THE BAADER MEINHOF COMPLEX — ★★1/2 — Moritz Bleibtreu, Martina Gedeck, Bruno Ganz; with English subtitles (German dialects); rated R (violence, gore, torture, nudity, sex, profanity, vulgarity, slurs); Broadway Centre.
"The Baader Meinhof Complex" was one of the most expensive productions in German movie history. So you can understand why the filmmakers would try to get every moment that was shot for the production onto the screen.
Unfortunately, that means it is overstuffed. This is a 150-minute movie with a lot of repetitive sequences and exploitative moments as well. (The film even opens with a nude beach sequence.)
And it does take awhile for the plot to really kick into gear.
Yet the discussion of terrorist morality is interesting, and there are some very tense sequences.
Co-screenwriter/director Uli Edel's thriller looks at the origins of the Baader Meinhof complex and the group that followed it, the RAF. Both were terrorist organizations in Germany that thrived during the '60s and '70s.
This fictionalized version of events looks at things from the perspective of the group's ringleaders, including Andreas Baader and Ulrike Meinhof. (Who are played by Moritz Bleibtreu and Martina Gedeck, respectively.)
Sparked by violent rioting (during a protest of a visit by the Shah of Iran), the fledgling group began using violence to get its messages across. And then that violence escalated — especially as police officials used increasingly brutal methods to bring these terrorists to justice.
To some it might seem like German television director Edel sympathizes with these terrorists. That's not really the case, though.
And the film really starts to pick up is when Austrian character actor Bruno Ganz (from the Oscar-winning "Downfall") shows up. He plays a police inspector assigned to the high-profile case.
"The Baader Meinhof Complex" is rated R and features strong, often disturbing violent content (rioting, shootings and gunplay, explosive and vehicular mayhem, and violence against women), graphic bloody imagery, scenes depicting torture, interrogations and police brutality, full male and female nudity, simulated sex and other sexual contact, some strong sexual language (profanity and other suggestive talk), and derogatory language and slurs (based on national origins and ethnicity). Running time: 150 minutes.
e-mail: jeff@desnews.com