The Baader Meinhof Complex (2008)
(Der Baader Meinhof Komplex)
Country: GER/FR/CZ
Technical: col 150m
Director: Uli Edel
Cast: Martina Gedeck, Moritz Bleibtreu, Johanna Wokalek
Synopsis:
Germany: 1967-1977. Respected left-wing journalist Ulrike Meinhof shocks bourgeois Germany by joining up with a band of renegade student activists who, tired of protesting at the Vietnam war and the Palestinian situation, have taken to robbing and hijacking to shake the country out of its complacency. When they are eventually captured by the authorities and imprisoned their followers embark on a further series of brutal hostage takings and assassinations.
Review:
Exhaustively documented political drama, leaving little if any space for such niceties as character relationships or logistical explanation; in sacrificing the personal fallout of such committed acts the film mimics the stance of the terrorists themselves, never affording each other the luxury of interpersonal relationships beyond the bounds of 'teamwork' and fucking. Unfortunately the tactic limits both the involvement of the viewer in the characters and their motives, and an assessment of their success in sticking true to their ideals: such is the pace of the action that the only appraisal comes from the terrorist expert and academic the state employs as adviser, and we see little of Ulrike's, say, misgivings or of the planning of the next operation. That said, as with Carlos, this is an impeccably detailed and mounted production that does justice to an extremely messy decade. For non-German speakers it is also an exhausting read through (on the print I viewed) tiny subtitles.
(Der Baader Meinhof Komplex)
Country: GER/FR/CZ
Technical: col 150m
Director: Uli Edel
Cast: Martina Gedeck, Moritz Bleibtreu, Johanna Wokalek
Synopsis:
Germany: 1967-1977. Respected left-wing journalist Ulrike Meinhof shocks bourgeois Germany by joining up with a band of renegade student activists who, tired of protesting at the Vietnam war and the Palestinian situation, have taken to robbing and hijacking to shake the country out of its complacency. When they are eventually captured by the authorities and imprisoned their followers embark on a further series of brutal hostage takings and assassinations.
Review:
Exhaustively documented political drama, leaving little if any space for such niceties as character relationships or logistical explanation; in sacrificing the personal fallout of such committed acts the film mimics the stance of the terrorists themselves, never affording each other the luxury of interpersonal relationships beyond the bounds of 'teamwork' and fucking. Unfortunately the tactic limits both the involvement of the viewer in the characters and their motives, and an assessment of their success in sticking true to their ideals: such is the pace of the action that the only appraisal comes from the terrorist expert and academic the state employs as adviser, and we see little of Ulrike's, say, misgivings or of the planning of the next operation. That said, as with Carlos, this is an impeccably detailed and mounted production that does justice to an extremely messy decade. For non-German speakers it is also an exhausting read through (on the print I viewed) tiny subtitles.
(Der Baader Meinhof Komplex)
Country: GER/FR/CZ
Technical: col 150m
Director: Uli Edel
Cast: Martina Gedeck, Moritz Bleibtreu, Johanna Wokalek
Synopsis:
Germany: 1967-1977. Respected left-wing journalist Ulrike Meinhof shocks bourgeois Germany by joining up with a band of renegade student activists who, tired of protesting at the Vietnam war and the Palestinian situation, have taken to robbing and hijacking to shake the country out of its complacency. When they are eventually captured by the authorities and imprisoned their followers embark on a further series of brutal hostage takings and assassinations.
Review:
Exhaustively documented political drama, leaving little if any space for such niceties as character relationships or logistical explanation; in sacrificing the personal fallout of such committed acts the film mimics the stance of the terrorists themselves, never affording each other the luxury of interpersonal relationships beyond the bounds of 'teamwork' and fucking. Unfortunately the tactic limits both the involvement of the viewer in the characters and their motives, and an assessment of their success in sticking true to their ideals: such is the pace of the action that the only appraisal comes from the terrorist expert and academic the state employs as adviser, and we see little of Ulrike's, say, misgivings or of the planning of the next operation. That said, as with Carlos, this is an impeccably detailed and mounted production that does justice to an extremely messy decade. For non-German speakers it is also an exhausting read through (on the print I viewed) tiny subtitles.