#and the fact that Dahmer is based on a real murderer turns me off too

[the-curious-curer]

Random rant: English fandoms especially is a weird place, on one hand you have people cheering for series romanticizing serial killers (Dahmer) and incest (House of Dragon) but on the other, people shipping gay teenage boys from anime get called out for “misogyny” and “ped0philia” and so on.

[anhed-nia]

BLOGTOBER 10/7/2020

I missed THE GOLDEN GLOVE at Fantastic Fest last year. It was one of my only regrets of the whole experience, but it was basically mandatory since the available screenings were opposite the much-hyped PARASITE. As annoying as that sounds, it was actually a major compliment, since what could possibly serve as a consolation prize for the most hotly anticipated movie of the year? Needless to say, I heard great things, but I could never have imagined what it was actually like. I'm still wrapping my mind around it.

Between 1970 and 1975, an exceptionally depraved serial killer named Fritz Honka murdered at least four prostitutes in Hamburg's red light district. Today, we tend to think of the archetypal serial killer in terms of ironic contradictions: The public is attracted by Ted Bundy's dashing looks and suave manner, and John Wayne Gayce's dual careers as politician and party clown. Lacking anything so remarkable, we associate psychopathy with Norman Bates' boy-next-door charm, and repeat "It's always the quiet ones" with a smirk whenever a new Jeffrey Dahmer or Dennis Nilsen is exposed to the public. The popular conception of a bloodthirsty maniac is not the fairytale monster of yore, but a wolf in sheep's clothing, whose hygienic appearance and lifestyle belie his twisted desires. In our post-everything world, the ironic surprise has become the rule. In this light, THE GOLDEN GLOVE represents a refreshing return to naked truth.

To say that writer-director Fatih Akin's version of the Fritz Honka story is shocking, repulsive, and utterly degenerated would be a gross understatement. We first meet the killer frantically trying to dispose of a corpse in his filthy flat, wallpapered with porno pinups, strewn with broken toys, and virtually projecting smell lines off of the screen. One's sense of embodiment is oppressive, even claustrophobic, as the petite Honka tries and fails to collapse the full dead weight of a human corpse into a garbage bag, before giving up and dismembering it, with nearly equal difficulty. The scene is appalling, utterly debased, and yet nothing is as shocking as the killer's visage. When he finally turns to look into the camera, it's hard to believe he's even human: the rolling glass eye, the smashed and inflated nose, the tombstone teeth and cratered skin, are almost too extreme to bear. Actually, suffering from a touch of facial blindness, I had to stare intently at Honka's face for nearly half the movie before I could fully convince myself that I was, in fact, looking at an elaborate prosthetic operation used to transform 23 year old boy band candidate Jonas Dassler into the disfigured 35 year old serial murderer.

Though West Germany remained on a steady economic upturn beginning in the 1950s and throughout the 1970s, you wouldn't know it from THE GOLDEN GLOVE. If Honka's outsides match his insides, they are further matched by his stomping grounds in the Reeperbahn, a dirty, violent, booze-soaked repository for the dregs of humanity. Though its denizens may come from different walks of life, one thing is certain: Whoever winds up there, belongs there. Honka was the child of a communist and grew up in a concentration camp, yet he swills vodka side by side with an ex-SS officer, among other societal rejects, in a crumbling dive called The Golden Glove. The scene is an excellent source of hopeless prostitutes at the end of their career, who are Honka's prime victims, as he is too frightful-looking to ensnare an attractive young girl. These pitiful women all display a peculiarly hypnotic willingness to go along with Honka, no matter how sadistic he becomes; this seems to have less to do with money, which rarely comes up, and more to do with their shared awareness that for them, and for Honka too, it's been all over, for a long time.

Not to reduce someone’s performance to their physical appearance, but ???

To call Dassler's portrayal of Honka "sympathetic" would be a bridge too far, but it is undeniably compelling. He supports the startling impact of his facial prostheses with a performance of rare intensity, a full-body transformation into a person in so much pain that a normal life will never become an option. His physical vocabulary reminded me of the stage version of The Elephant Man, in which the lead actor wears no makeup, but conveys John Merrick's deformities using his body alone. Although there is an abundance of makeup in THE GOLDEN GLOVE, Dassler's silhouette and agonized movements would be recognizable from a mile away. In spite of his near-constant screaming rage, the actor manages to craft a rich and convincing persona. During a chapter in which Honka experiments with sobriety, we find a stunning image of him hunched in the corner of his ordinarily chaotic flat, now deathly still, his eyes gazing at nothing as cigarette smoke seeps from his pores, having no idea what to do with himself when he isn't in a rolling alcoholic rampage. The moment is brief but haunting in its contrast to the rest of the film, having everything to do with Dassler's quietly vibrating anxiety.

