The Golden Glove (2019)
(Der goldene Handschuh)
Country: GER/FR
Technical: col 115m
Director: Fatih Akin
Cast: Jonas Dassler, Hark Bohm, Margarete Tiesel
Synopsis:
An unidentified German town in the early 70s is host to the titular watering hole, jewel in the crown of the city's red light district. One of its denizens is Fritz 'Fiete' Honka, a sexually dysfunctional alcoholic who lures desperate women to his garret, murders them and stows their remains in the oubliettes.
Review:
Based on an actual Hamburg case, and painstakingly thorough in its recreation, Akin's serial killer character study is up (or down) there with Gaspar Noé when it comes to squalor and repellent detail, except that this sociopath does not even have an ethos; he just wants to drink and fuck. There's a central section in which he attempts to go on the wagon and become a responsible citizen, but that goes nowhere, leaving loose ends that are never tied. Then there are the two high school students who are morbidly fascinated by the 'milieu' and barely escape intact; one expects them to embark on some kind of Blue Velvet-style amateur detective work, but nothing comes of that either. Instead we are treated to excruciatingly protracted and repetitive scenes of violence, abuse and dismemberment, incredulous that the Greek family below does not report the noise and smell to the authorities.
(Der goldene Handschuh)
Country: GER/FR
Technical: col 115m
Director: Fatih Akin
Cast: Jonas Dassler, Hark Bohm, Margarete Tiesel
Synopsis:
An unidentified German town in the early 70s is host to the titular watering hole, jewel in the crown of the city's red light district. One of its denizens is Fritz 'Fiete' Honka, a sexually dysfunctional alcoholic who lures desperate women to his garret, murders them and stows their remains in the oubliettes.
Review:
Based on an actual Hamburg case, and painstakingly thorough in its recreation, Akin's serial killer character study is up (or down) there with Gaspar Noé when it comes to squalor and repellent detail, except that this sociopath does not even have an ethos; he just wants to drink and fuck. There's a central section in which he attempts to go on the wagon and become a responsible citizen, but that goes nowhere, leaving loose ends that are never tied. Then there are the two high school students who are morbidly fascinated by the 'milieu' and barely escape intact; one expects them to embark on some kind of Blue Velvet-style amateur detective work, but nothing comes of that either. Instead we are treated to excruciatingly protracted and repetitive scenes of violence, abuse and dismemberment, incredulous that the Greek family below does not report the noise and smell to the authorities.
(Der goldene Handschuh)
Country: GER/FR
Technical: col 115m
Director: Fatih Akin
Cast: Jonas Dassler, Hark Bohm, Margarete Tiesel
Synopsis:
An unidentified German town in the early 70s is host to the titular watering hole, jewel in the crown of the city's red light district. One of its denizens is Fritz 'Fiete' Honka, a sexually dysfunctional alcoholic who lures desperate women to his garret, murders them and stows their remains in the oubliettes.
Review:
Based on an actual Hamburg case, and painstakingly thorough in its recreation, Akin's serial killer character study is up (or down) there with Gaspar Noé when it comes to squalor and repellent detail, except that this sociopath does not even have an ethos; he just wants to drink and fuck. There's a central section in which he attempts to go on the wagon and become a responsible citizen, but that goes nowhere, leaving loose ends that are never tied. Then there are the two high school students who are morbidly fascinated by the 'milieu' and barely escape intact; one expects them to embark on some kind of Blue Velvet-style amateur detective work, but nothing comes of that either. Instead we are treated to excruciatingly protracted and repetitive scenes of violence, abuse and dismemberment, incredulous that the Greek family below does not report the noise and smell to the authorities.