The Baader Meinhof Complex

Rating:

“The Baader Meinhoff Complex,”  a German movie about the terrorist group that ran amok in West Germany in the late ’60s and early ’70s, gets one thing right about terrorists: they’re more pop stars than soldiers.

It bugged me at first to see these people dressed in leather and velvet, always smoking and swaggering behind stylish sunglasses, even when they’ve been in prison for years.   But really, that’s right: image, and performance, and public reception is at the heart of terrorism.   Every terrorist act is an attention-getting act first and foremost.   If you think the system is broken and needs to change, you become a politician or a social worker, or maybe a minister.   If you think the system is broken and you want people to notice you and think you’re special, you become a terrorist.

“The Baader Meinhof Complex” is long and complicated and feels more like a miniseries than a movie, constantly introducing new characters and plot developments until it’s pretty much impossible to keep everyone straight.   That’s ok, they fall into two easily recognizable camps: the terrorists, who wear leather jackets and carry Uzis, and the police, who wear uniforms or suits and carry clubs or briefcases.   You’ll notice and keep track of the main 3 or 4 characters, and the endless parade of people around them blur and disappear.

The movie plays with a relentless, desperate energy, like it’s always about to tear itself apart at the seams; this also feels appropriate, as the terrorist always seem relentless, desperate, and about to tear each other apart at the seams.   The final act attempts to cover too much ground in too short a time, descending into montage followed by headline followed by court scene followed by montage, but it doesn’t completely destroy the power of the movie.  “The Baader Meinhof Complex” is long, exhausting, fascinating, and perhaps surprising of all, entertaining.