My friends would probably assume that I would hate a film like this being the fascist that they suppose me to be, and content wise I suppose I did. But I will try to put suppositions aside and simply look at the film for what it is--if I can.
In the 1960's and 70's West Germany saw the birth of the Red Army Faction (RAF), an extremist left-wing terrorist group who committed robberies, arson, bombings and assassinations all in the name of the people. They were met with conflict both inside and outside their circle as their urban guerrilla movement fell into a hierarchical structure and power struggles emerged. With an embittered internal system and an entire nation out hunting for the fanatics the means and methods used to protect themselves became more extreme until finally the head members were captured. The remaining time for the leaders of the group was spent in prison, trying to find a way out of confinement, and watching with disgust as second generation members bungled what they had set out to do.
As far as historical political films are concerned this was very good irrespective of how much I disliked the content. The blend of stock footage, violence, the great production values, and the fact that it presented these radicals as almost human gave it significant weight and believability that could have been missed had the writer and director simply tried to take a more distant observational approach to the material.
This film presents the question: how far would one be willing to go in order to achieve one's political and social ideals? There are figures like Andreas Baader and Gudrun Ensslin who are consumed with their ideology and seem to care nothing for the destruction they cause; they simply want to be heard and feel terrorism is their last resort. And then there is the more complex Ulrike Meinhof, who was a well respected left-wing journalist, who we see make the very difficult decision to leave her family as she is almost guilted into becoming an extremist.
Beginning as a fight against "American imperialism" in Vietnam and other cases, it soon becomes a muddled struggle for anything they deem to be counter-revolutionary, and they seem to be less and less scrupulous about what they fight for and how. They are blind to the hypocrisies of what they do--that they fight against coercion while they are coercive, that they fight for the people but care very little for human life, that they fight against fascism while their methods involve propaganda, terror and demagogic figures--and the fact that eventually they use their status and influence less to help their cause and more to fight for their personal freedom and safety.
I am naturally disinclined to like a film like this simply because I don't like characters like these whose goals are ones that they fight for. But as I said it is a solidly made film with rich characters played by very committed actors, with strong direction and a very sound script. I found it difficult to determine where the allegiances of director Uli Edel lie. For much of the film he seems to sympathize with his characters which put me off. However, in the final ten to fifteen minutes of the film these characters develop new layers and finally become relatable; they are not simply machines carrying out acts of destruction for loosely constructed views expounded by Ho Chi Minn, Mao Zedong, and Che Guevara, but people finally dealing with the repercussions of lives lived without rules, responsibility or--in my not so humble opinion--any real human sympathy.
The final line of the film I think redeemed this film politically for me when Brigitte Mohnhaupt, a second generation radical, turns to an enraged member following the suicides of the three leading members and says, "Stop seeing them the way they weren't." But then there lies my confusion. For much of the movie their lives are seen through rose-colored glasses only to have the image shattered by one of their own saying they are worshiping false idols. Perhaps the message all along was that these were people led astray by natural human instincts which are channeled through ideology and zealousness, or maybe it was simply a statement on the state and the youth movement. You tell me.
3/4
Note: This film bears striking resemblance to the much better film, "The Battle of Algiers". Watch and compare.
No comments:
Post a Comment