Based on a book by Burkhard Driest, who himself spent a few years in prison, The Brutalization of Franz Blum exposes the mechanics of prison life by following, step by step, the experiences of Franz Blum as he becomes familiar with the pecking order the hard way (“committing all the mistakes at the same time”).
An insurance company employee from a “good” family, Blum is found guilty of robbing a bank and enters prison an utter innocent. “In this place, however,” writes Michael Schwarze for Filmex, “innocence is of no avail. In an environment governed by Darwin's laws, characteristics which ought to be encouraged by prisons have the effect of self-destruction. Thus the development of a human being can only mean de-naturalization. Only a human being who is barely human can survive in such a place.” Considered on its release to be one of the most important German films in many years, The Brutalization of Franz Blum is directed by Reinhard Hauff, known here for his recent Knife in the Head.