The Tenderness of the Wolves

Deeply unsettling, haunting and nothing short of nightmarish, this Rainer Werner Fassbinder produced account of German serial killer Fritz Haarmann, aka ‘The Vampire of Hanover’, remains a chilling masterpiece thanks to Kurt Raab’s uncompromising portrayal of the notorious murderer.

Although the real Fritz Haarmann spanned his reign of terror shortly after the end of WW1 (he murdered young boys and young men between 1918 and 1924), the movie is set after the end of WW2 – reason being (according to the late Fassbinder) that it would have been too costly to re-create the Germany of 1920, a place still intact before the destructions during WW2.
Set in the town of Hanover (although filmed in another small town during October/November 1973) we get appropriate shades of grey, joyless and desolate. Winter is nigh yet the citizens of Hanover struggle to make ends meet in their war-torn country – money is short, food is short, employment seems short. This depressing world is inhabited by Fritz Haarmann (played by the late Kurt Raab, who also wrote the script). With his shaven head, his baby-face smile and his obviously disturbed ‘aura’ we can see from the outset that here is man a few slices short of a full Sunday roast. Raabe’s look uncannily resembles that of actor Peter Lorre in Fritz Lang’s 1931 masterpiece >B>M (in which Lorre plays a child murderer) much more than it resembles the real Haarmann. Whatever the reason for the decision, it works well.
Living in his ramshackle place in the attic, Haarmann, who is known to the local police for theft, larceny, assault, black market trading and various other charming traits, leads a sad and lonely existence – not helped by his homosexuality which back then was still illegal and punishable. During one of his many arrests for petty crime he strikes a deal with the police and turns informer, thus becoming ‘Inspector Haarmann’. Times are tough and Haarmann has little choice when it comes to grassing up his comrades in crime. His small circle of ‘friends’ consist of Hans Grans (Jeff Roden) – a pimp and Haarmann’s occasional lover, Dora (Ingrid Caven) – a prostitute, Elli (Barbara Bertram) – another prostitute and Grans’ love interest, and Louise Engel (the late Brigitte Mira) – the big-hearted landlady at the nearby tavern.

Making full use of his new position as ‘informer’ and right hand of the law, Haarmann lures adolescent runaway boys and other drifters into his attic room with empty promises, first to feed them, then to fondle them, then to kill them (usually via biting their throats), and finally to dismember them. Although there is full-frontal nudity and some blood on display we, the viewer, are mercifully spared the gory details (or should that be entrails?) splattered across the room!

With his noisy late night activities of pounding and chopping, Haarmann raises the suspicion of long-suffering Frau Lindner (Margit Carstensen) who happens to live in the flat below. Eventually he also raises the suspicion of a shoemaker to whom he hands the boots of his victims for repair, and before selling them on to a French-Algerian soldier (the late El Hedi ben Salem… just how many ‘late’ actors are there in this film?). The soldier never asks any questions as to where the boots and clothes come from. To him it’s simply another black market deal for which Haarmann and buddy Grans receive tinned food in exchange. And if there is a shortage of potential victims, there are always clothes to steal from various clotheslines in backyards! He and Grans even come up with the audacious con of posing as priest and charity worker in order to receive old clobber from generous souls! In addition, Haarmann seems to make a nice little earner from the ‘meat’ wrapped up in his place and which he sells on to delighted landlady Frau Engel – no questions asked as to where the meat comes from or what meat it actually is (“Pork” is the usual reply). But when more and more young boys go missing, and suspicious neighbour Frau Lindner witnesses Haarmann sneaking out late of the house with two large packages (which he then dumps into a nearby river), police chiefs Brown and Müller (Wolfgang Schenck and Rainer Hauer) decide to set a trap for Haarmann…

The film ends with his arrest just as he’s about to kill another young man (a decoy) and Haarmann is lead away handcuffed, followed by his small entourage of disbelieving and shocked friends. In real life, Haarmann, who in turn was nicknamed the ‘Vampire of Hanover’, the ‘Butcher of Hanover’, and even ‘The Wolfman’, was executed by beheading in 1925.
The movie consists of the usual Fassbinder ensemble and some actors featured in several of the director’s own films. Cameraman Jürgen Jürges did a great job in capturing the claustrophobic and nightmarish vision on camera, while Kurt Raab’s ‘serial killer’ moves through his flat and the streets in an almost dreamlike state, tender and caring on the outside, though underneath there lurks a beast. The whole atmosphere seems deliberately slow and almost stilted as if director Lommel doesn’t want you to escape from this nightmare!

SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS:

* New high definition digital transfer prepared by the Rainer Werner Fassbinder Foundation
* High Definition (1080p) Blu-ray and Standard Definition DVD presentations
* Original uncompressed PCM mono 1.0 sound • Newly translated optional English subtitles
* Audio commentary by director Ulli Lommel, moderated by Uwe Huber
* Introduction by Lommel
* The Tender Wolf, a newly-filmed interview with Lommel
* Photographing Fritz, a newly-filmed interview with director of photography Jürgen Jürges
* Haarmann’s Victim Talks, a newly-filmed interview with actor Rainer Will
* An appreciation by Stephen Thrower, author of Nightmare USA and Murderous Passions: The Delirious Cinema of Jesús Franco
* Stills gallery
* Theatrical trailer
* Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by the Twins of Evil
* Illustrated collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by Tony Rayns, editor of the first English-language book on Rainer Werner Fassbinder