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The Baader Meinhof Complex [Blu-ray]

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West Germany, 1967: After a disastrous engagement between the federal republic of Germany's left wing student population and parties sympathetic to the visiting Shah of Iran degenerates into street violence and results in the firebombing of a department store and an assassination attempt on the life of socialist firebrand, Rudi Dutschke, a group of increasingly disaffected German students and petty criminals begin to coalesce around the magnetic personalities of malcontent street punk, Andreas Baader, and his girlfriend, Gudrun Ensslin. Amongst those caught in their gravity is middle-class, left-wing journalist and media personality, Ulrike Meinhof. Baader and Ensslin have decided that politely protesting the policies of American and Israeli "Imperialism" with acts of civil disobedience is no longer enough and decide to engage in armed struggle against the constitutional powers of West Germany. Over the next ten years, the result of the alliance between Baader, Esselin and Meinhof, The `Red Army Faction' (aka the Baader-Meinhof Group), was to terrorise not only the FDR, but the governments and populations of countries far beyond it's borders.

Attempting to relate the tale of the rise to prominence of the RAF, much less adapt Stefan Aust's incredibly convoluted door-stopper of a book, was, I suspected, going to be nigh-on impossible - but Uli Edel's film achieves this virtually impossible task with aplomb. As well as being one of the most impressive thrillers that I've seen in years, its also one of the most fascinating portraits of the corruption and degeneration of political idealism ever to make its way to screen.

Performances are for the most part excellent and Moritz Bleibtreu perfectly embodies the essence of Aust's rendering of Baader - essentially a wayward, misogynistic hooligan who seemed more interested in playing with machine guns than liberating the "oppressed of the world". The yin to Bleibtreu's yang is Martina Gedeck's turn as Ulrike Meinhof: who appears to have been a cosseted champagne socialist who eventually became so misguided and so passionately committed to the struggle against "oppression and imperialism" that she was rather horrifyingly prepared to deliver her own children into a camp for Syrian orphans rather than see them raised under "the yoke of imperialism". There is a telling suggestion that the catalyst which may have precipitated the already fragile Meinhof's fall was the discovery of her husband's infidelity.

From a directorial stance, Edel manages to pull off the difficult trick of observing both sides of the conflict without favouring either. His rendering of the government in the FDR in sixties is anything but nostalgic and seems to suggest that it was inevitable that a group such as the RAF would eventually arise from the formenting crucible of social, political and governmental dissatisfaction that prevailed at the time. On the reverse side of the coin however, it cannot be argued that his sympathies lie with his revolutionary protagonists either, as he is only too willing to clinically dissect their personal failings as well as the raving hypocrisy of their objectives and opinions.

A fascinating portrait of an extreme group of misguided individuals living through the most turbulent period of the late twentieth century, "The Baader Meinhof Complex" is a fascinating study of personal obsession played out through political objectification and one of the best films that I've seen this year.

Highly recommended.

The Baader Meinhof Complex is an at once exhilarating and horrific depiction of the rise and fall of a very prominent left-wing extremist group in '70s Germany, formed from an uneasy alliance between journalist Ulrike Meinhof and the incendiary couple Andreas Baader and his girlfriend Gudrun Ensslin. The film explores the initial motivations for their radicalization, the shift from anger and rebellion to increasingly violent acts of terror, and the dissolution of the group's ideology into seeming incoherence as the personal began to overwhelm the political. While watching I wondered if the casting choices had made the characters more appealing than in real life - they were all very striking young men and women - but a bit of research shows it to be quite accurate. They did a remarkable job in capturing the likeness of the actual individuals depicted.

It is a complex film, that highlights the allure of the struggle, at the same time as it reveals the individuals behind it to be deeply human and imperfect, at times conflicted and at others resolute, even dogmatic, to the point of becoming what they had initially struggled against - these are not the mythological figures that came to be idolized by some and hated by others. A fascinating paradox explored by the film is that in war one side inevitably takes on qualities of its enemy: to fight an underground extremist group, the state must employ its tactics, must become flexible and bend the rule of law and its protection of individual rights such as privacy; to stand up against the force of a powerful regime, the anarchic underground must increasingly become autocratic, must not tolerate dissent.

