David O'ConnellThe Baader Meinhof Complex
May 5th 2009 03:46
An ambitious, sprawling epic of social revolution, The Baader Meinhof Complex - director Uli Edel’s return to large-scale filmmaking in his homeland - goes to work on a huge canvas in vividly recreating a torrid decade of German history. After first winning plaudits for 1981's Christiane F, Edel was lured to Hollywood, helming the brilliant but devisive Last Exit to Brooklyn (1989). He then did himself no favours with Body of Evidence (1993) and has since bounced between an eclectic but mostly undistinguished assortment of projects for the small screen. His 'comeback' is reputedly the most expensive film ever made in Germany and was nominated for Best Foreign Film Oscar this year.
By the late 1960’s in West Germany, a militant left-wing group known as the RAF (Red Army Faction) began to propose its radical ideas of social change; frustrated by oppressive government forces and intoxicated by the grandiose possibilities generated by their new way of thinking, they began violently bringing attention to themselves. After random assaults designed to destroy property and re-focus the world’s media on their plight, their measures of attack later turned to targeting individuals who they saw as crucial to hindering their insistance for change.
Lovers Andreas Baader (Moritz Bleibtreu) and Gudrun Ensslin (Johanna Wokalek) were the catalysts for implementing a change of consciousness amongst disillusioned sections of society; it was their hatred for the injustice and exploitation created by capitalist governments that sparked the RAF’s formation. Or to be more cynical - were they really just after fame and adulation, to become convenient, notorious celebrities?
Despite the conviction of their radical ideas, they required another voice to elevate awareness to a new level. A famous and sympathetic journalist, Ulrike Meinhof (Martina Gedeck) would soon become that key figure, providing a broader context to reach potential sympathizers as well as gaining legitimacy.
Despite a passionate allegiance to their ideals, Meinhof initially faltered at the point of committing further to their cause. Simply, she couldn’t imagine leaving her children behind to participate in the kind of systematic, illegal campaign of terror they would soon be undertaking. However, whilst participating in a rouse to break Baader free after his first arrest, she does make the ultimate sacrifice in a fateful, impulsive moment, thus crossing forever that imaginary line separating her from the life she’d always known.
Edel’s film jumps right into the fray, cross-cutting full-blooded reenactments of key moments of the RAF’s revolution with real life footage of a tumultuous decade in which many lives would be lost or irrevocably altered in an immersive campaign for change.
This isn’t an easy film to sit through, with a bombardment of information thrown at the audience; it’s dense with meticulous detail but the stunning authenticity of its recreation of time and place, as well as the first-class acting of its formidable leads provide it with powerful conviction.
The women in particular, are exceptional: Gedeck - a star of German cinema - as the influential Meinhof who's never able to shrug off a fragility that inevitably haunts her; she becomes critical to their inner circle but ultimately there's a line dividing her from the others and it remains a source of tension and spitefulness once the heat comes down on their backs. Wokalek gives a powerhouse performance as the mesmerizing and physically imposing Ensslin, her fervour a palpable force energising the group at times.
Baader remains the least sympathetic of the trio with his volatility occasionally revealing him as a loose cannon, capable of extreme egotism. Nadja Uhl deserves special mention too as Brigitte Mohnhaupt, forced to assume leadership of the RAF whilst the others were in prison awaiting trial in the film’s often tense third act.
There is some ambiguity associated with the ultimate fate of the group's leaders, potentially paving the way for conspiracy theorists to assign responsibility for their demise to ‘official’ hands. Certainly it’s hard to avoid becoming desensitized to the extreme violence by the film's conclusion as the stakes are continually upped by the legion of RAF sympathisers drawn to their cause like moths to a flame.
For those with little or no knowledge of this blood-drenched era, most will find The Baader Meinhof Complex, based on Stefan Aust's book, illuminating and compelling drama even if the RAF’s morally-dubious, extremist measures are hard to justify under any circumstances.
By the late 1960’s in West Germany, a militant left-wing group known as the RAF (Red Army Faction) began to propose its radical ideas of social change; frustrated by oppressive government forces and intoxicated by the grandiose possibilities generated by their new way of thinking, they began violently bringing attention to themselves. After random assaults designed to destroy property and re-focus the world’s media on their plight, their measures of attack later turned to targeting individuals who they saw as crucial to hindering their insistance for change.
Lovers Andreas Baader (Moritz Bleibtreu) and Gudrun Ensslin (Johanna Wokalek) were the catalysts for implementing a change of consciousness amongst disillusioned sections of society; it was their hatred for the injustice and exploitation created by capitalist governments that sparked the RAF’s formation. Or to be more cynical - were they really just after fame and adulation, to become convenient, notorious celebrities?
Despite the conviction of their radical ideas, they required another voice to elevate awareness to a new level. A famous and sympathetic journalist, Ulrike Meinhof (Martina Gedeck) would soon become that key figure, providing a broader context to reach potential sympathizers as well as gaining legitimacy.
Andreas Baader (Moritz Bleibtreu) and Gudrun Ensslin (Johanna Wokalek)
Despite a passionate allegiance to their ideals, Meinhof initially faltered at the point of committing further to their cause. Simply, she couldn’t imagine leaving her children behind to participate in the kind of systematic, illegal campaign of terror they would soon be undertaking. However, whilst participating in a rouse to break Baader free after his first arrest, she does make the ultimate sacrifice in a fateful, impulsive moment, thus crossing forever that imaginary line separating her from the life she’d always known.
Edel’s film jumps right into the fray, cross-cutting full-blooded reenactments of key moments of the RAF’s revolution with real life footage of a tumultuous decade in which many lives would be lost or irrevocably altered in an immersive campaign for change.
This isn’t an easy film to sit through, with a bombardment of information thrown at the audience; it’s dense with meticulous detail but the stunning authenticity of its recreation of time and place, as well as the first-class acting of its formidable leads provide it with powerful conviction.
Martina Gedeck as Ulrike Meinhof
The women in particular, are exceptional: Gedeck - a star of German cinema - as the influential Meinhof who's never able to shrug off a fragility that inevitably haunts her; she becomes critical to their inner circle but ultimately there's a line dividing her from the others and it remains a source of tension and spitefulness once the heat comes down on their backs. Wokalek gives a powerhouse performance as the mesmerizing and physically imposing Ensslin, her fervour a palpable force energising the group at times.
Baader remains the least sympathetic of the trio with his volatility occasionally revealing him as a loose cannon, capable of extreme egotism. Nadja Uhl deserves special mention too as Brigitte Mohnhaupt, forced to assume leadership of the RAF whilst the others were in prison awaiting trial in the film’s often tense third act.
There is some ambiguity associated with the ultimate fate of the group's leaders, potentially paving the way for conspiracy theorists to assign responsibility for their demise to ‘official’ hands. Certainly it’s hard to avoid becoming desensitized to the extreme violence by the film's conclusion as the stakes are continually upped by the legion of RAF sympathisers drawn to their cause like moths to a flame.
For those with little or no knowledge of this blood-drenched era, most will find The Baader Meinhof Complex, based on Stefan Aust's book, illuminating and compelling drama even if the RAF’s morally-dubious, extremist measures are hard to justify under any circumstances.
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