The Baader-Meinhof Complex
(2008)
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Set against a backdrop of violent political upheaval and social unrest, THE BAADER-MEINHOF COMPLEX explores the fine line between activism and extremism. It's the 1970s and Germany is a hub of terrorist activity. A group of radicalised left-wing youths, opposed to what they perceive to be the new face of fascism, form a resistance movement to rid the country of unwelcome imperialist influence. However, it is often said that one man's freedom fighter is another man's terrorist, so the viewer is left to decide whether these aren't simply criminals who have hijacked an ideology to legitimise their cause. Led by Andreas Baader (Moritz Bleibtreu), Ulrike Meinhof (Martina Gedeck), and Gudrun Ensslin (Johanna Wokalek), the group, calling itself the Red Army Faction, unleashes a wave of murderous bombings on the German capital that threatens to destabilise the country's fledgling democracy. But in their zeal to impose their own vision for a better Germany, and by employing terror tactics, the youths lose sight of the very thing they're fighting for. Hot on their trail is chief of police Horst Herold (Bruno Ganz), a man who understands the extremist mindset only too well and who will stop at nothing to end their reign of terror. |
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The Times
Spiralling tensions between Meinhof and Ensslin exert a morbid fascination... The film gives us the complexity of a terrorist cell and how it operates... thoroughly researched and directed with integrity
Time Out
Strange to say, for a movie pitched as an extended historical action-adventure, director Uli Edels equally...