The film is beautifully shot, and edited for an ideal balance of intensity and clarity. There is the feel of a living situation - characters don't have constantly to explain themselves to each other, and you feel the urgency with which they experience their own moments in time - and yet, there is enough laid out that even those unfamiliar with the actual history this is based on should be able to catch up quickly and follow along. The decision to incorporate real footage from the era creates a sense of authenticity and even current relevance that is hard to shake off, emphasizing that this film cannot simply be approached as an escapist fantasy. The reception of the film in Germany at the time of its release was telling - on the one hand there were those who felt that in taking both sides the film failed to capture the heroism and ideals of the leaders, who are still revered by many; and there were others who felt that the decision to tell most of the story from the point of view of the Baader Meinhof group members had the dangerous potential of creating an identification with them and of making their actions seem too glamorous.

In fact the film manages both to clarify and make vividly real the sense of a holy war or struggle that young people felt at the time, and to show that these extremists were not simply the vicious killers they had been demonized to be; but also to demonstrate that their ideals and imperfections led to horrific actions, that in many cases destroyed lives without having any clear outcome that could possibly motivate or justify such violence. I was very young at the time of these events and only remember vague hints of them, but even now going into the film I knew very little of the details. Definitely worth watching -- both as a valuable history lesson, and as a spur to the kinds of discussions that we need to be having about the meaning and motivations of what we call "terrorism." As the German head of police, played in this film by the always excellent Bruno Ganz, suggests: it is easy enough to demonize the "enemy" but there can be no true or lasting victory over extremism and violence without understanding its perpetrators and their perceptions.

I lived in Germany during the RAF era. As a military brat we were in fear of this group, as both Frankfurt and Ramstein experienced terrorist attacks by this group.

The news clips that were used in this movie are genuine. I remember that old man on the German news. The terror lasted all through the 1970s.

It was therefore haunting to see this movie again. All the actors were so believable as their actual characters they were playing. Watch the 30-minute "Making of the B-M Complex" and you will learn that the director, Uli Edel, used all genuine parts, even using the actual court hall of the prison in which the real terrorists were interviewed (and denied) parole. The prison cells were designed according to old photographs of the real prison cells, down to genuine sinks. The actors spent endless hours studying the mannerisms and speech patterns of their roles. Actor Martina Gedeck almost looks like the younger sister of Gudrun Ensslin, the "brains" behind this group of misfits.

I didn't read the book; my opinions are based on memory. The scenes in this movie are non-stop action and at times overly graphic in their violence, but this is how B-M acted. Even how the group slowly fell apart due to newer generations of this group not being in sinc with the original founders, is quite obvious. The Baader-Meinhof gang was a group of highly intellectual but badly misguided and violent group of extreme-left-leaning students whose guilt of their parents perhaps got the ball rolling.

Say what you may, "This is part of our History" said Edel, and this movie shows this history well. This movie deserved the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film.

I enjoyed the film immensely, and found it to be an excellent study into radical/extreme leftist politics and how some groups evolved into violent terrorist groups that lost sight of a utopian ideal that perhaps never truly existed. Stefan Aust's recently updated (and well-researched) book from which the movie is based on is captured well, albeit the movie moves as a much faster pace while the book provides excellent background and description of events of the times the RAF existed. I do not think the movie portrays the RAF in a sympathetic light, but aptly demonstrates that while the RAF had a utopian ideal, the simplistic and extremist thinking of the group led them to commit horrible atrocities in the name of a "higher morality," echoing the long quoted phrase "The road to hell is paved with good intentions." While somewhat confusing and unclear at times (such as the transition of introducing the second and third generation of RAF members), it is nonetheless useful to also watch the documentary of the making of the film to clarify certain points. This would be an excellent film to use for a beginning sociology or political science class that examines extremist political groups. Also, I found nothing wrong with the size of the subtitles, unlike some people who posted earlier. Don't let that discourage you from seeing the film.

I lived in Germany at this time and it is interesting to see that this group of misfits that held the country in the grip of uneasy fear and paranoia are largely forgotten now. What I like about the film is its depiction of how utterly vapid these "revolutionaries" were, and how much radical terrorism is really a nexus of patchwork politics married to the simple adrenaline thrills of delinquency and crime. Andreas Baader was a punk, pure and simple. His girlfriend Gudren Eisslen seems to be a middle-class brat working out her "daddy issues" through the endless prattle of revolutionary rhetoric. Ulrike Meinhof was a leftist journalist opting out of Fraudom by joining with these losers and becoming their self-justifying voice. None of this would matter, except they murdered real people and were the inspiration for other like-minded malcontents who went on to do the same. They were celebrated by the radical chic crowd of the time, and the myth surrounding them needs to be examined and debunked, as it is to some extent in this film. Then they need to be exiled to a tiny historical footnote and forgotten.

