Friday, May 1, 2009

The Baader Meinhof Complex



DVD review: The Baader Meinhof Complex by Rob Mackie for The Guardian

A very lengthy history of the far-left terrorist group that shocked Germany from 1968 onwards. It is written by director Uli Edel and Bernd Eichinger, who also did the screenplay for the impressive Downfall; its Hitler, Bruno Ganz, is present here again as the voice of reason and boss of the federal police. The kicking-off point for this group's radicalisation is seen as the brutality of the police reaction to a protest at the visit of the shah of Iran. Like most of the violence and explosions in the film's 145-minute running time, it is convincingly real. Featuring more smoking than you'll ever see in an episode of Mad Men, even when its antiheroes are in prison, it is an interesting re-enactment of a startling historical period often overlooked today.

1 comment:

  1. Organized Rage.9:47 AM

    I have just seen this movie and was not that impressed, members of the group especially the women are portrayed in much the same manner as concentration camp guards, always shouting and screaming at each other and calling everyone swine , etc.

    Maybe they did although if so one cannot see how they could have maintained such a tight nit group.
    The prison scenes were all over the place, one minute being treated harshly the next like uni students.

    There was no sense of group security, the behavior of the group whilst in a Palestinian training camp bordered on the infantile.

    Or perhaps it is me. No mention of the links between RAF at the Stasi which is some gap.

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