Bloody Friday (1972)
"Blutiger Freitag" (original title)

Directors:

Rolf Olsen, Lee Payant

Writers:

Valeria Bonamano, Rolf Olsen

Stars:

Raimund Harmstorf, Amadeus August, Gianni Macchia

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Raimund Harmstorf	...	Heinz Klett
Amadeus August	...	Christian Hofbauer
Gianni Macchia	...	Luigi Belloni
Christine Böhm	...	Heidi Hofbauer
Ernst H. Hilbich	...	Ernst Pylobar
Gila von Weitershausen	...	Marie Lotzmann
Daniela Giordano	...	Dagmar Neuss
Walter Buschhoff	...	Walter Lotzmann
Renate Roland	...	Helga Radtke
Horst Naumann	...	Dr. Mayer-Lippe
Totò Mignone	...	Stevo (as Ottone Mignone)
E.O. Fuhrmann	...	Oberstaatsanwalt
Ursula Erber	...	Irmgard Zukunft
Werner Heyking	...	Dr. Eminger

Storyline

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Plot Keywords:

machine gun | kidnapping | criminal | robber | bank robbery | 

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Taglines:

When terrorists rob a Bank... all hell is let loose!

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Genres:

Drama | Action

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

West Germany Italy

Language:

German

Release Date:

6 February 1973 (Italy)

Also Known As:

Violent Offender

Company Credits

Production Co:

Cineproduzioni Daunia 70, Divina-Film, Lisa-Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

User Reviews

Crime is as Contagious as the Pest!

"Whatever they can do in Italy, we can do better" they must have thought in Germany. Extremely violent crime thrillers were very popular in Italy during the early 70's and at least a dozen of awesome ones got released every year. "Bloody Friday" is more or less Germany's response to this successful trend and a damn perplexing one, I may add! When the heavy criminal Heinz Klett escapes police custody during his transport to court, he promptly executes his plans to commit the biggest bank robbery ever in the history of the country. He, his regular partner and his girlfriend's brother storm into the bank heavily armed and take 10 people hostage. While the police attempts to gather the $1.000.000 ransom, and entire media circus unfolds outside on the streets. You usually know pretty much exactly how this kind of movie develops. Things don't go according to plan, there's the Stockholm Syndrome and a couple of unplanned deaths along the way. Apparently the film is inspired by similar real-life events as they occurred in Germany. I don't know which parts of the film were fictionalized, but I seriously wonder if the real events ended in such a nauseating and shocking bloodbath as well. I hope not. Probably the greatest accomplishment here is the biting social satire. While the hostage is going on inside, the public outside shouts for the re-implementation of the death penalty and there are even are some sly businessmen that unscrupulously want to make money out of the gathered crowd. It's certainly also not a film for people with an easily upset stomach or tangled nerves. Heinz' escape is bloody already and there's massively shocking sequence involving a hand grenade at the beginning of the hold-up. "Bloody Friday" is well-directed (by the guy who did "Shocking Asia"), the acting performances are pretty great and everything else (music, editing, photography, atmosphere) is simply in-your-face brutal and confronting.