The thing often missed about radicals is that they are insufferable bores. Narrow-minded, egotistical and self-aggrandizing, dysfunctional and generally unhappy and pathetic people they create a romantic fantasy about revolution that is a perfect rationalization for psychopathy. What can you say about people who want to save the world by blowing it up? Well you can say we are living with the ultimate expression of that now with radical Islam, and ain't that fun? This pack of worthless individuals in the Germany of the 1970's were the terrorists of their day. Debated and discussed, exhalted or excoriated in the media, a source of fascination to youths disenchanted with the monotonous bourgeoise success and conformity of post-war Germany. In short, adolescents. And so much of the radicalism of that time was simply adolescent cheap thrills and a way to get laid.

The filmmakers, old leftist themselves who haven't completely come to terms with their own enrapture of that era but middle- aged and reflective now, have caught the feeling of the time, and their depiction of the "banality of evil" that is the ultimate pronouncement on the meaning of the Baader-Meinhof Gang is revealing not only of this group at this time, but the current crop of radicals amongst us today. By and large they make a lot of noise, accomplish little, and you would be hard pressed to want to spend an afternoon with any of them. They themselves are forgettable, unfortunately their crimes cannot be for the suffering they inflict is all too real. Anyway, the film-making is excellent and the cast very good, so it is worth seeing.

The Baader Meinhof Complex marks another successful historical drama for the German film industry (after The Lives of Others, a superb film about the East German surveillance society, Downfall, an equally excellent portrayal of Hitler's last days, and Sophie Scholl - The Final Days, a slightly less outstanding movie that tells the little known story of internal resistance to the Nazis).

The film revisits the 1960s and 70s' and the notorious Red Army Faction led by Andreas Baader (played by Moritz Bleibtreu), his lover Gudrun Ensslin (Johanna Wokalek) and Ulrike Meinhof (Martina Gedeck, who also starred in The Lives of Others). The story begins to take shape when a protest of the Shah's visit in 1967 becomes the infamous June 2 police riot, which the film makers marvelously recreate. This event launches the journalist Meinhof on her journey to radicalism. Like their compatriots in other countries young Germans rebel against all forms of authority and protest against the Vietnam War. German youth had the added fuel of knowing that the generation of the authorities had failed to rebel against Hitler.

The movie's pacing and focus on action keeps the viewer riveted as the Baader Meinhof group becomes increasingly radicalized. Bank holdups almost inevitably lead to violence. The violence leads to police reaction and repression. Eventually the leaders end up in prison. They see themselves as political prisoners, which is true to the extent that their crimes were politically motivated, but not in the sense that they imprisoned because of their political beliefs. Their primary focus then becomes to get the leaders out of prison and they pursue that end with increasingly desperate, not to say suicidal, actions (seizing the German embassy in Sweden and finally coordinating the hijacking of a Lufthansa plane with Palestinian extremists). The internal logic runs amuck.

The movie initially evokes sympathy for most of the members (not Baader; he is portrayed as a homicidally-inclined authoritarian who has found a perfect bunch of new friends). The uptight establishment needed to be challenged, the War in Vietnam was wrong, the West did exploit the Third World (of course, so did the East). Their hedonism is appealing (not so much to their Arab associates). They were young, audacious, and beautiful (they weren't really that alluring were they?).

But their politics and their political actions were ludicrous (not to say infantile). In this sense, they remind me of the Weather Underground. Baader Meinhof was more violent, more often, but just as detached from political reality. Neither organization had any mass base or posed any threat of revolution whatsoever, but they deluded themselves that they were doing something politically important. They were aided and abetted in this self-important view by the police (especially in the US) who reacted as if the groups were a serious threat to political stability. Both groups underestimated the ability and willingness of Western governments to adopt totalitarian tactics to destroy leftists who resorted to action in the street.

I don't know whether the movie gives soft handling to the German police or not; maybe they really were more restrained than the infamous local US police and FBI `red squads'. The leader of the anti-radical unit (played by Bruno Ganz who played Hitler in Downfall) is portrayed as thoughtful and generally moderate, but the rank-and-file police are shown handing out beatings and the prisoners are subjected to lengthy terms of solitary confinement. But the movie does not pursue explore the possibility that government-paid agitators might have attained leadership positions (as they most certainly did in the US).

Fortunately, the movie focuses on the action rather than the ideology (Mao is cited only once or twice). The film does not romanticize the revolutionaries nor does it expend energy trying to figure out the `why'; no navel-gazing or introspective brooding. But action was what Baader Meinhof was about, not reflecting on whether the action made any sense. The best thing that I can say about the movie is that it will help anyone over 50 explain the Sixties to their children and entertain as well.

