The Baader-Meinhof Complex
Article published: Monday, December 1st 2008
Ragnor Ironpants reviews The Baader-Meinhof Complex for Mule. Rating: **
Uli Edels sprawling account of the Red Army Faction (RAF) or "Baader-Meinhof" gang fails to deliver on the allure of its title, withholding a focus on the psychology and personalities of its eponymous main characters, and choosing instead to focus upon nothing in particular. The RAF were a self-styled "communist urban guerilla" outfit, which operated in West Germany in the 1970s and 1980s. Ideologically Marxist, they engaged in an armed struggle against the capitalist elites and Nazi remnants that still pervaded the political establishment, committing bombings, several bank robberies and 34 murders in total. The complexities of RAF leaders Andreas Baader and Ulrike Meinhof are hinted at the audience is granted the occasional glimpse of Baader as a stroppy, misogynistic racist, whilst Meinhof is only provided any depth by the fleeting suggestion that she bordered on madness when in jail but never substantiated. Rather, we are presented with a general, chronological history of the RAF, which ends up amounting to bullets, bombs and breasts. It excels in looking correct, visually surpassing most recent films set in the 1970s. It should be applauded for this realism, even though this success reveals its basic failing in the form of its superficiality. When Bruno Ganz’ police chief suggests that to tackle terrorism in a democracy it is necessary to understand what causes it, this analysis sits alone, as if it is in itself enough. It conveniently seems to allow the rest of the film to concentrate on the scenes of people in period sunglasses shooting and getting shot in return. Meanwhile, the truly interesting questions sit at the margins; the awkward relationship of sexual liberation and feminism to Marxism, the hypocrisy of Western foreign policy, the impossibility of a universal political theory that attempts to marry West German urban guerrillas with national liberation groups fighting in deserts or jungles, and particularly the barely mentioned but so important role of former Nazis in 1960s and 1970s West Germany (the RAF don’t keep shouting "fascist!" for nothing). Rather than ponder any of these questions, the film feels content to condemn state brutality, the Vietnam War and terrorism in passing, rehashing standard arguments and hiding behind what seems at times terror porn. A braver film would be more focussed and look for controversy; this avoids the challenge, and the result feels tedious long before the end.
More: Manchester
Comments
No comments found
The comments are closed.
