The Baader Meinhof Complex is a striking film out this week in Australia. It’s about the notorious left-wing radicals in Germany in the 1970s who tried to start a revolution but ended up forgetting what they wanted to achieve after terrorising the state.
In a time of social upheaval – the Vietnam war, feminism, Palestinian rights – it was probably almost inevitable that some people would have no faith in the state to address these issues (after all, it was actively complicit). Despite the group committing terrorist acts, the film doesn’t overly moralise. Crimes aren’t whitewashed, though. The ugly brutality of their actions are laid bare.
In an age where disillusionment is growing, the air of revolution could easily return.