I went fully into this movie knowing that it probably would not be my cup of tea, but like many I was fascinated by the wild story of German cannibal Armin Meiwes and spent a decent amount of time a few months back tracking down news stories and films related to the crime. I finally got around to watching this one the other night.
Grimm Love is a based-on-a-true-story film which revolves around a graduate student named Katie (who by the way adds absolutely NOTHING to the plot of the film, no clue why they decided to even include this irrelevant character) who chooses the story of German cannibal Oliver Hartwin to base her thesis on. Hartwin developed cannibalistic tendencies after a troubling upbringing and through the use of the internet, hooked up with a man named Simon Grombeck who just happened to have an intense desire to be eaten. The two meet up, and voila. A match made in heaven. The movie follows Katie, who is trying to uncover information about the case and "understand" Hartwin. The scenes of the two men are shown much like flashbacks, with scenes from the mens childhood thrown in the mix with some attempts to explain and understand why the two men grew up the way they were. I don't want to get too much more into the details of the film, because if you are familiar with the original case then you already know the story. If not, do yourself a favor and read up on it. It is extremely fascinating.
That being said, I have several problems with this film. Perhaps I am spoiled because I read so much about the real case beforehand and was oversensitive to any changes. But more importantly, I was a big fan of Marian Dora's Cannibal (2006). Dora's version was vastly superior to this turkey in my opinion. Dora's Cannibal was brutal and held nothing back. It delved much deeper into the subject of the actual killing, and it was like riding an emotional roller coaster (I will save my ramblings for a Cannibal (2006) review, if I get around to rewatch it). It may be unfair to compare Dora's version to this film because they are really two very different movies. Grimm Love is more of a psychological terror, the acts are more implied than they are shown. But one thing I will say about both films, was that both films had me feeling like I was watching some sick, beautiful love story. It was not so much horrifying as it was a psychological mind fuck. These two men were perfect for each other, and neither movie aimed to portray the cannibal as a brutal killer. Both films portray the character of Meiwes (or Oliver) and also the victim as deeply disturbed, lonely men who had finally found some happiness in each other. If happiness to some means having your penis bit off and eaten, later to be slaughtered and eaten for months later then hey, who am I to judge? It is apparent both in the film and in the details of the real crime that this was a consensual act on both parts, and it was not designed to be an unpleasant experience. The victim was heavily drugged and did not wish to feel pain, and our killer abided by these wishes. No doubt in my mind, this is a love story. A very sick, unconventional love story.
The pacing of the film was rather decent until the end. Grimm Love had an awkward, forced ending and after the infamous penis-eating scene, the other details of what happened after that are swept under the rug and hardly mentioned at all. For someone like me who had read about the crime extensively, I felt like there was a big empty hole, like the director and screenwriters just decided to stop writing. Granted, this is a fictional movie which is only based on a true story and changes are to be expected. If you go into the film with that kind of attitude, I suppose you would like it more than I did. I am all for change if it progresses the plot and takes the story to new, interesting levels. By half-assing the details of the crime, I can only assume the director chose to focus more on the relationship between the two men while they were both living rather than the gory details that unfolded next. Even with that mindset, there are issues. For example, and I may be nitpicking here, how did this graduate student track down a copy of the murder video, which had never been released to the public and was in police custody, simply by posting one message on a cannibal message board? You mean to tell me that an anonymous internet cannibal has a copy of an unreleased murder film and is willing to send free copies through the mail to any first-time message board poster who asks? Seems a little silly to me. In fact, the whole plot with the graduate student and her thesis paper seemed silly.
If you are looking for gore you won't find it here. Zilch. Nada. If you are looking for a more psychological film, you may have some interest in this film. My verdict? Skip this one and look for Marian Dora's Cannibal instead. Better yet, do a little research on the real crime first. You can't make this stuff up, folks.
2 OUT OF 5 STARS
** out of *****
Grimm Love is a based-on-a-true-story film which revolves around a graduate student named Katie (who by the way adds absolutely NOTHING to the plot of the film, no clue why they decided to even include this irrelevant character) who chooses the story of German cannibal Oliver Hartwin to base her thesis on. Hartwin developed cannibalistic tendencies after a troubling upbringing and through the use of the internet, hooked up with a man named Simon Grombeck who just happened to have an intense desire to be eaten. The two meet up, and voila. A match made in heaven. The movie follows Katie, who is trying to uncover information about the case and "understand" Hartwin. The scenes of the two men are shown much like flashbacks, with scenes from the mens childhood thrown in the mix with some attempts to explain and understand why the two men grew up the way they were. I don't want to get too much more into the details of the film, because if you are familiar with the original case then you already know the story. If not, do yourself a favor and read up on it. It is extremely fascinating.
That being said, I have several problems with this film. Perhaps I am spoiled because I read so much about the real case beforehand and was oversensitive to any changes. But more importantly, I was a big fan of Marian Dora's Cannibal (2006). Dora's version was vastly superior to this turkey in my opinion. Dora's Cannibal was brutal and held nothing back. It delved much deeper into the subject of the actual killing, and it was like riding an emotional roller coaster (I will save my ramblings for a Cannibal (2006) review, if I get around to rewatch it). It may be unfair to compare Dora's version to this film because they are really two very different movies. Grimm Love is more of a psychological terror, the acts are more implied than they are shown. But one thing I will say about both films, was that both films had me feeling like I was watching some sick, beautiful love story. It was not so much horrifying as it was a psychological mind fuck. These two men were perfect for each other, and neither movie aimed to portray the cannibal as a brutal killer. Both films portray the character of Meiwes (or Oliver) and also the victim as deeply disturbed, lonely men who had finally found some happiness in each other. If happiness to some means having your penis bit off and eaten, later to be slaughtered and eaten for months later then hey, who am I to judge? It is apparent both in the film and in the details of the real crime that this was a consensual act on both parts, and it was not designed to be an unpleasant experience. The victim was heavily drugged and did not wish to feel pain, and our killer abided by these wishes. No doubt in my mind, this is a love story. A very sick, unconventional love story.
The pacing of the film was rather decent until the end. Grimm Love had an awkward, forced ending and after the infamous penis-eating scene, the other details of what happened after that are swept under the rug and hardly mentioned at all. For someone like me who had read about the crime extensively, I felt like there was a big empty hole, like the director and screenwriters just decided to stop writing. Granted, this is a fictional movie which is only based on a true story and changes are to be expected. If you go into the film with that kind of attitude, I suppose you would like it more than I did. I am all for change if it progresses the plot and takes the story to new, interesting levels. By half-assing the details of the crime, I can only assume the director chose to focus more on the relationship between the two men while they were both living rather than the gory details that unfolded next. Even with that mindset, there are issues. For example, and I may be nitpicking here, how did this graduate student track down a copy of the murder video, which had never been released to the public and was in police custody, simply by posting one message on a cannibal message board? You mean to tell me that an anonymous internet cannibal has a copy of an unreleased murder film and is willing to send free copies through the mail to any first-time message board poster who asks? Seems a little silly to me. In fact, the whole plot with the graduate student and her thesis paper seemed silly.
If you are looking for gore you won't find it here. Zilch. Nada. If you are looking for a more psychological film, you may have some interest in this film. My verdict? Skip this one and look for Marian Dora's Cannibal instead. Better yet, do a little research on the real crime first. You can't make this stuff up, folks.
2 OUT OF 5 STARS
** out of *****