By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3 cats
Director: Kai S. Pieck
Starring: Sebastian Urzendowsky | Tobias Schenke
Original language title: Ein Leben lang kurze Hosen tragen
Country: germany
Year: 2004
Running time: 86
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0355683/combined
Bruce says: “THE CHILD I NEVER WAS is the true story of Jurgen Bartsch who first killed a boy when he was fifteen and subsequently became infamous as a serial killer. The second killing did not happen for another three years but once Bartsch killed a second time, he was obsessed with stalking, killing, dismembering and sexually molesting young boys. The film flips back and forth between Bartsch’s prison confession and a reenactment of his childhood as he tells his story.
“What made Jurgen Bartsch a psychopath? Director Kai S. Pieck reenactments are oversimplifications. We are led to believe that young Jurgen (Sebastian Urzendowsky) was a misfit because he was adopted, because Gertrud (Ulrike Bliefert) and Gerhard Bartsch (Walter Gontermann) were cold and unfeeling parents, because he was showered with toys as gifts as a child but had no one with whom to share them, and because from an early age he realized that he had sexual feelings towards other boys. Many people share similar histories and restrict their killing to mosquitoes and cockroaches. THE CHILD I NEVER WAS pretends to have answers where there are none. The most unusual thing about Jurgen Bartsch’s childhood was that his mother bathed him well past puberty. Now that might be something to dwell on. His father was a butcher which, of course, explains the vivisections.
“Shortcomings aside, the film is a fascinating albeit disturbing case study. The prison confession of the adult Jurgen (Tobias Shenke) includes details of how Jurgen felt about his wickedness, how he could not help himself in spite of knowing how heinous his crimes were. I feel as though I understand the chilling mechanics of his compulsion in spite of lacking comprehension of what motivated him.
“The two actors that play Jurgen Bartsch deliver chilling performances. His parents are practically chiseled out of stone; they are so outwardly cold and emotionally distant. An interesting postscript: Bartsch was paroled from prison and married; then he elected castration when he felt that his former feelings about young boys were resurfacing. During the operation there was an error in administering the anesthesia and he died. 3 cats”