Fritz Like a Glove

The Golden Glove (Fatih Akin, 2019)

Late pass here! Heard a lot about this film the last couple of years, but it wasn't until now that I got to see it. Kicking myself for taking too long, because it's a superb film. Based on the true story of German serial killer, Fritz Honka; a repulsive-looking, alcoholic, night watchman who lured vulnerable women to his festering lair for booze and a good time. Unfortunately, for some of them, his attic apartment would be the last place they would ever visit alive. These victims would eventually be dismembered and then hidden within the walls and beneath the floorboards of his rancid, porn-decorated flat.

What's blatantly apparent about Akin's film is how insanely well it depicts the seemy and pathetic lives of the local denizens of the notorious Hamburg pub, The Golden Glove. Set in the seventies, the viewer is thrown into Fritz Honka's repulsively, grimy, alcohol-fuelled world. Life is incredibly bleak and depressing for the patrons of this seedy drinking establishement. It makes it all the more plausible how the disfigured Honka, could take advantage of a number of alcoholic women for his own malevolent satisfaction - which includes beating them and inserting large frankfurters in their orifices. It's on the same atmospheric wave length as the real crime scuzziness of Fhiona Louise's Cold Light of Day (1989) - a film based on another real life serial killer, Dennis Nilsen. Genuinely felt rotten seeing not only Honka's cruel depravity unfold on-screen, but also the entire social environment he was a part of. At times I was reminded of Jim Hosking's The Greasy Strangler (2016); minus all the hipster comedy.

Amazed how Jonas Dassler, who was in his early twenties during the filming of The Golden Glove, managed to play Honka and was transformed into playing a man almost twice his age at the time with such a high degree of conviction. The film weights heavily on his performance and the gamble of casting someone so young actually pays off here. In other films with a similar subject matter, there tends to be a narrow, redemptive opportunity presented at some point to the protagonist, and here this is also the case. Thanks to Dassler's performance and Akin's direction, it doesn't feel like a shoehorned cliche, however.

Both the make-up and production design are the biggest highlights of the film. The characters and sets instantly transport the viewer to this grim and seedy world from the past. The acidic oranges and browns remind me of vintage Open University lectures from back in the day. Love all the little details found in the film, like the Magic Little Tree air freshners adorned everywhere in Honka's apartment, to mask the rotting smell of the cadavers. Also, Honka blaming the awful smell on the cooking coming from the Greek family living below him was hilarious.

The problem with serial killer films including those based on real-life monsters, is that they either tend to psychoanylise them and attempt to humanise them into almost sympathetic characters, or just glorify them as anti-heroes. Thankfully, The Golden Glove is a film that goes against these portrayals. You're meant to be repulsed by these horrific people and that's what makes this film so damn immersive and compelling to watch. Definitely would have made my film highlights of 2019 if I had bothered to check it out earlier. Better late than never.

The Golden Glove (Trailer)

Fatih Akin, 2019