The Baader Meinhof Complex - Movie Review

I came across The Baader Meinhof Complex while researching actor Moritz Bleibtreu. I have seen him in a couple of decent movies, to include another film based on actual events, Das Experiment (The Experiment). I really enjoyed his performance in Soul Kitchen, which I will review soon. Baader Meinhof showcased Bleibtreu's incredible talents.

The Baader-Meinhof gang was the government terminology for a German terrorist group who called themselves the Red Army Faction (RAF). The group took a violent stance in their opposition to the Vietnam war and general policy toward the third world. The film is named after two of the prominent members of the RAF, Andreas Baader (Bleibtreu) and Ulrike Meinhof (Martina Gedeck). Having read up a bit on the organization, it appears that this story tracks the activities of the RAF fairly closely without taking excessive license.

The Baader Meinhof Complex traces the roots of the gang back to protests against a visit from the Iranian royal family. After the protests are violently quashed by police, a group of radical students begin organizing resistance to the government policies. These protests turn increasingly violent, beginning with the bombing of a department store carried out by Baader and his girlfriend, Gudrun Ensslin(Johanna Wokalek). The two are to stand trial for their crime but flee the country to Italy. They are captured again upon their return. A daring escape is planned, aided by a famous journalist (Meinhof). From this point forward, the RAF becomes commonly known as the Baader Meinhof Gang.

The terrorist activities are tracked by a clever investigator, Horst Herold (Bruno Ganz, who was solid in the film Unknown). While Herold is a tenacious and deft investigator, his superiors underestimate the tenacity of the RAF. Whenever they believe they have defeated the RAF, new factions appear. While Herold embraced a strategy to understand the terrorists in order to prevent their recruitment of new members, the old guard opts for a more traditional approach, which leads Ganz to continually investigate the spreading organization.

While The Baader Meinhof Complex was long (two and half hours), I was engrossed in the story. As each new chapter unfolded, there was plenty of material to cover, so the film never felt sluggish. However, it did feel long. I kept wondering how many chapters there could be to this endless saga. The writers could easily have glossed over some of the details without losing the feel of the film. The dialogue was excellent, with strong characters that squared off at times. I felt that the characters were realistically drawn with great interpersonal dynamics to create tension. I was also happy that the film chose to take a fairly neutral stance on the topic. It was more documentary than social commentary. The examination of the topic did not create sympathy for the terrorists, while demonstrating the short-comings of the government at the same time. There was plenty of anti-American sentiment in this film, which might have put me off it was not contextual.

I sought out this movie because I have found Bleibtreu to be a bright actor. His performance was excellent. His resemblance to the real Baader was well executed, too. The dynamics between Baader, Meinhof and Ensslin were drawn out by the actors. Gedeck and Wokalek have characters with an odd relationship that deteriorates as the film progresses. The pair did a good job of establishing the strained relationship. Ganz was awesome. The cast included a host of younger actors who all did a great job of selling the story. Great acting across the board.

The MPAA gave The Baader Meinhof Complex an R rating. This rating was judiciously applied. The film has rampant nudity, with a surprising dose of child nudity that wasn't really necessary to the story. The film opens at a nude beach, where full frontal nudity is fully on display. I am not prudish, but offer that as a warning that this film is not for younger viewers. In addition to the nudity is a heavy dose of violence, which is graphic at times, while not excessively so. The film also has coarse language. I would suggest a mature teen audience at a minimum.

I enjoyed The Baader Meinhof Complex. The film was a historic film that documented a violent domestic German terrorist group that squared off directly with the government, attacking public officials and military installations. The film has a saga-like quality that seems to drag on due to the two and a half hour run time. I believe that time could have been pared down without changing the film dramatically. The acting was phenomenal, with an incredible cast. Highly recommended with 8/10.

Trailer and images subject to copyright.