Les SS frappent la nuit

There is a strange continuity in German movies: about every 20 years someone makes a film about a serial-killer. Apart from "Es geschah am hellichten Tag" (recently remade by Sean Penn) I'm thinking of the following works:

* M - Eine Stadt sucht einen Mörder (1931)

* Nachts, wenn der Teufel kam (1957)

* Die Zärtlichkeit der Wölfe (1973)

* Der Totmacher (1995)

While three of these films are more or less loosely based on the case of Fritz Haarmann who killed more than 24 young men in the 20s, "Nachts, wenn der Teufel kam" is about Bruno Luebke who murdered several people in Hamburg during WWII (also a true case). In contrast to the picture that many American movies (e.g. "Hannibal") paint of a serial-killer as an evil being who kills for pleasure, these German movies show men who are helpless victims of their urge to kill, to which they succumb not when they want to, but when they 'have' to. Mario Adorf plays Bruno as such a man and his performance is of the same rank as Peter Lorre's in "M" or Götz George's in "Totmacher" IMO.

Even better is Hannes Messemer as an SS-Officer, who, for 'political' reasons, wants another man executed against better judgement. The main forte of the film however, is the depiction of everyday-life in the last years of the third Reich. In the scene where the ugly harvest helpers get their reward from a sweating hanger-on Robert Siodmak perfectly captured the moral corruption (thinly veiled by empty propaganda phrases) within Nazi-Germany. In view of mass-murder of an entirely different caliber (i.e. genocide), the question if the right man is sentenced for a killing series becomes secondary in the end.

Yo, Super Mario. Though while later Eurocrime "cult" actor Mario Adorf does quite a convincing job as the retarded serial killer in Robert Siodmak's Nazi noir The Devil Strikes at Night, ex-boxing-champion Claus Holm – imagine a German Van Heflin – as the crippled police Kommissar and Hannes Messemer as his SS-Obergruppenfuehrer opponent easily steal the show from him: Their confrontations, chock-full of icy dialogue, constitute the epicentre of this sardonic high tensioner that doesn't lose its momentum for a single second, due to Siodmak's remarkably concentrated direction, aided by the unobtrusive, but perfectly effective camera work by unjustly forgotten cinematographer Georg Krause (who did Kubrick's Paths of Glory – !! – a year before), competent editing by Walter Boos (who went on to do some Schulmaedchen-Reports in the 70s), and excellent supporting performances by Werner Peters and the strikingly beautiful Annemarie Dueringer. "Belief? Where did you dig up that word?", Messemer's slick SS herrenmensch asks the crushed Kommissar. Once, they even had great screenwriters in Germany, among them Werner Joerg Lueddecke, who sets the fast-paced, bitter, cynical and sometimes darkly humorous tone of the movie. When the Kommissar is sent to war in the end – the year is 1944 –, he reassures his trembling girlfriend: "It won't take much longer. Soon, you can reach the front line by city train."

This Classic film noire combines two main stories: The hunt for a serial killer and the ideologically poisoned mindset of card-carrying Nazis during the end of WWII. For those Germans who were never enthusiastic followers of the extreme nationalist ideas enveloping Germany, the final days of WWII often meant to just "lay low and let it all run past you". But what if the innocent are wrongly condemned to be executed for murder when their innocence becomes unquestioned? Who would defend such a victim of injustice in the face of certain reprisal?

This film introduces Mario Adorf (who deservedly won the award for best newcomer) as Bruno, a dim-witted laborer who wants nothing more than to eat well and drink hard, but seems to be drawn to young women whom he then strangles. When a brilliant detective puzzles together evidence from outstanding murder cases, leading to Bruno, he instantly gains the respect and confidence of the man who turns out to be responsible for some 80 murders. To see the naive Bruno freely confess and cheerfully reenact one of the killings shows how an insane or mentally deficient mind is incapable of grasping the gravity of taking a human life. Now are we to compare Bruno to the countless Nazis who convinced themselves that they were "just following orders" when they participated in genocide? This film is one of many powerful cinematic indictments against the Nazi Regime, and an appeal to the human conscience not ever to idly look on as fellow human beings are wrongly accused, convicted and even murdered by a corrupt and unfair justice system.

Nominee for Best Foreign Film Oscar, which went to Fellini's "Nights of Cabiria" that year. The latter will always be my favorite foreign film, however "Nachts, wenn der Teufel kam" is a formidable contender for the Oscar! Highly recommended!

"Nachts, wenn der Teufel kam" is a film from the second German period of Robert Siodmak. Leaving Germany with the rise of Nazism in 1933 he returned to his home country after the Second World War in 1952. In the USA his film career suffered from his image of being a film noir director, in Germany this same image was more of a blessing. Also "Nachts, wenn der Teufel kam" is a good example of the film noir genre.

In German films the serial killer is portrayed in a different way than in for example American films. In American films he is portrayed as a savage beast who likes to kill. In German films the serial killer is both perpetrator and victim. He is a psychopat who has to kill. This is most clearly in "M" (1931, Fritz Lang), but is also the case in "Nachts, wenn der Teufel kam" (1957) and "Es geschah am hellichten Tag" (1958, Ladislao Vajda). Most convincing in his role as psychpat remains however Peter Lorre in his role as Hans Beckert in "M". In "Nachts, wenn der Teufel kam" Mario Adorf as Bruno Luedke can not match that performance, and he is hardly te blame for that.

In "M" the serial killer is hunted down by organised crime (who wants to keep the level of police activity at a low level). In "Nachts, wenn der Teufel kam" there is also some sort of organised crime, namely state crime in the form of the Nazi government. They are however not interested in the real killer, whose identity is uncovered by an honest detective. For reasons of public relations they prefer to give a death sentence to an innocent man, thereby showing their contempt for the value of a human live.

"Nachts, wenn der Teufel kam" takes place in 1944, at the end of the war. A great deal of the film is devoted to the (miserable) life of German citizens. In this way there are similarities with films such as "Germania anno zero" (1948, Roberto Rossellini) or "Der Untergang" (2004, Oliver Hirschbiegel).

Nachts,wenn der Teufel kam has realistically shown perversion of justice as a convincing argument against nazis.Robert Siodmak has convincingly outlined the historical background to examine one of the most ghastly episodes in German history.He elucidates how Nazi leadership made effectual use of crime,violence and totalitarianism in order to remain in power.Nachts,wenn der Teufel kam appears realistic as a result of nice all-round acting performances by Mario Adorf and Hannes Messemer.The film was a big commercial success as it won numerous prizes including the best direction award at Karlovy Vary.