Der Goldene Handschuh (2019)

	Directed by: Fatih Akin	INTERNATIONAL TITLE The Golden Glove NORWEGIAN TITLE Den gylne hanske COUNTRY Germany/France Genre Horror/Drama RUNNING TIME 110 minutes
	Produced by: Nurhan Sekerci-Porst Fatih Akin Herman Weigel
	Written by (based on the book by Heinz Strunk): Fatih Akin

Cast includes:
CHARACTER	ACTOR/ACTRESS	RATING
Fritz Honka	Jonas Dassler	½
Gerda Voss	Margarethe Tiesel
Helga Denningsen	Katja Studt	-
Soldaten-Nobert	Dirk Böhling	-
Dornkaat-Max	Hark Bohm	-
Herbert	Uwe Rohde	-
Nasen-Ernie	Lars Nagel	-
Petra Schulz	Greta Sophie Schmidt	-
Willi	Tristan Göbel	-
Frua	Martina Eitner-Acheampong	-

Review

Fatih Akin (Auf der anderen Seite) wrote and directed this quite impressive delve into the habits – if not psyche – of one of Germany's most brutal and notorious serial killers of the late 20th century. The film is realistic and gruelling, almost to a degree of feeling exploitative. Rarely has killing been made to look uglier and more lowly than Akin does here. Still, he shies away from depicting the most visceral details, and for that the film retains a certain dignity in the midst of the bleakness. Akin is more interested in showing the pathetic and pathological than the monstrous side of the murderer. That being said, and despite an impressive attention to detail, the film paints a somewhat detached and emotionless picture of the events. And perhaps that is the only way for dealing comprehensively with this type of subject matter. If you're willing to go with that, Der goldene Handscuch also is a wonderful time travel. Akin is a brilliant observer and recreator of atmosphere. His version of 1970s Germany here is vivid and particular, and it will definitely ring true for anyone who ventured in these areas during the 1970s or 80s. Young Jonas Dassler gives a remarkable performance as the killer Fritz Honka, well helped by brilliant make-up. And there are also daring supporting performance, with no hints of vanity, by a number of the female supporting players.