of Wolves" is a realistic portrayal of this notorious killer.It's brilliantly acted,psychologically disturbing and almost completely non-violent.Definitely a must-see!
Good of its kind
Olhado15 November 1999
I really wanted to like this film more than I eventually did. The plot just wasn't handled well enough to give me that extra thrill.
It probably didn't help that I watched Fritz Lang's "M" the night before.
Rather a waste of Fassbinder's talents.
It probably didn't help that I watched Fritz Lang's "M" the night before.
Rather a waste of Fassbinder's talents.
3 Stars for Frenzel
QueenoftheGoons16 March 2022
Kurt Raab will always be Frenzel to me (Sobibor). So I'm used to a skinny scrawny Raab. Then i got this. I didn't know in Sobibor he was dying of AIDS. I like M from 1931 and this reminds me of it, both serial killers from Germany ya know. I like it but its very graphic which might bother some people. It doesn't bother me, not a whole lot does. But some people will be appalled at some of the stuff, nudity of gay guys etc. Whatever. Not my thing but doesn't bother me. I watch it for Kurt. You can't help who you love.
Great horror/cannibalism movie by the Fassbinder crew.
Mithras-49 September 1999
This movie was shot in only 23 days at a theatre in Düsseldorf. It´s about a gay murderer who kills lots of young boys and then butchers them in order to eat ´em with his friends.-
Sounds scary, but it´s incredible how the film crew created an stunning atmosphere with just a very low budget. Fassbinder couldn´t direct because he did other projects, so crew member and actor Uli Lommel did the job. Many Fassbinder friends join the movie. See this unusual one!
Sounds scary, but it´s incredible how the film crew created an stunning atmosphere with just a very low budget. Fassbinder couldn´t direct because he did other projects, so crew member and actor Uli Lommel did the job. Many Fassbinder friends join the movie. See this unusual one!
WW Era Serial Killer
kirbylee70-599-52617921 March 2016
Warning: Spoilers
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.
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.
Horror mit bratwurst.
BA_Harrison1 April 2024
Ulli Lommel is best known to horror fans as the director of schlocky '80s video nasty' The Boogey Man' and its unbelievably bad sequel, Revenge of the Bogeyman.
While far from gory, this earlier film from Lommel manages to be far more disturbing than either Boogey Man movie: produced by Rainer Werner Fassbinder, The Tenderness of the Wolves is based on real-life serial killer Fritz Haarmann, a predatory, homosexual criminal turned police informant who is believed to have killed between 50 and 70 boys and young men before finally being apprehended by the police and sentenced to death.
Kurt Raab's realistic portrayal of this deeply disturbed individual makes for uncomfortable viewing, especially if you're not keen on German 'sausage' (and by 'sausage', I mean male genitalia). And talking of meat products, Fritz was rumoured to have disposed of some of his victims' flesh by selling it on the black market as pork.
Compared to his later work, The Tenderness of the Wolves is stylishly shot and, male nudity aside, surprisingly restrained, the director opting to suggest the gruesome nature of Fritz's crimes rather than show it in gory detail. For some, this approach will prove frustratingly dull, but there's always Marion Dora's 2006 film Cannibal (based on real-life cannibal Armin Meiwes) if you're hankering after a more graphic account of a German nut-job*.
*Lommel also made a film inspired by Meiwes - Diary of a Cannibal (2007) - but I haven't seen that yet. The general consensus seems to be that it's not great.
While far from gory, this earlier film from Lommel manages to be far more disturbing than either Boogey Man movie: produced by Rainer Werner Fassbinder, The Tenderness of the Wolves is based on real-life serial killer Fritz Haarmann, a predatory, homosexual criminal turned police informant who is believed to have killed between 50 and 70 boys and young men before finally being apprehended by the police and sentenced to death.
Kurt Raab's realistic portrayal of this deeply disturbed individual makes for uncomfortable viewing, especially if you're not keen on German 'sausage' (and by 'sausage', I mean male genitalia). And talking of meat products, Fritz was rumoured to have disposed of some of his victims' flesh by selling it on the black market as pork.
