Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #945 in DVD
• Released on: 2009-04-20
• Rating: Suitable for 18 years and over
• Format: PAL
• Original language: German
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 145 minutes

Synopsis
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.
Director Uli Edel assembles an impressive cast for this adaptation of Stefan Aust's non-fiction book. Nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the 2009 Academy Awards.

Customer Reviews

West German Baddies
"The Baader Meinhof Complex" is an absorbing, if somewhat overlong film about the 1970's West German left wing terrorist group, the Red Army Faction(RAF) aka the Baader Meinhof Group. It covers the period from 1967 to 1977, starting with the groups emergence from a period of left wing student radicalism to it's slow demise after a period of appalling,futile bloodletting.The film focuses on the main protagonists in the group and their organisation of a number of violent attacks on American military bases, police stations and leading industrialists and bankers. The violence is quite graphic at times, showing car bombs exploding, badly injured and burned bodies and close up machine gunnings. Certainly anyone watching the film will be made aware of the murderous fanaticism of the RAF and their callous disregard for human life. "The Ends Justify the Means" could have been their motto. It was interesting watching this period of history unfold on the movie screen and the story of the RAF is told well. However the film does lose it's way, like the terrorists , once the leadership are interred in prison. Too much time is spent with the terrorists in various prison scenes and court room appearances and the dynamic of the film suffers as a result. Also there were some problems with character development and continuity as new characters appeared on screen with the viewer having no idea who they were. That said , "The Baader Meinhof Complex" is one of the better German language films that I have seen recently,but not up there with the excellent "Downfall", "The Counterfeiters" or "The Lives of Others" in my opinion.

Long
To say this film was `graphic' would not do it justice as it is rare to watch scenes where the sense of bullets ricocheting off walls and wood splintering with each shot sounds and looks realistic. There is no glorification of the RAF (Red Army Faction) in this film as they were portrayed as murderers of a ruthless sort with apparently many reasons to fight and protest but sadly, none of the causes seemed blindingly obvious nor obtainable. The killing of US solders in Germany, a banker in his own home and the serious injury of a judge's wife being a few of the graphic examples. Baader himself is portrayed as a 70s version of an utter detestable hooligan with a gun while Meinhof is a pitiful character who seemed to lose her way although she seemed the most intellectual and level headed of them all. It was difficult to remain interested as the film went on (and on) as the killing kept occurring, the violence never ending and the prison scenes dull. Arrests of the original group members led to new factions springing up with new characters arriving with no real clarity as to who they were other than they killed more than the originals, if that were possible. However, it was a good film from the educational point of view, i.e. finding out more about a trouble period in Germany's history but it was far too long to keep the real interest going.

An accurate portrayal? Maybe
The Baader Meinhof Complex is a historically correct portrayal of the RAF, highlighting the main events about the late 60's early 70's West German left wing freedom fighters. A point to note is they never called themselves the Baader Meinhof Group, this was a label assigned by the press. The film covers the period 1967 to 1977, including the emergence of the group from it's humble beginnings within the radicalism of left wing students on to its succesful campaign of guerilla warfare. The film focuses mainly on the main members, them being Andreas Baader, Ulrike Meinhof, Gudrun Ensslin, Horst Mahler and Irmgard Möllerilm and their legitamate targets; the US military, police stations and fat cat bankers and corporate scumbags. Some may argue that the graphic nature of the violence in this film is gratiutious, however I would support it as it tells the real story of the angst felt by these individuals and the means they would go to in order for their arguements to be heard. Whether you were aware of the the Red Army Faction or not or if you agree with their politics or not is irrelevant. What is relevant is this a an excellent film and portrayl about an under appreciated guerilla warfare group who were wrongly labeled as terrorists. Mao once said 'A clear dividing line must be drawn between ourselves and the enemy!' The RAF clearly did that.
Das Konzept Stadtguerilla.