Watch The Baader Meinhof Complex For Free

I wanted to but couldn't!

It's an amazing and heartbreaking story.

Blistering performances.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

"Der Baader Meinhof Komplex" is a German 2.5-hour movie from 7 years ago that managed Golden Globe and Oscar nominations, but lost to the Israeli and Japanese entries there. And that is very acceptable as this one here is really not such a convincing movie. It is about the German left-extreme group RAF that was part of several terrorist acts in the 1960s and 1970s. First of all, the film's biggest strength is the cast: Gedeck, Bleibtreu, Wokalek, Ganz, Lara, Schilling, Ferch, Liefers, Thieme and I could go on. All very established names in German movies and you know you get quality when you see them on a cast list. The best performance here probably comes from Johanna Wokalek who plays Gudrun Ensslin brilliantly. Quite a pity she is so rare in films these days. Change that Johanna if you read this.Sadly, this magnificent cast cannot turn a mediocre movie into something great. Uli Edel and Bernd Eichinger are certainly not known for outstanding talent in terms of directing, writing and producing movies and Constantin Film AG is known for producing quantity over quality in general and this is also the case here. First of all, the films would have needed a lot more focus. They could have kept it at 100 instead of 150 minutes and nothing of value would have been lost. There are many scenes who add nothing at all to the film. This especially refers to almost the entire last 30 minutes, in which they apparently decided to basically make almost a completely new movie. Some of the characters from previously were dead (Meinhof), some were in jail, but got almost no screen time (Baader), so they went with completely new characters who never appeared before in the film and where we had no clue who they actually were and why the focus was suddenly on them. A really bad example of lacking focus. Yes it was okay that they took the Schleyer kidnapping in there, but they executed this part in the worst possibly way one could imagine.Other than that, just like with many other Eichinger productions, this film is very much showy and in your face and has pretty much zero subtlety (the last shot, in the truest sense of the word, was a great example) in terms of the script (some of the actors brought it still thanks to their talent). Edel and Eichinger were lucky that the topic (RAF) does not really need too much subtlety and they did not destroy the film with their shortcomings in that area like they did with other movies. And finally, another criticism is that Bruno Ganz who I really love as an actor was really wasted in this movie here with his character adding absolutely nothing the way he was written. Pretty sad. All in all, the movie is okay as a watch for everybody with an interest in German post-WWII history, but it's nowhere near as good as it could have been. The actors really saved it from becoming a disaster and make it worth the watch. Recommended.

German screenwriter, producer and director Uli Edel's fifth feature film which he co-wrote with German filmmaker Bern Eichinger, is an adaptation of a book from 1985 by German Journalist Stefan Aust. It premiered in Germany, was shot on locations in Germany, Italy and Morocco and is a Germany-France-Czech Republic co-production which was produced by producer Bernd Eichinger. It tells the story about three children of the Second World War who following the attempted murder of a German student named Rudi Dutschke, the killing of a German student named Benno Ohrnesorg, the execution of Argentine physician and author Che Guevara, the assassination of American pastor and activist Martin Luther King and American attorney and politician Robert F. Kennedy, the escalation of U.S. bombings in Vietnam, the German student movement, the Paris student riots, the Northern Ireland civil rights movements' first civil rights march and the same year as Australian author Germaine Greer published a book about second-wave feminism, founded an organization. Distinctly and precisely directed by German filmmaker Uli Edel, this finely paced and somewhat fictional tale which is narrated from multiple viewpoints, draws an informative and involving portrayal of a German daughter, mother, sister and author named Ulrike Meinhof, a German daughter, mother, sister and trained elementary school teacher named Gudrun Ensslin and a German son, brother and father named Andreas Baader who met each other in the late 1960s, and who due to their common political views regarding imperialism, neo-fascism and authoritarianism started the first generation of the Baader-Meinhof group. While notable for its versatile milieu depictions, reverent cinematography by cinematographer Rainer Klausmann, production design by production designer Bernd Lepel and costume design by costume designer Birgit Missal, this character-driven and narrative-driven story about the history of terrorism in Germany and dehumanization as a result of ideological extremism which recreates a period in time with counterculture and cold-war when the former leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany named Willy Brandt (1913-1992) was president of the Federal Republic of Germany, the eugenistic legislation in Sweden regarding compulsory sterilization was formally abolished and French actress Isabelle Carré was born, depicts some abridged studies of character and contains a timely score by composers Peter Hinderthür and Florian Tessloff. This reflectively conversational, historic and cinematographic reconstruction of real events from the late 2000s which is set mostly in postwar Germany in the late 1960s and 1970s when German students who due to being German citizens were being blamed for the crimes committed by their parents' generation protested against a new emergency legislature in the former capital of West Germany called Bonn and Palestinian leader of the Fatah party Yasser Arafat was elected as chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization, which chronicles the militant activities of the Red Army Faction and where collectivism surpasses individualism and turns into unjustifiable left-wing extremism whilst ones humanity is abandoned for a perceived greater cause, is impelled and reinforced by its cogent narrative structure, subtle character development, rhythmic continuity, abrupt film editing, multiple perspectives, use of archival footage and reverently credible acting performances by German actor Moritz Bleibtreu and German actresses Martina Gedeck and Johanna Wokalek. A densely political, virtuously demystifying and atmospheric narrative feature.

