Der Baader Meinhof Komplex (in English, surprisingly: The Baader Meinhof Complex) is an immensly powerful piece of cinema.
Starting with the events of the 2nd of June 1967, where a demonstration in Berlin got out of hand, the movie chronicles the formation of the Baader Meinhof Group and the Red Army Fraction.
June 2nd – one of the most claustrophobic scenes I have ever seen
The film has a really good cast – basically anyone who has ever had a role in a “serious” movie in Germany was in there (with some curious exceptions) and they really deliver gripping performances. Apart from the obvious talent, it’s also amazing how much they look like their real counterparts.
And it’s one of the most intelligent movies about terrorism I have seen, mostly due to Bruno Ganz‘s character. His insisting that, yes, terrorism is bad, but we should listen to what they go on about so we can get to the root of the problem, really hit home: If people know those kinds of things, why doesn’t anybody do it?
The movie got raving reviews in the German speaking countries, and it’s Germany’s official submission for the Oscars. But there’s been also two major points of criticism. First that the movie is confusing for people, who don’t know their history that well, because not everything is explained and not every character properly introduced and second that it might be dangerous to make a movie from the terrorist’s perspective.
To that I want to respond:
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The movie is over two hours long as it is and it’s fully packed. You could have made a 6 hour movie and still not cover everything.
They concentrated on three of the characters, but it’s clear that those three are not the only ones, who were important. And I think that in this case, this was the right way to go.
Maybe it will even lead to people making their own research. -
People really should accept the fact that just because the main character says something doesn’t mean that it’s the truth. Yes, the story follows terrorists and shows how they came to be terrorist. Explaining is not apologising. Apologising is not approving.
It’s the same mistake people made and still make with Lolita: Nabokov did in no way endorse paedophilia. He just wrote the story of a guy, who liked little girls.
Anyway, summarising: Great movie, one that really has a chance for the Oscars. You might want to read a bit history before watching it, though.