The Cannibal of Rohtenburg

Let me begin by telling you a very sad, confusing, scary story. It's also completely true.

Armin Meiwes, the "Cannibal of Rotenburg", met his eventual victim over the internet. He placed an online ad in 2001, looking for a young man to be killed and eaten. It read "If you are 18-25 you are my boy, Franky from Germany" and "come to me, I'll eat your delicious flesh". He had several replies, though surely not all were thinking along the same track as he was. Four men, however, did travel to meet Meiwes. For one, it went as far as being bound and marked out for butchery before he had an unsurprising change of heart. Meiwes did not hesitate to release him - he truly was seeking a fully willing participant. It seems he met him in Bernd-Juergen Brandes.

Brandes asked to be stabbed to death. Meiwes obliged and, of course, went on to devour his flesh, as per their agreement. There are many more details, but I doubt very much that you want to know them.

Meiwes was tried and jailed for manslaughter in 2004.

Of course, this story now forms the basis for a feature film. It is called Rohtenburg (the "h" is added as Roh is German for Raw) and it stars Thomas Kretschman. He is best known outside of Germany for appearing in Peter Jackson's King Kong, and on that evidence alone is clearly a capable actor.

Most details have been changed on the way to the screen - the lead protagonist is a young female graduate student researching for her thesis. After interviewing the "lead cannibal", the Meiwes character she is drawn into to the lifestyle herself. The film reveals a widespread subculture of cannibalism, similar to the real one found by investigators and the media after the Meiwes case was uncovered.

The film has now been banned by a German court, preventing it's widespread release there, originally planned for next Thursday. The reason for the ban? A complaint from Meiwes.

His complaint was upheld on the grounds that any question of artistic freedom did not outweigh his basic human rights. His rights, essentially, to not be portrayed as a horror movie monster. Of course, it's entirely possible that the film attempts a sympathy towards him, though I would expect that does not. I have not seen the film, and as I understand it, Meiwes hasn't either.

I've seen a great many films that represent their real, and often still living, subjects unflatteringly. And with or without foundation, some even attribute rather questionable, and possibly criminal, acts to the characters. Would it be fair to say that the "victims" of these portrayals have a right to an injunction too?

Back in the real world, Meiwes faces a retrial after state prosecutors argues he was in fact guilty of murder. He faces a life sentence if convicted on this count.