Performances are roundly excellent here, not that least of which are from Honka's victims. The cast of middle-aged actresses looking their most disastrous is hugely responsible for the film's impact. These are the kinds of performances people call "brave", which is a euphemism for making audiences uncomfortable with an uncompromising presentation of one's own self, unvarnished by any masturbatory solicitation. Among these women is Margarete Tiesel, herself no stranger to difficult cinema: She was the star of 2012's PARADISE: LOVE, a harrowing drama about a woman who copes with her midlife crisis by pursuing sex tourism in Kenya. Her brilliant, instinctive performance as one of Honka's only survivors--though she nearly meets a fate worse than death--makes her the leading lady of a movie that was never meant to have one.

So, what does all this unpleasantness add up to, you might be asking? It's hard to say. THE GOLDEN GLOVE is a film of enormous power, but it can be difficult to explain what the point of it is, in a world where most people feel that the purpose of art is to produce some form of pleasure. This is the challenge faced by difficult movies throughout history, like THE GOLDEN GLOVE's obvious ancestors, HENRY: PORTRAIT OF A SERIAL KILLER, MANIAC and THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE. Describing unremitting cruelty with relentless realism is not considered a worthy endeavor by many, even if there is real artistry in your execution; some people will even mistake you for advocating and enjoying violence and despair, as we live in a world where huge amount of movie and TV production is devoted to aspirational subjects. (The fact that people won't turn away from the Marvel Cinematic Universe movies, no matter how monotonous and condescending they become, should tell you something) How do you justify to such people, that you want to make or see work that portrays ugliness and evil with as much commitment as other movies seek to portray love, beauty, and family values? Why isn't it enough to say that these things exist, and their existence alone makes them worth contemplation?

A rare, perhaps exclusive “beautiful image” in THE GOLDEN GLOVE, from Fritz Honka’s absurd fantasies.

You may detect that I have attempted to have this frustrating conversation with many people, strangers, enemies, and friends I love and respect. I find that for some, it is simply too hard to divorce themselves from the pleasure principle. I don't say this to demean them; some hold the philosophy that art be reserved for beauty, and others have a more literary feeling that it's ok to show characters in grim circumstances, as long as the ultimate goal is to uplift the human spirit. Even I draw the line somewhere; I appreciate the punk rebellion of Troma movies as a cultural force, but I do not enjoy watching them, because I dislike what I perceive as contempt for the audience and the aestheticization of laziness--making something shitty more or less on purpose. A step or three up from that, you land in Todd Solondz territory, where you find materially gorgeous movies whose explicit statement is that our collective reverence for a quality called "humanity" is based on nothing. I like some of those movies, and sometimes I even like them when I don't like them, because I'm entranced by Solondz's technical proficiency...and maybe, deep down, I'm not completely convinced about "humanity", either. However, I don't fight very hard in arguments about him; I understand the objections. Still, I've been surprised by peers who I think of as bright and tasteful, who absolutely hated movies I thought were unassailable, like OLDBOY and WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN. In both cases, the ultimate objection was that they accuse humans of being pretentious and self-deceptive, aspiring to heroism or bemoaning their victimhood while wallowing in their own cowardice and perversity. Ok, I get it...but, not really. Why isn't it ever wholly acceptable to discuss, honestly, what we do not like about ourselves?

The beguiling thing about THE GOLDEN GLOVE is that, although it is instantly horrifying, is it also an impeccable production. The director can't help showing you crime scene photos during the ending credits, and I can't really blame him, when his crew worked so hard to bring us a vision of Fritz Honka's world that approaches virtual reality. But it isn't just slavishly realistic; it is vivid, immersive, an experience of total sensory overload. Not a square inch of this movie has been left to chance, and the product of all this graceful control is totally spellbinding. I started to think to myself that, when you've achieved this level of artifice, what really differentiates a movie like THE GOLDEN GLOVE from something like THE RED SHOES? I mean, aside from their obvious narrative differences. Both films plunge the viewer into a world that is complete beyond imagination, crafted with a rigor and sincerity that is rarely paralleled. And, I will dare to say, both films penetrate to the depths of the human soul. What Fatih Akin finds there is not the same as what Powell and Pressburger found, of course, but I don't think that makes it any less real. Akin's film is adapted from a novel by Heinz Strunk, and apparently, some critics have accused Akin of leaving behind the depth and nuance of the book, to focus instead on all that is gruesome about it. This may be true, on some level; I wouldn't know. For now, I can only insist that on watching THE GOLDEN GLOVE, for all its grotesquerie, I still got the message.

[thebitchyangel]

Here's the list the that nobody asked for! I made a comprehensive list of podcast recommendations from me.  

