Obituary of a Beast (1985)

Genre : Documentary

Runtime : 1H 0M

Director : Rolf Schübel
Writer : Michael Lentz, Rolf Schübel

Synopsis

Between 1962 and 1966, sex murderer Jurgen Bartsch cruelly tortured and killed four children in an old air raid bunker in Germany. This documentary examines the personality of the killer who died in 1976 during voluntary castration surgery at the age of 30. Vilified by the press for his heinous crime, Bartsch also became a case study for famous found criminal psychologists like Alice Miller (who maintains that no one abuses without being abused as a child, and murderers tend to have their own childhood abuse denied by the adults around them). Bartsch never met his birth parents, he was raised in a clinic and later adopted by a cold, unaffectionate couple. By the age of 15, he tortured and killed his first child victim. This informative, fact-filled documentary provides enough details for viewers to come away with a broader understanding of the nature of the criminally insane and society's role in their formation.

Actors

Wilfried Rasch
Wilfried Rasch
Himself

Crews

Rolf Schübel
Rolf Schübel
Director
Michael Lentz
Michael Lentz
Screenplay
Michael Lentz
Michael Lentz
Idea
Rolf Schübel
Rolf Schübel
Screenplay
Jelka Naber
Jelka Naber
Producer
Ingeborg Janiczek
Ingeborg Janiczek
Producer
Niels Bolbrinker
Niels Bolbrinker
Director of Photography
Harald Reetz
Harald Reetz
Editor

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