Womansing thug (Harmstorf) is sprung from the courthouse by two accomplices, then sets about planning the big heist of a local bank, equipped with a cache of high-powered weapons he's acquired from an American army outpost. Together with his faithful protégé (Macchia), who reluctantly on-boards his young girlfriend (Bohm) and her AWOL brother (August), the quartet bumble their way through the supposedly full-proof plan that aims to deliver them a cool million in cash and a new life in Australia. Predictably, things deteriorate quickly at every turn.Harmstorf struts around in tight leather trousers, dropping C-bombs and picking fights he never wins with confidence and virility, an utterly repugnant and degenerate character. His internal adversary, the more even-tempered August character proves to be impotent to both the affections of one of the hostages, and to Harmstorf's increasing lunacy, remaining compliant in the hope of protecting his sister (Bohm) from harm. Generally the acting seemed pretty committed, although at times the atrocious dubbing makes it a mockery.Paints a fairly miserable picture of working class Munich, often vulgar and violent, yet strangely engaging. The pitiful attempts by the gang to execute their plan, the constant set-backs, and Harmstorf's unbending belief that they'll all be free and filthy rich in spite of the escalating odds is worthy of the deepest sympathy. The climax was a bit disappointing but remained consistent with the overall tone, and while the jazz-pop soundtrack and dubbing will annoy some viewers, if you're not too picky, you might enjoy this quirky Bavarian bank robber flick.

There are a couple of good reviews on this board within the context of German and Italian crime films of the Seventies. I have no expertise in the matter, so can only offer a gut level response to my viewing of "Bloody Friday" a little while ago. Almost equal parts brutal and surreal, the best comparison I can make is to the American film "Dog Day Afternoon", but without the takeout pizza. About forty five minutes into the picture it started to resemble a car wreck that's just too fascinating not to see through to conclusion. Yet there were so many credibility defying scenes that I just had to shake my head. Like the bicycle rider that went through the windshield, and the bright red hoods worn by the bank robbers. When was the last thriller you saw where the gangsters put each of their hostages on the phone to identify themselves? And how poor a marksman would you have to be to fire a gun pointed at your own chest the way Luigi did at the finale? And how did the doctor get away after he treated Luigi in the first place? All of this was going through my mind when the police inspector, about to lead his men on the chase, turned and exclaimed to one of them - "They're dangerous and they know what they're doing". He was half right.

Four criminals, including head cases Luigi (Gianni Macchia) and Heinz (Raimund Harmstorf), angelic but confused female accomplice Heidi (Christine Bohm), and her army deserter brother Christian (Amadeus August), seize a city bank and take staff and customers hostage in this violent German film. Luigi and Heinz seem to be complete nihilists, whilst Heidi and Christian just seem to be going along to get along. The plan starts to go awry almost from the start, leading to a bloody finale. Though not particularly good, Violent Offender is never boring, and features a pretty good score by the great Francesco de Masi. I'd like to see this film in its original language; though the English language dubbing isn't terrible, it isn't particularly good, either--hence my somewhat oxymoronic summary!

BLOODY Friday (Rolf Olsen - West Germany/Italy 1972).A brutal police and hostage thriller by prolific German director Rolf Olsen, mostly active in the field of second-rate comedies, typically German "report" films about prostitution in Hamburg and Frankfurt, sleazy exploitation and even Mondo-style films like ON THE REEPERBAHN AT HALF PAST MIDNIGHT (1969) and SHOCKING ASIA (1974). Unsurprisingly, since this is a German-Italian co-production, the film is not unlike the numerous Italian crime films made at the time, although the film is set entirely in Germany. I don't wanna sound dismissive of Italian film-making with their often wildly overwrought, convoluted plots, entertaining in its own right, but in this case Germans get involved, and somehow logic seeps into the plot, a rarity in most Italian films of its type. Supposedly, the film is based on a brutal bank robbery on August 4th 1971 of a branch office of the "Deutsche Bank" in the Prinzregenten Street in Munich, or is at least a reference to the explosive increase in violent bank robberies and rampant left-wing political violence in Federal Republic at the time. Either way, this is clear-cut piece of exploitation, but a pretty good one with Raimund Harnstorf dominating the screen as Heinz Klett, a fierce-looking red-bearded giant, well over six feet tall, clad in leather, and resorting to violence at the slightest incentive. He makes a plan to hold up the "Finanzbank" with his accomplice Luigi (Gianni Macchia), his pregnant girlfriend Heidi (Christine Böhm) and her reluctant brother (Amadeus August) and flee to Australia with the proceeds. The hold-up quickly deteriorates into a hostage situation, resulting in some horrendous bloodshed. An extremely unnerving scene takes place during the robbery, when a child gets hold of a dropped grenade outside the bank. An officer tries to grab it, but the pin is pulled just before he can throw himself onto the grenade, resulting in another blood-soaked scene with the man screaming in agony as he desperately tries to hold his erupted intestines. For its low budget, it's a pretty good effort, with a good cast, a reasonably tense and entertaining storyline and some truly kick-in-the-face violence. The plot might be a bit too predictable, but the pace is brisk, with constantly changing scenarios like a the opening criminal breakout, weapons siege, bank robbery, hostages, some exciting pursuits with the cops and the final shoot-out. Leading man Raimund Harmstorf, who committed suicide at the age of 57 in May 1999, after hearing he had Parkinson's disease, will go down in my book as one of the most memorable bad guys in European cinema. Pretty frightening. Camera Obscura --- 7/10