Compared to his later work, The Tenderness of the Wolves is stylishly shot and, male nudity aside, surprisingly restrained, the director opting to suggest the gruesome nature of Fritz's crimes rather than show it in gory detail. For some, this approach will prove frustratingly dull, but there's always Marion Dora's 2006 film Cannibal (based on real-life cannibal Armin Meiwes) if you're hankering after a more graphic account of a German nut-job*.
*Lommel also made a film inspired by Meiwes - Diary of a Cannibal (2007) - but I haven't seen that yet. The general consensus seems to be that it's not great.
Suspense Rising
chantzyboy1 September 2021
"The bomb is underneath the table and the public knows it, probably because they have seen the anarchist place it there. The public is aware the bomb is going to explode at one o'clock and there is a clock in the decor. The public can see that it is a quarter to one. In these conditions, the same innocuous conversation becomes fascinating because the public is participating in the scene. The audience is longing to warn the characters on the screen: "You shouldn't be talking about such trivial matters. There is a bomb beneath you and it is about to explode!"
-Albert Hitchcock
"Tenderness of the Wolves" is a unorthodox take on the serial killer genre. With any foreknowledge of the Fritz Haarmann story, one might go into the film expecting a payout of gore and butchery at somewhere in the film. Basically another Ted Bundy biopic from early 19th century Germany, which would make for a pretty good film. Instead, we are shown nothing just the insinuation from other characters in the story. Hitchcock's bomb ticks for a 80 or so minutes before the final explosion, keeping the view on the edge of their seats desperately wanting to save the victim. Haarmann is portrayed in more of the fashion of Vladimir Nabokov. One doesn't necessarily feel sympathetic but more of a connection on a human level. By bringing Haarmann alive just adds to the somber tone of the film, taking a step beyond the monster. Overall, I liked the films artistic direction, innovative genre bending and tone.
3.5🌭s / 5.
"Tenderness of the Wolves" is a unorthodox take on the serial killer genre. With any foreknowledge of the Fritz Haarmann story, one might go into the film expecting a payout of gore and butchery at somewhere in the film. Basically another Ted Bundy biopic from early 19th century Germany, which would make for a pretty good film. Instead, we are shown nothing just the insinuation from other characters in the story. Hitchcock's bomb ticks for a 80 or so minutes before the final explosion, keeping the view on the edge of their seats desperately wanting to save the victim. Haarmann is portrayed in more of the fashion of Vladimir Nabokov. One doesn't necessarily feel sympathetic but more of a connection on a human level. By bringing Haarmann alive just adds to the somber tone of the film, taking a step beyond the monster. Overall, I liked the films artistic direction, innovative genre bending and tone.
3.5🌭s / 5.
Deeply disturbing horror/drama masterpiece
Coventry1 July 2009
Back in the early 70's, when his name wasn't yet a synonym for insufferably crappy hand-held camera horror stuff, Ulli Lommel actually was quite the promising and visionary young (barely 29 years old) director in his home country Germany. The powerful impact of "The Tenderness of Wolves" alone is already more than enough evidence to back up this statement. This is a thoroughly unsettling and disturbing drama/horror hybrid based on the true facts in the case of one of the most notorious European criminal figures of the previous century. Fritz Haarmann was a German pedophile and serial killer of young adolescent males during the Interbellum period and made nearly 30 victims in only five years of time. Haarmann makes his money by trades food and goods on the black market that he himself falsely confiscated by pretending to be a policeman. This is also how he picks up young lads in the train station and lures them to his apartment loft. Uncle Fritz probes for homeless boys and eventually murders them by biting their throats; which gave him the nickname "The Vampire of Hanover". The atrocities became even more inhuman when Fritz, together with his lover/partner-in-crime Hans Grans, sold the hacked up flesh of the victims on the black market. "The Tenderness of Wolves" is definitely not an overly graphical or tasteless film, but the subject matter is sickening and the whole portrayal of pedophilia is beyond disturbing. Haarmann pretty openly declares his affection for young boys and his entire surrounding either deliberately ignores this or even considers it to be the most common thing in the world. Only his neighbor from the apartment below suspects his psychopathic tendencies and attempts to alert the authorities, but that fails as Haarmann actually had connections with the police where he worked as a "rat".
