SYNOPSIS:
Germany in the 1970s: Murderous bomb attacks, the threat of terrorism and the fear of the enemy inside are rocking the very foundations of the yet fragile German democracy. The radicalised children of the Nazi generation lead by Andreas Baader, Ulrike Meinhof and Gudrun Ensslin are fighting a violent war against what they perceive as the new face of fascism: American imperialism supported by the German establishment, many of whom have a Nazi past. Their aim is to create a more human society but by employing inhuman means they not only spread terror and bloodshed, they also lose their own humanity. The man who understands them is also their hunter: the head of the German police force Horst Herold. And while he succeeds in his relentless pursuit of the young terrorists, he knows he's only dealing with the tip of the iceberg.
MOVIE REVIEW:
“The terrible thing about terrorism is that ultimately it destroys those who practise it. Slowly but surely, as they try to extinguish life in others, the light within them dies.” –Terry Waite
In the late 1960s and 1970s, Germany was transfixed by the rise of the Baader Meinhof Gang, so named after two of its most prominent founding members, Andreas Baader and Ulrike Meinhof. Their ascent was triggered by a brutal police riot during a state visit of the Shah of Iran, where officers in civilian clothes savagely attacked protesters gathered en masse and murdered one of their number.
That incident sparked widespread fear and civil discontent that Germany would soon become a police state, so once peaceful demonstrators began to advocate for more violent measures in order to be heard. And because they tapped into the zeitgeist, the Baader Meinhof gang earned the public’s support, tacit or outright. Germany’s support of America’s involvement in the Vietnam War would soon provide the gang with more fodder for their cause, who claimed to champion the resistance of U.S. imperialism and German capitalist oppression.
The first half of Uli Edel’s focuses on their raison d’être, indeed their vision and mission, portraying them as a mouthpiece of the people and an agent of change. Though many and disparate in number, it’s easy to tell apart the three key members of the gang- Baader, Meinhof and Baader’s girlfriend Ensslin- and their difference in personality. Unlike the rational journalist Meinhof, Baader was a hothead, whose inclination for anarchy only acquired legitimacy through his political cause.
Uli Edel’s film shifts its tone now and then, but at least in its first half, is quite unequivocally supportive of the incursions and bombings committed by the gang. Those who subscribe to Kant’s categorical imperative will no doubt take issue with this- how can one support these acts of terrorism that threaten the lives of innocent civilians and take the lives of a few unfortunate ones? But Edel’s perspective is more relativist- if only powerful actions can motivate change, then maybe the lives lost are no more than necessary means to further a better society.
The argument is no doubt complex and perhaps without a clear resolution- but Edel’s film is not weaker from having taken a side. What unfortunately makes Uli Edel’s less compelling than it should be is its much slacker second half. From the retreat of the gang to the Middle East, their subsequent return to Germany, their capture, their time in prison, their trial and finally the group’s mass suicide, Edel and screenwriter Bernd Eichinger try to pack all that detail of the voluminous history to the gang into the movie. As a result, characters appear, then disappear, and more of them appear again, ultimately leaving its audience in the cold with the myriad number of supporting characters that do little to add to the story.
It is the strong performances by Moritz Bleibtreu, Martina Gedeck, Johanna Wokalek that manage to hold the second half of the film together. The trio of actors playing the key members of the gang portray viscerally the desperation of a group of people who find themselves increasingly isolated from their original cause and increasingly alienated from the people they supposedly represent. Without something to fight for, the gang gradually turn into no more than anarchists, or terrorists as we are oft to call them today.
There is however reason to the apparent madness, reason to what gives rise to terrorism, and reason why terrorism continues to be alive today. As much as it is about just one such group in Germany, as much as it is set in the 1970s, “The Baader Meinhof Complex” is, however flawed, still a very relevant piece of socio-political drama that will leave you thinking a lot more about the state of the world today.
SPECIAL FEATURES :
This Code 3 DVD contains no extra features.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
The audio on this Code 3 DVD is presented only in Dolby Digital 2.0 though the movie could certainly have benefited from a more immersive 5.1 experience. Visual transfer is excellent and the picture has no visible grains throughout. English subtitles are hard-subbed, and are absent in parts when characters speak in English.
MOVIE RATING:
DVD
RATING :
Review
by Gabriel Chong
Posted on 10 December 2009
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