Kai S. Pieck's debut feature finds a plaintive, compelling route to the pathology of 1960s German child-killer Jürgen Bartsch.
The Child I Never Was(Ein Leben lang kurze Hosen tragen)
✭ ✭ ✭ Read critic reviews
Germany · 2002
1h 23m
Director Kai S. Pieck
Starring Tobias Schenke, Ulrike Bliefert, Walter Gontermann, Jürgen Christoph Kamcke
Genre Drama, Crime
Add to Watchlist
Please login to add films to your watchlist.
A serial killer dispassionately discusses the nuts and bolts of his grisly avocation, as well as the youthful traumas which helped to mold him into a psychopath, in this disturbing independent drama from Germany, based on the true story of of Germany's most famous child murderer Juergen Bartsch who, between the ages of 15 and 19, abused, tortured and killed four schoolboys in the Ruhr region of Germany from 1962 to 1966.
We hate to say it, but we can't find anywhere to view this film.
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
Though Pieck is to be admired for the rigorousness in telling this chilling story (on what looks like a near zero budget), the film itself remains resolutely unlikable.
By the film's end we feel neither sympathy nor, oddly, total disgust for this most loathsome of killers. We simply begin to understand, and perhaps that's achievement enough.
Users who liked this film also liked
Dead Man's Shoes
A former soldier returns to his hometown to take brutal revenge on the gang of drug dealers who had been tormenting his mentally disabled brother.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- United Kingdom • 2004
- Director Shane Meadows
- Cast Paddy Considine, Gary Stretch, Toby Kebbell, Jo Hartley, Seamus O'Neill, Stuart Wolfenden
- Genre Crime, Drama, Thriller
- Available on No streaming locations found.
Evolution of a Filipino Family
(Ebolusyon ng Isang Pamilyang Pilipino)
A humble epic of the indios
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Philippines • 2004
- Director Lav Diaz
- Cast Pen Medina, Ronnie Lazaro, Angel Aquino, Joel Torre, Gino Dormiendo, Elryan de Vera
- Genre Drama
- Available on MUBI, MUBI Amazon Channel
Lucy
Most people only use 10% of their brains. She unlocks the full 100% – and the powers that come with it.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- France, Taiwan, Germany • 2014
- Director Luc Besson
- Cast Scarlett Johansson, Morgan Freeman, Choi Min-sik, Amr Waked, Julian Rhind-Tutt, Pilou Asbæk
- Genre Action, Science Fiction
- Available on Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, Spectrum On Demand, AMC on Demand
Ex Machina
After winning a contest to spend a week with the CEO of his company, coder Caleb is given the opportunity of a lifetime
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- United Kingdom • 2015
- Director Alex Garland
- Cast Domhnall Gleeson, Alicia Vikander, Oscar Isaac, Sonoya Mizuno, Corey Johnson, Claire Selby
- Genre Drama, Science Fiction
- Available on Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, FlixFling, Spectrum On Demand, Kanopy
Blade Runner 2049
Thirty years later, there's a new blade runner in town.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- United States, United Kingdom, Hungary • 2017
- Director Denis Villeneuve
- Cast Ryan Gosling, Ana de Armas, Sylvia Hoeks, Robin Wright, Mackenzie Davis, Harrison Ford
- Genre Drama, Science Fiction
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, Spectrum On Demand
Baby Driver
After being coerced into working for a crime boss, a young getaway driver finds himself taking part in a heist doomed to fail.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- United Kingdom, United States • 2017
- Director Edgar Wright
- Cast Ansel Elgort, Lily James, Kevin Spacey, Jon Hamm, Jamie Foxx, Eiza González
- Genre Action, Crime
- Available on Netflix, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, Spectrum On Demand
Joker
A failed stand-up comedian is driven insane, turning to a life of crime in chaos in Gotham City.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Canada, United States • 2019
- Director Todd Phillips
- Cast Joaquin Phoenix, Robert De Niro, Zazie Beetz, Frances Conroy, Brett Cullen, Shea Whigham
- Genre Crime, Thriller, Drama
- Available on TNT, TBS, Max Amazon Channel, Max, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, Spectrum On Demand, AMC on Demand