The sequences in which Haarmann is intimate with his victims are extremely discomforting, but at the same time they make the film all the more powerful and hauntingly realistic. It seems unthinkable in this modern day and age, but it was so easy for twisted perverts to pick up unsuspecting and youthful victims. Especially in times of poverty and despair, like the case in Germany between the two World Wars. Every time Haarmann comes near a boy, you can already assume the poor kid's fate is sealed, like the runaway drifter at the railway station or the boy at the carnival. Whenever he approaches a kid, your skin is guaranteed to crawl, because his voice is so stern and despicable. "The Tenderness of Wolves" also benefices from a more than decent re-creation of the depressing era and – of course – the incredibly brilliant and courageous performance of lead actor/writer Kurt Raab. He truly depicts Fritz Haarmann exactly like an emotionless and depraved monster ought to be depicted. This certainly isn't a film that is suitable for all tastes (and even the most hardened cult fanatics need to feel in a certain state of mind to watch it), but it's undeniably a unique experience and easily one of the top five most unpleasant yet fascinating things I ever watched. Moreover, after witnessing the unforgettable tour-de-force accomplishment that is "The Tenderness of Wolves", it's all the more difficult to accept that Ulli Lommel is nowadays directing junk entitled "Zombie Nation", "Diary of a Cannibal" or "BTK Killer".
The sequences in which Haarmann is intimate with his victims are extremely discomforting, but at the same time they make the film all the more powerful and hauntingly realistic. It seems unthinkable in this modern day and age, but it was so easy for twisted perverts to pick up unsuspecting and youthful victims. Especially in times of poverty and despair, like the case in Germany between the two World Wars. Every time Haarmann comes near a boy, you can already assume the poor kid's fate is sealed, like the runaway drifter at the railway station or the boy at the carnival. Whenever he approaches a kid, your skin is guaranteed to crawl, because his voice is so stern and despicable. "The Tenderness of Wolves" also benefices from a more than decent re-creation of the depressing era and – of course – the incredibly brilliant and courageous performance of lead actor/writer Kurt Raab. He truly depicts Fritz Haarmann exactly like an emotionless and depraved monster ought to be depicted. This certainly isn't a film that is suitable for all tastes (and even the most hardened cult fanatics need to feel in a certain state of mind to watch it), but it's undeniably a unique experience and easily one of the top five most unpleasant yet fascinating things I ever watched. Moreover, after witnessing the unforgettable tour-de-force accomplishment that is "The Tenderness of Wolves", it's all the more difficult to accept that Ulli Lommel is nowadays directing junk entitled "Zombie Nation", "Diary of a Cannibal" or "BTK Killer".
Fritz Haarmann and Hans Beckert
hasosch8 April 2009
Hans Beckert in "M" (1931) and Fritz Haarmann in "Die Zärtlichkeit Der Wölfe" (1973): Both films are based on the true story of the German series killer Fritz Haarmann (1879-1925).
Comparing the two films, one feels the 40 years that lie between them. Peter Lorre, the Beckert of M., is not shown killing his victims. There is no blood, and the story is told as if we would gather it by change through rumors in the street and newspaper reports. On the other side, the magnificent actor Kurt Raab as Haarmann: We see how he picks his victims up - exclusively good-looking young boys. In "M", we are only told about missing little girls - perhaps the combination of series killer and homosexual would have been too much for the audience then. "Tenderness of the Wolves" is also in general much closer to the original Haarmann story - f.ex., when we see how Fritz sells sausages that he had made from the meat of his victims (Haarmann owned a short time a butcher store.) We see how Fritz lives, drinks and sleeps with his victims, and kills them. We also see him getting rid of their corpses in huge plastic bags which he sinks in the river. Nothing at all about the everyday's life of Hans Beckert: All we see him do, is walking up and then down the streets, sometimes visiting an inn for a schnapps. From his apartment that the police enters twice, we see his one table, nothing more. In the case of Fritz, we even meet his nosy and gossipy neighbors. So, when Beckert finally get caught by the horde of the mob, Lorre had to compensate all that what the director did not show us, so that we could not make ourselves a picture about Beckert, the human being. Therefore, Lorre is not allowed to just break together and admit his murders, but he is forced to cry also the motivations of his deeds into the jury. For me, what he is doing, is not convincing. It may have been more shocking in 1931 as it is now, but I doubt that, too. - On the other side, Kurt Raab alias Fritz was allowed to broadcast all his lust that he had with his boys, from the seduction via the intercourse up to his climax: the lethal bite in the neck. At the end, Fritz will say: "I give my life back in God's hands ... but I had them all, the handsomest of the handsomest". We feel his lust and believe him - because he had a chance to show it during the movie, we are his witnesses. But unfortunately nothing like that in M., so that Lorre's Beckert stays an isolated and widely artificially constructed figure, not a human, but a silhouette. On the other side Raab's Haarmann, played by the self-confessed pedophile homosexual Raab: There are moments in the movie where one trembles, if the actor has himself really under control - so good is his acting.