Germany's official submission to the Academy awards; this film was nominated for the best foreign language film award in the 81st Oscars. Director Uli Edel's "BAADER MEINHOF COMPLEX" is a look at the events that had transpired between 1967-1977 in West Germany. It chronicles the events that led to the organization of the West German militant group called the Red Army Faction (RAF) by Ulrike Meinhof and Andreas Baader. The film is based on the non-fiction novel written by Stefan Aust. In order to understand what the film is all about, one has to know a little of the events that transpired in Germany during this chaotic period. This period of the 60's was full of political assassinations, a war in Vietnam and that Germany had become divided into Soviet and American controlled sides.

During this period, there was a lot of confusion and chaos over the country's citizens, particularly the younger generation. Young people began to despise the older form of government while the older ones disliked the "free-loving" and anarchist ways of the newer generation. The "RAF" or "Red Faction Army" was founded by Ulrike Meinhof, originally intended to be a peaceful but outspoken group of folks but overtime, became a group of militants that were very unorganized that performed political assassinations of Germany's government figures as well as several civilians. The actions of this group helped instigate the events in the 1972 Olympics that was known as the Munich massacre.

Our tale begins in 1967 in a nudist beach, as we find Ulrike Meinhof (Martina Gedeck), a proud mother of two kids. Meinhof is a journalist while Andreas Baader is an activist; both of them represent two sides of the Communist government. Agitated by America's involvement in the war in Vietnam and their continued presence in West Germany, students and ideologues gather in the masses to protest the events. These protestations are often met with some brutal police reactions. Ulrike writes articles that praise the protest movement but she never really took a more active role until she meets a disillusioned intellectual side of the equation in the persona of Gudrun Ennslin (Johanna Wokalek), Baader's girlfriend and puts Ulrike in a position to help their cause by breaking out her lover.

For the next several years, the Baader-Meinhof collective puts their propaganda in the streets, funding their cause and making a statement by robbing their so-called "capitalist" banks and bombing some U.S. army installations. The group gains some public sympathy that turns them into sorts of folk heroes. Now with the German Police led by Horst Herold (Bruno Ganz) on the hunt, the first half of the militant group focuses on terror while the second becomes focused in chronicling the imprisonment of its key leaders while keeping the cause alive. The trials and chaos went on throughout the late 70's.

"The Baader Meinhof Complex" is a docudrama that is driven by the screenplay written by Bernd Eichinger (Downfall) who also co-produced the film. The film's style has that journalistic rigor while keeping its docudrama atmosphere. It was nice to see the filmmakers stick to the book's details rather than attempting to fill in some blanks on their own while avoiding an superfluous viewpoint and heavy directorial editing. The aim of the direction is the flesh out a very despised historical figure while avoiding the politics and emotion behind it. Uli Edel succeeds in some ways, but he does come a little short. Edel uses the film's opening scene to express the free-loving lifestyle that the RAF organizers are so accustomed to; as people who'd rather have their voices heard than resort to violence. Later on, we see the RAF organize themselves and become more aggressive in their delivery of a political standpoint.

The film is brilliantly shot, nicely scripted and well-acted. The film approaches its premise with a very methodical manner with the delivery of its narrative and the manner it evolved its characters. The screenplay exhibited a main focus for the present because of the ripples that will affect the future. Director Edel avoids glorifying the killers, actually they are portrayed as confused, arrogant and determined. Meinhof is an intellectual who has the right ideas to enact an approach but lacks the necessary leadership skills to make it effective. She becomes overshadowed by an overzealous activist named Baader who becomes so obsessed in making a statement with no compromise. Meinhof never had the determination to stand up to her convictions while Baader is just so single-minded in purpose. Of course, the dominant figure will always be the leader. I guess "standing up" to what you think believe in and what you think is right is a good way to bond with others. The fact is, sometimes we just hear what we want to hear. The RAF fanatically believed that they were doing the right thing and is willing to do reprehensible things to get its message across. Think of Baader and Meinhof as a political "Bonnie and Clyde".

The film pitches in some key moments in the sixties, and while the set designs and clothing does depict the passage of time; the film moves rather quickly that the viewer never gets to settle in because of the energetic direction that the proceedings were barely convincing that some years have indeed passed (the story spans almost a decade). The film is easy to relate to, since you just have to turn on today's news and you will see that humanity hasn't really progressed past this behavior that can eventually lead to self-annihilation. The filmmakers doesn't push towards any political agenda, but it is refreshing to see terrorists not having the usual turbans in a film. It gives a message that this type of thinking have existed throughout history. The film is quite unnerving and will make some viewers very uncomfortable with its graphic depiction of violence, an abundant display of sex and nudity and political overtones, it presents a very taut pace that generates an aura of suspense.

