B-


The Baader Meinhof Complex ended up being one of the biggest disappointments in German cinema in years to me. I was really looking forward to it for a number of reasons. First of all, it is really a great story to tell and, for a change, the big German historical movie does not deal with WWII. Second, the film is from the producer of Downfall which is one of the best German movies of the past 20 years. The terrific marketing made this look similar in tone. Third, the movie boasts a terrific cast of German actors/actresses - young and old.

While the movie is far from being bad, I have rarely ever walked out this disappointed from the movie theatre as I have after having seen this. It was crushing. Now for someone who doesn't know much about the history of the RAF, I imagine this could be a rather informative film. For those who do know all the basic facts, though...well, it is just a retelling of them. The main difference to Downfall is that Downfall has just focused on a period of around a week, instead of focusing on Hitler's entire life or even just his reign of terror. By giving the film such a short period of time as a focus and having just a few main characters, the movie was able to go into great depth and explore the minds of the characters.

The Baader Meinhof Complex couldn't be more different in that aspect. Instead of going in-depth, the movie is just broad. Often, it feels like the filmmakers were just crossing things of a checklist - "The most important events in RAF history". It feels like the filmmakers were just more compelled to tell about "what" the RAF has done than "why" and "who" the persons were that did the deeds. It was like..."Now we have to show the bombings. And let's not forget Buback's assassination. Then we can move on to Schleyer's kidnapping and murder" and so on... There is no emotion invested in what is happening on-screen and no insights are being offered. Sure, a lot is shown and the basic history of what has happened during those times is presented and that. It is informative to those who don't know much about the era. But it is not a strong movie.

The cast is hit/miss. While Moritz Bleibtreu's Baader comes across as an arrogant asshole (it's never clear why anyone would follow him), Martina Gedeck's Ulrike Meinhof is well portrayed. It is, however, Johanna Wokalek's wild and aggressive Gudrun Ensslin who makes the most lasting impression and proves that Wokalek is one of Germany's biggest rising stars. Bruno Ganz' short appearance is as good as one would expect. The rest of the cast is decent, but hardly anyone in particular is noteworthy.

The movie is a pretty solid retelling of the facts and I'd say that the beginning is also quite well-done. But later on it just becomes a dry flick which just counts down the events of those years without involving the viewers in any way or giving them any insights or speculations on the proceedings.