Comparing the two films, one feels the 40 years that lie between them. Peter Lorre, the Beckert of M., is not shown killing his victims. There is no blood, and the story is told as if we would gather it by change through rumors in the street and newspaper reports. On the other side, the magnificent actor Kurt Raab as Haarmann: We see how he picks his victims up - exclusively good-looking young boys. In "M", we are only told about missing little girls - perhaps the combination of series killer and homosexual would have been too much for the audience then. "Tenderness of the Wolves" is also in general much closer to the original Haarmann story - f.ex., when we see how Fritz sells sausages that he had made from the meat of his victims (Haarmann owned a short time a butcher store.) We see how Fritz lives, drinks and sleeps with his victims, and kills them. We also see him getting rid of their corpses in huge plastic bags which he sinks in the river. Nothing at all about the everyday's life of Hans Beckert: All we see him do, is walking up and then down the streets, sometimes visiting an inn for a schnapps. From his apartment that the police enters twice, we see his one table, nothing more. In the case of Fritz, we even meet his nosy and gossipy neighbors. So, when Beckert finally get caught by the horde of the mob, Lorre had to compensate all that what the director did not show us, so that we could not make ourselves a picture about Beckert, the human being. Therefore, Lorre is not allowed to just break together and admit his murders, but he is forced to cry also the motivations of his deeds into the jury. For me, what he is doing, is not convincing. It may have been more shocking in 1931 as it is now, but I doubt that, too. - On the other side, Kurt Raab alias Fritz was allowed to broadcast all his lust that he had with his boys, from the seduction via the intercourse up to his climax: the lethal bite in the neck. At the end, Fritz will say: "I give my life back in God's hands ... but I had them all, the handsomest of the handsomest". We feel his lust and believe him - because he had a chance to show it during the movie, we are his witnesses. But unfortunately nothing like that in M., so that Lorre's Beckert stays an isolated and widely artificially constructed figure, not a human, but a silhouette. On the other side Raab's Haarmann, played by the self-confessed pedophile homosexual Raab: There are moments in the movie where one trembles, if the actor has himself really under control - so good is his acting.
Great transfer of a truly chilling film
t-dooley-69-3869169 March 2016
Based on the true story of Fritz Haarman who was a serial killer who preyed on young men and boys between the wars, this is a repositioning of the time line to be just after World War II in a devastated Germany. He was a man who had come under the watch of the Police but they chose to keep him as informant rather than look into his more nefarious habits.
He sells 'meat' on the black market and his visits are eagerly awaited by his customers. At night he patrols the local train station and helps out waifs and strays – some of them he takes under his wing and brings them back to his attic room. There the neighbours start to complain about the ungodly noises that emanate from the loft long into the wee hours of the German night.
Now this is deeply chilling and has scenes that will stay with you. The nasty bits are far from gratuitous but they have more of an impact because of that. Openly gay he lusts after Hans who is the German equivalent of a 'Spiv' and equally as loathsome. The lighting is just brilliant too, adding to the eerie atmosphere and the squalid detritus of post war life. Rainer Werner Fassbinder puts in an on screen appearance too – which is just cinematic gravy as far as I am concerned. The actual transfer by Arrow Video is really high quality too and it feels as if this could have been made a few years ago and not in 1973 as indeed it was. A great and worthy film to have some new life breathed into it.