It was a clever move in the part of the filmmakers to show us the events that led to the rise and downfall of the RAF in a detached style that allows the viewer to see that the wrong decision can definitely lead one to ruin. It make one's world turn upside down when we see the disillusionment of the RAF movement. Things like this can only end badly and this film reminds us that when people raise such flawed people to God-like status, they are most likely will be disappointed in what they will find in the end. Humans are flawed and it is always no good to idolize them however seductive and reasonable their arguments may be. "The Baader Meinhof Komplex" is an enthralling film; the performances are brilliant and is finely scripted, the only flaw I can see is that because of its disjointed execution, one may forget that the film is based on reality. It would be better if we all remember that mistakes like this can be fatal and disastrous. The film isn't for everyone but definitely worthy of the recognition it attained.

Highly Recommended! [4+ Stars]


The Dvd Looks very good with great colors and looks very sharp. The sound is very loud and clear with its 5.1 Dolby Digital German language track. The subtitles are excellent.

I have never seen subtitles this small. I am having great difficulty reading them on a 32" set at 5 feet. The movie gets 3 Stars, the Subs 1 star. Oddly, the subs are larger on the bonus material.

I came to this film from reviewing the book of the same title for Amazon Vine. While true to the story, the film is quite different from the book. Despite running 143 minutes, the film is very fast paced & strong on action while being somewhat light on detail. I found the book too clinical & slow paced, & found the film to be almost the opposite. I enjoyed the film once I got over being angry about the teeny subtitles, but would not recommend it to someone who didn't already have a reasonably good familiarity with the RAF story; unless all you're looking for is an entertaining action thriller. Having some idea of the RAF story from Aust's book, I found the film enjoyable, but still had some issues understanding small sections. From an entertainment & emotional point of view, it is largely an enjoyable film, & my understanding is that Mr. Aust was involved in insuring it was as factually correct as possible.

I also found the film to paint the most sympathetic picture of the RAF I have seen anywhere other then extreme left web sites. While I lean strongly left myself & agree with some of their ideals, I'm not sure that these folks deserve a sympathetic portrait. They were cold blooded killers. There of course were 2 sides to the story, & as presented both here & in Aust's book, the German govt of the early - mid 60's made Bush look nice by comparison.

Thanks To NetflixInstant recently I was able to see this film,don't know if I would watch it again on instant free or purchase it or rent it to watch it again,However The Baader Meinhof Complex to me shows the Left at it's best(or Worst which is the same),the movie takes an "Amoral" stand or a moral equivalency as if Terrorism can be excused,the movie is tediously long but I think falls short of truly demonizing these spoiled kids who don't know what imperialism is only that America is bad,Nevermind that America saved everyone during WWII, nevermind that it was us and not the Germans who unified the New Germany.as Usual America has to clean up the mess the foreigners have done,they rail and moan about their parents standing by while a so-called Fascism returns,they are wrong for they have become the new fascists,and incredibly the new left did not/does not realize how fascist they have become.(The Occupy Movement comes to mind in order to mimic the successful Resurgence of Conservatism)The best part is when they say "They believe in a Myth"that is so true but it could have been done better and not some "Psychological" treatment or come to understanding with these criminals.

This is a reasonably good film on 1970s terrorism in europe, the process of radicalization and how these groups inevitably fall apart.

If it has a flaw, its that it too centered on the process of radicalization from the perspective of the radicals. Its too one-sided politically in its coverage of the mid-1960s events. And it makes too many excuses for their radicalization. Baader was an idiot and its hard to see him being motivated by Vietnam or anything else. Meinhof joined the communist party in 1959. While some of the other members became radicalized through events, the core was either criminal or radical from the start.

But once it gets past setting the stage, the film is very good in presenting an honest accouting of the activities of the Baader-Meinhof gang. In particular, they do a good job in showing Baader for what he was. Rather than revolutionaries, they come across as a bunch of spoiled upper-class children playing around. Ulrike Meinhof is portrayed far too sympathetically. Some of the best scenes are set in Jordan where Baader and company come across as spoiled children in a camp full of serious people.

Ultimately, the film shows how people can become violent radicals and how ultimately useless their actions are.