1. My Favorite Murder

hosted by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark Non-Fiction Each week Karen and Georgia share their love of true crime with us by sharing their favorite murder.  These two comedians aren't great on facts or figures but will definitely make you question if you're a decent human by making you laugh out loud about horrible, horrible murders. Not before long you'll be repeating Karen and Georiga's hilarious but great advice such as "You're in a cult, call your dad.", "Get a job, buy your own shit, and stay out of the forest.", and "FUCK POLITENESS!" But ALWAYS "Stay sexy and DON'T GET MURDERED!" Favorite Episode: ALL! but #18 - Investigateighteen Discovery

2. The Last Podcast on the Left

hosted by Ben Kissel, Henry Zebrowski, and Marcus Parks Non-Ficton Three guys delve deep into a world of nightmares both real and imagined. Their humor is definitely not for everyone (for the love of god, do not listen to the Jon Benet episode first if you want to try this podcast). This podcast started off as a horror movie recap/review podcast but quickly became the end all be all podcast for information about aliens (THE PLEIADIANS MAN!), the secret lizard people controlling the government, <3 cryptids <3 , government conspiracies, satanism, magic, serial killers (or commonly referred to in the podcast as "heavy hitters").  They have covered more than their fair share of serial killers, a few I can remember are: Ramirez, Dahmer, BTK, Kaczynski, Kemper, Holmes, Chikatilo and MORE! Seriously, this is one of the best researched podcast out there! Favorite Episode: Dahmer. "THERE'S BONES IN THE CHOCOLATE"

3. Welcome to NightVale

hosted by NightVale Presents Fiction Turn on your radio and listen to updates about a small desert community where the sun is hot, the moon is beautiful, and mysterious lights pass overhead while we all pretend to sleep. Cecil will update you on all the important going-ons in Night Vale. Like the new dog park! Dogs are not allowed in the park. That all angels are named Erika with a "K" but reminds you that it is illegal to recognize the existence of angels.   This podcast was the first podcast that I've ever listened too, and I still love it very much.  I can't even begin to describe it without sounding like a crazy person, because the story is so crazy and fun. You'll love it too! Favorite Episode: #13 - This is a story about you

4. Alice isn't Dead

hosted by NightVale Presents Fiction A woman truck driver takes to hauling after her wife goes missing from her life.  We listen to her radio messages from her truck in an attempt to some how get in touch with her wife. She soon gets caught up in a fight for her life and others when she encounters the Thistle Man.  I found this podcast to scary and had me on the edge of my seat. I'm looking forward to the new season coming out this Apirl! Favorite Episode: Part 1: Chapter 4: Factory by the Sea

5. LORE

hosted by Aaron Mahnke Non-Fiction The tag line says it all "Because sometimes the truth is more frightening than fiction."  I love this podcast because it gives historical information in a cinematic way. It uses history to explain vampires, superstitions, and urban legends.  Soon to be a television show! Also, super embarrassing but this podcast made me terrified for trolls. I could barely walk my dog at night because what if there was a troll out there!? Also, this guys voice is nice. Favorite Episode:  23: ROPE AND RAILING and 9: A DEVIL ON THE ROOF

6. Unexplained

hosted by Richard Maclean Smith Non-Fiction This podcast looks at our reality and sees how it might line up with unexplainable phenomena. It has covered aliens, cults, ghosts, magic, and more! It's like if The Last Podcast on the Left had a baby with Lore. Favorite Episode:  2: RESURRECTED DREAMS

7. Casefile

hosted by anonymous Non-Fiction This is an Australian podcast so let me start out with *accent*.  Which makes helps make crime and murder just a little bit more enjoyable because I can't help but laugh anytime the narrator says "They went to hospital" or "They went to University." But on a serious note, this podcast is THE BEST true crime podcast! Because it's Australian based is awesome too, because Australia has some crazy crimes but I'm not as familiar with them as I am with American crime. (They don't just do Australian crime though) Overall, this podcast is excellently produced and researched.  They even do updates on cases if any new information comes out. Favorite Episode: 15 - Weepy Voice Killer

8. Dumb People Town

hosted by Daniel Van Kirk, Randy Sklar, and Jason Sklar. Non-Fiction This is a newer podcast, but I really enjoy it so far! Each week there are three REAL new stories brought to the table and read while everyone makes fun of it. The hosts often, if not always have guests on the show, even Jon Hamm. Super funny! Favorite episode: 2: Ryan Sickler – Sliced Cheese at CVS

9. How Did This Get Made

hosted by Paul Scheer, June Diane Raphael, and Jason Mantzoukas Non-Fiction (loosely) This is actually a recommendation that my boyfriend gave me, because I told him I LOVE bad movies.  How Did This Get Made is all about how did horrible stupid movies get made, and is a riff fest just tearing apart a bad movie. This podcast is last, only because I want to listen to episodes about movies I've already watched.  BUT with that being said watching the movies is optional with this podcast, because it is hilarious!  Me and Josh will actually make plans to watch one of the movies they have podcasted about, and then listen to the podcast together. It has been a TON OF FUN Favorite episode: Deep Blue Sea