Der Baader Meinhof Komplex (2008)

User Rating:

7.4/10   

Director:

Uli Edel

Writers:

Stefan Aust (book)
Uli Edel (collaboration)

Release Date:

25 September 2008 (Germany)

Genre:

Action | Biography | Crime | Drama | History

Plot:

A look at Germany's terrorist group, The Red Army Faction (RAF), which organized bombings, robberies, kidnappings and assassinations in the late 1960s and '70s. Based on Stefan Aust's best-selling nonfiction book.

Plot Keywords:

Terrorist | 1960s | Bomb | Kidnapping | Police

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 2 wins & 6 nominations

Cast

Martina Gedeck	...	Ulrike Meinhof
Moritz Bleibtreu	...	Andreas Baader
Johanna Wokalek	...	Gudrun Ensslin
Nadja Uhl	...	Brigitte Mohnhaupt
Jan Josef Liefers	...	Peter Homann
Stipe Erceg	...	Holger Meins
Niels-Bruno Schmidt	...	Jan Carl Raspe
Vinzenz Kiefer	...	Peter-Jürgen Boock
Simon Licht	...	Horst Mahler
Alexandra Maria Lara	...	Petra Schelm
Hannah Herzsprung	...	Susanne Albrecht
Tom Schilling	...	Josef Bachmann
Daniel Lommatzsch	...	Christian Klar
Sebastian Blomberg	...	Rudi Dutschke
Eckhard Dilssner	...	Horst Bubeck

Also Known As:

The Baader Meinhof Complex (International: English title) (UK) (USA)
La bande à Baader (France)

Runtime:

150 min | Germany:180 min (approx.) (TV version)

Country:

Germany | France | Czech Republic

Language:

German | English | French | Swedish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Germany:12 | Czech Republic:12 | Sweden:15 | Norway:15 | Denmark:15 | Ireland:15A | UK:18 | Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud) | Netherlands:16 | France:U | Italy:VM14 | Portugal:M/16 | Hong Kong:III | South Korea:18 | Singapore:M18 | Japan:R-15

Filming Locations:

Bavaria-Ateliers, Geiselgasteig, Grünwald, Bavaria, Germany

Company:

Constantin Film Produktion

Trivia:

Ex-terrorist Brigitte Mohnhaupt, who was released on probation in the spring of 2008 after 24 years in jail, took the production company Constantin to court for the sex scene, demanding that it be deleted. A Hamburg court dismissed the suit in December 2008.

Goofs:

Continuity: The German Border Police used in 1972 the helicopter type Bell Uh-1D (as shown in the movie and the documentary footage). But the scene of the explosion shows a Bell 222 (known also from "Air-Wolf). The first flight of a Bell "Tripple Two" was August 13, 1976; the production started in 1978. Further the Bell 222 has a landing gear and two engines, the Bell UH-1D a landing skid and one engine.

Quotes:

Brigitte Mohnhaupt: Stop seeing them the way they weren't.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "De wereld draait door: (#4.56)" (2008)

Soundtrack:

Child in Time

Mixed emotions

The movie of Edel and Eichinger is fine when it comes to sets and costumes. It seems to catch the mood of the late Sixties and Seventies very well. Also the lead actors Bleibtreu, Wokalek and Gedeck have delivered outstanding performances. Too bad, that they don't get a chance to really explore their characters: Too much else is going on in this movie, that completely loses its focus during the last hour. The closer we get to the end, the more it resembles a documentary with a few scenes of play cut in now and then.

The viewer is presented with a lot of facts - and violence - but the movie fails in decoding the often cited "myth" of the RAF. For example, I've always wondered, whether Baader was just a criminal or really politically motivated. Well, in the first half of the movie, Baader is portrayed as an outlaw, who enjoys provocation and fast cars. Later he delivers sophisticated political statements. A good movie should at least try to explain this development. DER BAADER MEINHOF KOMPLEX doesn't.