Despite being politically active, and (I thought) relatively well-versed in 20th century anti-capitalist/colonialist revolutionary movements, my knowledge of the RAF going into this movie was scant.Probably because I'm American and have been raised on our cultural propaganda (wherein historic social victories are whitewashed to locate success only within our infallible constitutional framework; and where any revolutionaries since the Founding Fathers could not have acted on beliefs that were righteous, and must recant those former beliefs with soul-searching regret for their UNRIGHTEOUS ideologies)I expected a lot more focus on maudlin gray area. Not that the film cast the RAF as heroes to cheer for. Reading the reviews here, I recognize now that the critiques of the RAF's actions were present, just not in the "hit-you-over-the-head" manner of U.S. documentaries.Despite the harms done by the RAF (which were minuscule compared to the harms they protested); despite the contradiction of so much of their ideology and praxis with my own beliefs (e.g., their embracing nationalism, assassination, etc.)--I'll be damned if I didn't cheer for them all the way through.I'm surprised so many have presumed this film wouldn't resonate with a young American audience. While not so young myself, I spent a great deal of time with folks of all ages in the heyday of Occupy. The frustration at the collective inertia to action amongst complacent modern Americans is palpable amongst folks of all political stripes. And growing...at a certain point, the swelling malcontent can't help a *bit* of respect for groups who actually act on their articulated agenda...and an agenda that includes killing a few bankers and fascist cops? The elite talking head circle underestimate the mood of the American public if they suppose the history portrayed here would evince emotional disconnect or outrage. Besides, the acting was beyond-respectable, the pace engrossing, and the recreation of the era felt authentic. Admittedly there were loose ends regarding ideological development...thankfully the internet and my library provide me plenty opportunity to tie up those ends.As initially stated, I find my inner blood-lust a bit disturbing upon reflection (you hear that PRISM? I neither have nor plan to have a murderous vanguard association at any point!)...but in this era of learned helplessness, I'm not sure that's entirely a bad thing.

"The Baader-Meinhof Group" is a provocative, brutal, German film meticulously directed by Uli Edel "Last Exit to Brooklyn" (1990), written by Bernd Eichinger "Downfall" (2004), and stars some of Germany's best actors: Martina Gedeck, Moritz Bleibtreu, Johanna Wokalek and Bruno Ganz. These talents come together to tell the story of the founders of the Red Faction Army (RAF), one of Germany's violent left- wing anti-capitalist group against western imperialism in Germany, whose logo is a combination of a Red Star and an MP5 sub-machine gun. Working off of transcripts and real-life accounts, Uli Edel simply re-creates the story and history of the Red Army Faction in accordance with the historical record, while never imposing judgment or opinions. Germany in the 1970s: Murderous bomb attacks; the threat of terrorism and the fear of the enemy infiltrating high levels of government is rocking at the very foundations of the fragile German democracy. The radicalized children of the Nazi generation are led by Andreas Baader, Ulrike Meinhof, and Gudrun Ensslin who are fighting a violent war against what they perceive as the new face of fascism: American imperialism supported by the German establishment--many of whom have a Nazi past. Their aim is to create a more human society, but by employing the use of terrorism and the threat of violence, they lose their own humanity in the process. "The Baader Meinhof Complex" is visually riveting with fantastic action scenes, and at times can become almost emotionally overwhelming. Edel propels the complex narrative and its myriad ricochets, and it surprisingly holds together quite well. That being said, the sheer length and constant brutality and bloodshed mount, making the viewing of last third of the film laborious. An impressive, well done period piece, but "The Baader-Meinhof Complex" is diluted by too many events, with too many characters, distributed over too much time.