He sells 'meat' on the black market and his visits are eagerly awaited by his customers. At night he patrols the local train station and helps out waifs and strays – some of them he takes under his wing and brings them back to his attic room. There the neighbours start to complain about the ungodly noises that emanate from the loft long into the wee hours of the German night.
Now this is deeply chilling and has scenes that will stay with you. The nasty bits are far from gratuitous but they have more of an impact because of that. Openly gay he lusts after Hans who is the German equivalent of a 'Spiv' and equally as loathsome. The lighting is just brilliant too, adding to the eerie atmosphere and the squalid detritus of post war life. Rainer Werner Fassbinder puts in an on screen appearance too – which is just cinematic gravy as far as I am concerned. The actual transfer by Arrow Video is really high quality too and it feels as if this could have been made a few years ago and not in 1973 as indeed it was. A great and worthy film to have some new life breathed into it.
Will no doubt stay with you long after the credits have rolled
tomgillespie200214 August 2015
Surprisingly deemed too controversial a topic to direct himself, infant terrible Rainer Werner Fassbinder handed the reins of Tenderness of the Wolves, a deeply unsettling portrayal of serial killer Fritz Haarmann, to his protégé Ulli Lommel, the man later responsible for video nasty The Boogeyman (1980) and countless straight-to-video efforts that linger in the IMDb's Bottom 100 list. Despite this, the film looks and feels like a Fassbinder film. The characters inhabit the same sleazily-filmed world, many of Fassbinder's troupe of actors appear, and the great man himself has a small role as an ugly pimp.
Written by the great Kurt Raab, who also stars as Haarmann, Tenderness of the Wolves doesn't spend any time trying to understand the motivation of the man dubbed the Vampire of Hanover, but instead shows us a snippet of his debauched life. Moving the story from 1924 (when Haarmann was arrested in real-life) to post World War II, Germany is a country clearly feeling the economic strain of losing the war, where the black market is flourishing and con-man Haarmann is doing very well for himself. Along with his on-and-off lover and pimp Hans Grans (Jeff Roden), he swindles clothes from good Samaritans and sells them on for profit, as well as selling meat to bar owner Louise (Brigitte Mira) which may or may not be the bodies of his victims.
As a horror, it achieves it's disturbing atmosphere not through gratuitousness, but through the squalor of its setting, observant direction, and Raab's magnificent performance. Haartmann was a gay child molester who enjoyed throttling his victims, biting into their throats (often through the Adam's apple), before chopping them into pieces and throwing them into the Leine River. We don't see much of the murders, but when they do occur they are filmed without sensationalism, made all the more unsettling due to the full-frontal male nudity of some of the film's under-age actors, something extremely rare in horror even today.
Haartmann, shaven-headed and ghostly pale, manipulates his victims by posing as a police officer before drugging and overpowering them, often making little effort to cover his tracks or dispose of the bodies discretely. This arrogance, although it would eventually lead to his arrest, makes him even more of a monster, and Raab delivers a truly terrific performance. Without attempting to explain his actions or even offer a background of how Haarmann got into the criminal business and how he developed a taste for human blood, Tenderness of the Wolves becomes more about the world he inhabits and the creepy characters who surround him. It's hardly a film to discuss over breakfast, but it will no doubt stay with you for long after the credits have rolled.
Written by the great Kurt Raab, who also stars as Haarmann, Tenderness of the Wolves doesn't spend any time trying to understand the motivation of the man dubbed the Vampire of Hanover, but instead shows us a snippet of his debauched life. Moving the story from 1924 (when Haarmann was arrested in real-life) to post World War II, Germany is a country clearly feeling the economic strain of losing the war, where the black market is flourishing and con-man Haarmann is doing very well for himself. Along with his on-and-off lover and pimp Hans Grans (Jeff Roden), he swindles clothes from good Samaritans and sells them on for profit, as well as selling meat to bar owner Louise (Brigitte Mira) which may or may not be the bodies of his victims.
