The Baader-Meinhoff Complex

Introduction

 

The Federal Republic of Germany, or West Germany to the rest of us, was not a great place to live in the late sixties and early seventies by all accounts.  It would appear that the country still hadn't come to terms with the legacy of the Second World War and despite having relatively moderate Governments in power, the establishment were seen as leading in a new era of fascism by its people, most particularly elements of its student population. This was the era of major political movements, led by events in the United States.  This was the time of major protest at the Vietnam War, the assassinations of both Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy and the election of Richard Nixon (helpfully referenced during the film) and there was massive unrest within the German student population which organised large rallies in protest, led by left-wing orator Rudi Dutschke (Sebastian Blomberg) and covered by journalist Ulrike Meinhoff (Martina Gedeck).   



On top of the global events described above, two things more than anything finally spur some of the German students into taking direct action.  The first is a protest against the visit of the Shah of Persia, a peaceful protest by the students is disrupted by a vicious assault by supporters of the Shah whilst the police look on before wading into the students themselves, leaving many badly injured and one student dead.  The second is the cold-blooded murder of Dutschke in the street. 

Student lovers Andreas Baader (Moritz Bleibtreu) and Gudrun Ensslin (Johanna Wokalek) form a group called the Red Army Faction (RAF) that starts off with arson attacks on department stores, although this is shortlived as they are arrested pretty much straight away.  This galvanises others within the group into action and with Meinhoff agreeing to interview Baader as part of a diversion, the group spring both Baader and Ensslin, with Meinhoff deciding that she would rather join this group primed for direct action rather than just indulge in her 'theoretical masturbation', as her writing is dismissed by Ensslin, as she is frustrated by the lack of impact she's having despite being a mainstream media presence. 



Under Baader's leadership, the group head to the Middle East and a terrorist training camp where they fall out with the trainers over Baader's impatience to learn tactics the Arab way.  Baader doesn't want military training, he wants to know how to rob banks rather than crawl under barbed wire in the sand.  The group quickly decide to leave, albeit with some support, and back in West Germany embark on a campaign of bank robbery and murder. 

Leading the chase for the terrorists is police chief Horst Herold (Bruno Ganz), who sees quite clearly that the RAF are almost folk heroes to the German public with approximately a quarter of all Germans between 19 and 30 sympathising with the group.  Sadly his advice to understand and act upon their grievances is ignored and the continuing chase to capture them all ultimately leaves more bystanders dead, even after the core leadership of the RAF is captured and imprisoned in Stammheim prison to await trial. 

Picture 

Picture appears to be 4:3 but then I was provided with a DVD-R with a banner for some company that I'd never heard of popping up onscreen every five minutes or so.   That wasn't the only problem either.  The burnt in English subtitles (which disappear when anything is said in English) have a tendency to get blurry every now and again, which is an annoying distraction.  This could all have been caused by the disc provided to me though and may well be ok for the full release. 

Extras 

No extras at all, which is hugely disappointing - not least because there must be some decent documentaries out there on this subject that could have been included.  Instead, not even a trailer.  Again this may be the curse of the Reviewer DVD-R… 

Overall 

I've mentioned it before and it may (or may not) be worth mentioning that I lived in West Germany for a good part of my youth from 1976 to 1985 before heading back out there again in 1988 as a member of the Royal Signals.  I remember seeing the posters of the RAF at the time on display in Army barracks and got a brief inkling on the history of the group due to my curiousity, so I was really looking forward to seeing this on the back of some rather superb German period films like Downfall and The Lives Of Others.  I wasn't disappointed. 

This is a rather long film that doesn't attempt to give justifications or explanations, rather just a timeline of what actually happened.  There's also no real explanation why some of the characters turn up or where they go, but I didn't really mind this, it's always good when a filmmaker treats his audience with a bit of intelligence rather than provide explanations all the time.  This is also much more of a drama than an action film and therefore may not appeal to those who prefer more in terms of action.  That's not to say that there isn't any, there are plenty of assassinations, bombings and kidnappings to keep most people happy but it's almost underplayed to an extent, it's simply treated as part of the story (which historically it is) rather than the usual 'here comes an action set piece'. 



The acting is pretty magnificent as well, in particular Johanna Wokalek and Martina Gedeck who really do make this film.  Moritz Bleibtreu plays leader Andreas Baader as he probably really was, as a rather charismatic but impatient and arrogant leader whereas both Wokalek and Gedeck bring real intelligence to presumably really intelligent women who understand both intellectually and physically what is required for their cause, but ultimately lack the courage of their convictions and back down from confrontation with Baader when required.  Ganz is also superb, although some of his impassioned lines really did remind me of his towering performance in Downfall. 

This film really doesn't give you any answers, it simply provides you with the cultural context and the events that transpired around this group.  This actually leads you the viewer to make up your own mind and the saying that one man's terrorist is another's freedom fighter rang through my head quite a lot during the start of this film.  I really could see and understand why this group decided to embark on the course they did, even though I could also clearly see that they were wrong and that murder can never be justified.  The ambivalence of the Government, the lack of free speech and the overkill actions of their own police force lead the students to believe that only direct action will get their message across. 



Ultimately the documentary style of this film may put some people off, especially with the last hour or so showing long stretches of the leadership in jail and appearing in court for a rather long trial.  Perseverance may well be required but will ultimately be rewarded with a satisfying film, despite the credits coming rather abruptly after nearly three hours (which is actually a compliment) at a quite natural denouement based on the actual timeline. 

Superb film, recommended.