Happened to catch a trailer for The Baader Meinhof Complex / Der Baader Meinhof Komplex (2008) narrated by Frontline's distinctively voiced Will Lyman and splashed with BOLD subtitles and was very impressed. This looks terrific.
I remember hearing about these German radicals in the 1970s, and reading about them in the newspapers. They seemed a lot scarier than the SLA and the Weatherman because they seemed more intense and sophisticated. Also, there was a strange woman in Chapel Hill in the early 1980s who claimed to have been friends with some of them. Who knows? Who else now remembers Die Rote Armee Fraktion?
Today's Rune: Strength. The Ides of October.
5 comments:
WM, I don't think they're to be thanked anymore than the Molly Maguires or Bonnie and Clyde or the Manson Family have been in movies. But they are all part of the historical record, and far more interesting to me than fictional movies like Die Hard or all the cliched dreck that passes for movie fodder. These same folks made an excellent film on the destruction of Hitler in Downfall. But another arresting movie details the rise of the Nazis -- The Damned. All worthwhile to get into the mindset of what makes people do what they do, even if what they do is crazy. A good one on Patty Hearst is Guerilla.
Erik, you never cease to amaze me! How do you know all this stuff?
Erik Great read. I have to agree with TWM having grown up in the era. MW
I remember reading the news stories about the Baader Meinhofs in the newspaper and Time magazine. I've always gotten the impression of them as snotty well-off kids playing at being "revolutionaries," akin to the rich kids who formed the Weather Underground here. I do believe it bears historical examination. It's fascinating that such a movement arose in the midst of Germany's most affluent time.
You mentioned Hollywood's romanticization of Bonnie and Clyde, Erik-- have you had a chance to read Bryan Burrough's book "Public Enemies" yet? He very effectively deromanticizes Bonnie and Clyde in the book.
Thanks for the comments, y'all! Jodi, haha! MW, cheers. Johnny, haven't read Public Enemies yet, but sounds excellent.
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