Film Festival 09 - The Baader Meinhof Complex
The Baader Meinhof Complex
Der Baader Meinhof Komplex, Germany 2008, 150m
Director: Uli Edel
Festivals: London 2008
The Baader Meinhof Complex is the major German film of the year. A
bold mixture of action thriller and historical reconstruction, it
traces the lifespan of the violent terrorist group who called
themselves the Red Army Faction and from 1968 into the 90s
repeatedly attacked the German establishment. Disaffected children
of the post-Nazi generation, they saw the US actions in Vietnam,
the Middle East and the Third World as a new fascism. Their targets
were big business and the pro-government media, and their
spectacular tactics established a large fan base among the young,
radical left. The film is based on the highly regarded book by the
investigative reporter Stefan Aust, who from his student days knew
many of the people involved. Moritz Bleibtreu as the charismatic,
possibly psychopathic Andreas Baader and Martina Gedeck as theorist
and writer Ulrike Meinhof, lead an exceptional cast of young actors
iconic status among young Germans today evokes the outlaw glamour
of the Red Army Faction's star performers then. Bruno Ganz is
reliably strong as the head of police with the wherewithal to bring
the Faction to justice. While never stinting on adrenaline thrills,
director Uli Edel remains coolly observant of the contradictions
inherent in the mix of idealism, frustration and personal grievance
that drove them to murder their fellow citizens in the name of
democracy and justice. "A powerful movie& The Baader Meinhof
Complex brings back the terrible events in the Germany of the 1960s
and 1970s in a manner that clears and focuses the mind." - Philip
French, The Observer
In German, English, French and Arabic, with English subtitles
