The Brutes (German: Mädchen mit Gewalt) is a 1970 West German drama film directed by Roger Fritz and starring Helga Anders, Klaus Löwitsch and Arthur Brauss. It was shot on location around Munich.

Synopsis

Friends Werner and Mike meet up with Alice and take her for a night-time swim at a gravel pit, but their friendship soon turns to violent rivalry.

Cast

Reception

In his review for music review website critic.de, Michael Kienz concluded that "the film was capable of painting a scathing portrait of the morals of the Federal Republic of Germany at the time may be due to Fritz's enthusiasm for popular cinema. But just because a director can stage fights and doesn't deny his protagonist's sexual appeal doesn't mean he's any less realistic. The film already has one foot in a new era, where Werner and Mike have to accept that their rough manner will soon no longer be effective. With the other foot, however, it remains in a dark past, where a raped woman in a miniskirt would think twice about subjecting herself to further humiliation at the hands of the police."

Bibliography

  • Gerhardt, Christina & Abel, Marco. Celluloid Revolt: German Screen Cultures and the Long 1968. Camden House, 2019.

External links