Tenderness of the Wolves

[domino harvey]

Release Date: 19th October 2015 (UK) 20th October 2015 (US)
Format: Dual Format Blu-ray + DVD
Starring: Kurt Raab, Jeff Roden, Margit Christensen, Ingrid Craven, Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Directed by: Ulli Lommel

Synopsis:
Fritz Haarmann, aka the Butcher of Hanover and the Vampire of Hanover, was a German serial killer responsible for the murders of two dozen boys and young men during the so-called ‘years of crisis’ between the wars. His case would partly inspire Fritz Lang’s M, and its central character portrayed by Peter Lorre, as well as this forgotten gem from 1973.

Tenderness of the Wolves treats the viewer to a few weeks in the company of a killer. Baby-faced and shaven-headed, in a manner that recalls both M and F.W. Murnau’s Nosferatu, Haarmann is a fascinating, repulsive figure. Using his status as a police informant to procure his victims, he dismembers their bodies after death and sells the flesh to restaurants, dumping the remainder out of sight. This isn’t an easy film to watch, but it certainly gets under the skin…

Produced by Rainer Werner Fassbinder (who also supplies a shifty cameo), Tenderness of the Wolves provided two of his regular actors with a means of expanding their careers. Ulli Lommel – later responsible for the infamous video nasty The Boogeyman – made his directorial debut, while Kurt Raab wrote the screenplay as well as delivering an astonishing performance as Haarmann.

SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS:

New high definition digital transfer prepared by the Rainer Werner Fassbinder Foundation
High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) and Standard Definition DVD presentations
Uncompressed Mono 1.0 PCM Audio
New translated English subtitles
The Tender Wolf – a brand-new in-depth interview with director Ulli Lommel
Brand-new interview with director of photography Jürgen Jürges
Newly-filmed appreciation by film historian and expert on European horror cinema Stephen Thrower
Theatrical trailer
Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by the Twins of Evil
Illustrated booklet featuring new writing on the film by Tony Rayns

[TMDaines]

Very cool. Especially as the OOP US DVD goes for big bucks.

[Orlac]

A very good release.

[MichaelB]

Mondo Digital:

The new HD restoration supervised by the Rainer Werner Fassbinder Foundation looks excellent; anyone who's seen their work through several Criterion releases shouldn't be surprised to find that it looks pretty much perfect from start to finish. [...] Definitely a massive upgrade in every respect.

[Orlac]

It's interesting that the original poster art on the rear cover attributes the film's authorship (not necessarily its direction) credit to Fassbinder rather than Lommel.

[MichaelB]

It's interesting that the original poster art on the rear cover attributes the film's authorship (not necessarily its direction) credit to Fassbinder rather than Lommel.

Tony Rayns goes into this in some detail in his booklet essay: it's a logistical impossibility for Fassbinder to have directed it, as he was shooting Effi Briest elsewhere in Germany at exactly the same time, aside from the two days when he was acting in Tenderness of the Wolves.

I can entirely understand why marketing campaigns would have wished to play up Fassbinder's involvement (Stephen Thrower argues that this played a major role in securing the film an uncut release in the UK back in the mid-70s), but it really was absolutely minimal - he put up the money, played a small role, but otherwise seems to have disliked the film, which he only agreed to back because he had to invest money in something by the end of the tax year. So it's unlikely that he had any significant input into its authorship on any level, other than being the director with whom Lommel was most familiar.

If you're looking for an author other than Lommel, Kurt Raab is the man you should be investigating: as screenwriter/designer/star he clearly had a colossal creative input into the film.

[pet42]

Fassbinder is also credited as editor together with Thea Eymèsz who died in September.

[MichaelB]

A typically exhaustive review from DVD Compare.

[zedz]

A great film and an impressive transfer. It's fascinating as a parallel Fassbinder work, as it's by essentially the same team, and the acting style is very similar to his films (completely unsurprising, as its the same ensemble dealing with similar material), but it doesn't feel that much like a Fassbinder film. In that respect it's a bit like a co-directed Niklashausen Journey or Why Does Herr R. Run Amok?, which are formally quite unlike Fassbinder's surrounding films while still recognizably inhabiting the same aesthetic universe.