Der Baader Meinhof Komplex (The Baader Meinhof Complex)
2008
***
Director: Uli Edel
Cast: Moritz Bleibtreu, Martina Gedeck, Johanna Wokalek, Nadja Uhl, Simon Licht, Alexandra Maria Lara, Susanne Bormann, Bruno Ganz, Hans Werner Meyer, Stipe Erceg
Uli Edel's drama charts the history of the Baader-Meinhof Group from 1967 to 1977. In the late 1960s, Andreas Baader is a reckless criminal, his girlfriend Gudrun Ensslin is a political anarchist, and Ulrike Meinhof is a left-leaning journalist. The events in Vietnam and in Germany lead them to form the Red Army Faction, a left-wing militant group which terrorises Germany in the years to come. Bernd Eichinger's no-nonsense screenplay is based on Stefan Aust's book. It builds a convincing backstory for the group's collective radicalisation but is not always as successful with the individual members. Although the performances are good, Baader doesn't develop beyond an aimless thug and Meinhof's transformation from a mother to a terrorist is not entirely convincing. The film also runs into some structural problems when the gripping action set pieces of the first half make way for an extended prison/trial finale.
