Cidade sem Compaixão

Four U.S soldiers at an army base in Germany are charged with a gang rape and the prosecutor is asking for the death penalty as demanded by public outrage and the girl's father, a leading citizen of the town. Although sure of their guilt, the defending lawyer is also sure that they do not deserve the death penalty. He wants to plea bargain, but he'll dig up dirt and tear the girl apart on the witness stand if that's what it takes to save the men. No person or event in the story is as innocent as it seems at first - not the girl, the town, the judicial process, or even the simple brutality of the four men.

The movie's weaknesses, unfortunately, are in the actual realization of this excellent story. The screenplay is very uneven, over-developing some of the complexities while short-changing others. The use of a voice-over is a clever way to avoid having to subtitle the German speaking scenes, but as implemented it is a clumsy shortcut to giving us information which should have been written into the action. Most unfortunate is the poor choice of music. It blatantly attempts to force its particular mood on the viewer in total discordance with the more subtle manner in which the story is presented. On the bright side, the acting is good and the main point of the story - the brutal treatment of the girl on the witness stand and by the town - is not diluted by any of these problems, making this a movie well worth watching.

This is a very serious movie. A local teenage girl is raped by four US soldiers on a hot summer day in a little German town. Her father wants the criminals to be killed. The soldiers' lawyer (Kirk Douglas) knows he must devastate the girl's seemingly innocent image to free his clients from the death sentence. It looks like this movie never really was produced to be a huge success at the box offices at all. It treats its story with honesty and no compromises. The acting is excellent. Douglas and Marshall give very impressive performances supported by a flawless German/ American cast. Christine Kaufmann is absolutely convincing as the victim which is raped a second, this time by the legal system. Reinhardt almost tends to a documentary style, something that probably doesn't appeal to all viewers. It's exciting, well written and very depressive. A perfect movie which leaves you speechless in the end.

Parts of Town Without Pity are really good, but there are two elements that nearly ruin the film: the ridiculous Oscar-nominated title song and subsequent repetitive theme, and the frequent, superfluous narration by Barbara Rutting. She plays a reporter in the film, so I can only imagine the screenwriters wanted to make the audience think she was writing an article that turned into the film, but it was extremely distracting. The opening scene shows Christine Kauffman and her boyfriend Gerhart Lippert swimming, talking, and sunbathing. Town Without Pity is a German film, and when the German cast speaks in their native tongue, the cold, unexpressive narration translates what they're saying for the English speakers in the audience. Why didn't they substitute narration for subtitles? Every time Barbara's irritating voice cut in, I was taken out of the extremely dramatic, emotional situation.

As tastefully as it can be shown, while still showing exactly what happened, the film shows four American soldiers rape Christine in the beginning scene. The rest of the film involves the trial and the emotional damages Christine and her family suffer throughout the process. She gives a fantastic performance, and were it not for the narration, my heart would have absolutely broken for her.

Kirk Douglas plays the soldiers' attorney, and he also gives a wonderful performance. He's disgusted by his clients but can't refuse his assignment, and he tries to be as sympathetic to Christine as possible. There's a scene in which Kirk is interviewing Christine, with a physical translator present, and he learns more information about the case. He and Christine only communicate with their eyes because they don't want a record of what they're trying to say, and it's incredibly powerful. The majority of Kirk's performance is dual-focused: he's forced to say one thing, but his heart makes his eyes say something different.

Obviously, because of the heavy subject matter, this movie won't be for everyone. However, since the film was made in 1961, you can rest assured the opening scene isn't graphic. If you like watching very dramatic, non-feel-good movies just to appreciate the acting-I do, too-then you'll want to rent this one. You'll also want to pop in something lighter afterwards, like Pillow Talk.

Kiddy Warning: Obviously, you have control over your own children. However, since there's a rape scene and some heavy subject matter, I wouldn't let my kids watch it.

Not too many films had talked about rape before this one came out in 1961. But, while in some ways the film talks around the attack (seldom ever using the word 'rape'), it still is very obvious what the film is about and it was surprisingly adult and frank.

The film begins with four American servicemen in Germany raping a local lady. Major Garrett (Kirk Douglas) is called in to represent the men at their court martial and the men, if convicted, could receive the death penalty. Considering how angry the locals are and the overall mood, the military is hoping for a quick trial and execution of the men. However, as Garrett investigates the case, he's decided that while the men are guilty, they don't necessarily merit the death penalty...or at least one of them.

The film will no doubt anger many as the victim herself becomes the object of much of the cross-examination in court. She herself is on trial in a manner of speaking...which, sadly, does occur in many rape cases. Because of this, Garrett is neither a hero or really a villain...just a dedicated man doing his job in the face of a lot of opposition. Well worth seeing but NOT a film for everyone...especially kids and folks who themselves have been victimized.

Surprisingly this convincing drama is almost ignored by German TV stations nowadays though it features a very touching and impressive performance by Christine Kaufmann who won a Golden Globe for this one (as the first German actress ever). Kirk Douglas is very strong in the male lead having to deal with the awful job to defend four US soldiers who've gang raped a 16-years-old German beauty. Though Reinhardt's style has dated badly the movie's still worth watching. He definitely has done a good job capturing the heartless atmosphere needed for a story like this. There are some haunting moments.....and the sad realization that also more than 40 years after "Town Without Pity" most rape victims still are devastated twice.

By the way, I've seen the German version which is half-dubbed, half-original so that you have several characters speaking with two different voices. I'd prefer a complete English or German version respectively the use of subtitles.