As a horror, it achieves it's disturbing atmosphere not through gratuitousness, but through the squalor of its setting, observant direction, and Raab's magnificent performance. Haartmann was a gay child molester who enjoyed throttling his victims, biting into their throats (often through the Adam's apple), before chopping them into pieces and throwing them into the Leine River. We don't see much of the murders, but when they do occur they are filmed without sensationalism, made all the more unsettling due to the full-frontal male nudity of some of the film's under-age actors, something extremely rare in horror even today.
Haartmann, shaven-headed and ghostly pale, manipulates his victims by posing as a police officer before drugging and overpowering them, often making little effort to cover his tracks or dispose of the bodies discretely. This arrogance, although it would eventually lead to his arrest, makes him even more of a monster, and Raab delivers a truly terrific performance. Without attempting to explain his actions or even offer a background of how Haarmann got into the criminal business and how he developed a taste for human blood, Tenderness of the Wolves becomes more about the world he inhabits and the creepy characters who surround him. It's hardly a film to discuss over breakfast, but it will no doubt stay with you for long after the credits have rolled.
Bizarre Tale of Murder and Cannibalism
Michael_Elliott20 October 2016
Tenderness of the Wolves (1973)
*** (out of 4)
Homosexual serial killer Fritz Haarmann (Kurt Raab) stalks the young boys and men of Germany as he lures them back to his apartment. If they're lucky it's just a sexual thing but for dozens of young people they were lured back to Haarmann's apartment where they were murdered and eaten.
Ulli Lommel's TENDERNESS OF THE WOLVES certainly isn't a film that's going to appeal to many for a number of reasons. For starters, if you're expecting a horror film then you're barking up the wrong tree. I guess you could call this a crime picture with horror elements but if you're wanting the gory kind of story then you'll be disappointed because this is one of the most laid back thrillers that you'll ever see. Of course, the subject matter itself is another thing that is going to keep most people away.
Lommel certainly deserves a lot of credit for not delivering your average crime picture but instead he goes for more of a bizarre atmosphere. What's so strange about this picture is that you're watching a monster who murders and eats children yet you don't ever really hate him. What I liked about the movie is that it's really not that judgmental on its subject as it doesn't try to make him a villain, a misunderstood psycho or anything else. Lommel basically just tells us the story and he really keeps all emotion out of the picture.
Technically speaking this is an extremely well-made movie. The camera-work is wonderful and there's no doubt that the director builds up a rather eerie atmosphere with ease. The subject matter is a very dark one yet Lommel never sends the material over-the-top or into a graphic area. It should go without saying but the biggest reason the film works so well is due to the performance by Raab. He's rather remarkable at how good he is in the role and not for a second do you ever feel as if you're watching an actor. You really do feel as if you're watching a troubled mind work his way into the trust of these victims.
TENDERNESS OF THE WOLVES has a lot of similarities with Fritz Lang's M, another German movie about a serial killer. While this film doesn't reach the same levels of that one, this Lommel picture certainly deserves to be better known than it is.
*** (out of 4)
Homosexual serial killer Fritz Haarmann (Kurt Raab) stalks the young boys and men of Germany as he lures them back to his apartment. If they're lucky it's just a sexual thing but for dozens of young people they were lured back to Haarmann's apartment where they were murdered and eaten.
Ulli Lommel's TENDERNESS OF THE WOLVES certainly isn't a film that's going to appeal to many for a number of reasons. For starters, if you're expecting a horror film then you're barking up the wrong tree. I guess you could call this a crime picture with horror elements but if you're wanting the gory kind of story then you'll be disappointed because this is one of the most laid back thrillers that you'll ever see. Of course, the subject matter itself is another thing that is going to keep most people away.
Lommel certainly deserves a lot of credit for not delivering your average crime picture but instead he goes for more of a bizarre atmosphere. What's so strange about this picture is that you're watching a monster who murders and eats children yet you don't ever really hate him. What I liked about the movie is that it's really not that judgmental on its subject as it doesn't try to make him a villain, a misunderstood psycho or anything else. Lommel basically just tells us the story and he really keeps all emotion out of the picture.
Technically speaking this is an extremely well-made movie. The camera-work is wonderful and there's no doubt that the director builds up a rather eerie atmosphere with ease. The subject matter is a very dark one yet Lommel never sends the material over-the-top or into a graphic area. It should go without saying but the biggest reason the film works so well is due to the performance by Raab. He's rather remarkable at how good he is in the role and not for a second do you ever feel as if you're watching an actor. You really do feel as if you're watching a troubled mind work his way into the trust of these victims.
TENDERNESS OF THE WOLVES has a lot of similarities with Fritz Lang's M, another German movie about a serial killer. While this film doesn't reach the same levels of that one, this Lommel picture certainly deserves to be better known than it is.
Well made movie.
Boba_Fett11384 September 2010
It's German, it's from the '70's, so of course this movie is being something different than usual. It's a typical European production, that doesn't take a spectacular Hollywood approach but instead focuses more on the visuals and actual storytelling.
Guess that some people might find this movie to be a lackluster and even boring to watch but in its genre it's simply being an unique movie that is throughout intriguing to watch. It's a movie that grabs you, even though the movie has some slow storytelling in it. It's really a movie that takes its time to set up things and never does things hastily. Even the killings occur in a slow, delicate manner, often without wasting too much dialog on it. It's all the more intriguing once you know that this movie is fairly well based on true events and persons.
I wasn't sure what to expect from this movie beforehand, since it had a premise of an homosexual German serial killer, set in the early 20th century. This are 3 things that might already scare off some people from ever watching it. I had no idea what the overall tone or the story would be all about. In all honesty, I was more expecting an homo-erotic type of movie, also because of its title perhaps. But it's simply a very accessible movie to just basically everyone. It isn't trying to be very controversial or groundbreaking with its subject, which might also be one of the reasons though why this movie isn't that well known. Sure, there is some male nudity in the movie but it's all fairly tame and toned down. It certainly isn't being presented as anything erotic or exciting, so you shouldn't feel too uncomfortable with it.
It's more a movie that tries to shock with its premise, which does work out well. The movie feels and looks almost like an horror movie at times, due to its fine atmosphere and effective storytelling. It's a really well made film, that feels a bit clumsy at times with its editing perhaps but even this contributes to its nice suiting eerie atmosphere.
It also all works out very well thanks to its main character, that got played very well by Kurt Raab, who does look quite effectively creepy.
One greatly effective and intriguing movie.
8/10
http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/
Guess that some people might find this movie to be a lackluster and even boring to watch but in its genre it's simply being an unique movie that is throughout intriguing to watch. It's a movie that grabs you, even though the movie has some slow storytelling in it. It's really a movie that takes its time to set up things and never does things hastily. Even the killings occur in a slow, delicate manner, often without wasting too much dialog on it. It's all the more intriguing once you know that this movie is fairly well based on true events and persons.
I wasn't sure what to expect from this movie beforehand, since it had a premise of an homosexual German serial killer, set in the early 20th century. This are 3 things that might already scare off some people from ever watching it. I had no idea what the overall tone or the story would be all about. In all honesty, I was more expecting an homo-erotic type of movie, also because of its title perhaps. But it's simply a very accessible movie to just basically everyone. It isn't trying to be very controversial or groundbreaking with its subject, which might also be one of the reasons though why this movie isn't that well known. Sure, there is some male nudity in the movie but it's all fairly tame and toned down. It certainly isn't being presented as anything erotic or exciting, so you shouldn't feel too uncomfortable with it.
It's more a movie that tries to shock with its premise, which does work out well. The movie feels and looks almost like an horror movie at times, due to its fine atmosphere and effective storytelling. It's a really well made film, that feels a bit clumsy at times with its editing perhaps but even this contributes to its nice suiting eerie atmosphere.
It also all works out very well thanks to its main character, that got played very well by Kurt Raab, who does look quite effectively creepy.
One greatly effective and intriguing movie.
8/10
http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/
Masterpiece
normrinks29 March 2010
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.
See also
Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews
