The Baader Meinhof Complex is an interesting film, in that it incorporates a rather complex and often confusing narrative about terrorists that were convinced that they were opposing Nazi’s. They believed this because they were. After the fallout of World War II much of the Nazi party retained their jobs in an effort to quickly rebuild Germany. As the children of that generation began to grow up they found it odd that the people who were responsible for the horrors of Nazi-era Germany were still running much of the country. And as students began to protest this setup, and the German government continued to punish them for it, it started the inevitable cycle of terror that would rip through the country for the next decade.

Unfortunately I am no where near well versed enough on Germany’s post-war history to be much of an authority, and as such The Baader Meinhof Complex often comes across as a convoluted mess, at least plot wise. But the ideas it is speaking of are both fascinating and challenging. The Baader Meinhof Complex initially romanticizes the actions of the Red Army Faction, as they were students who felt it was their civic duty to stand up to the conservative government that was running the country and was still populated with Nazi’s. But, as their revolution lengthens and more and more generations of revolutionaries join their cause the film shifts in tone, as it recognizes that this course of action results in no winners, just death, destruction and fear.

The Baader Meinhof Complex is a fascinating film, and it certainly argues some very interesting, if not controversial points, but it seems to need a bit more refinement in its plotting to make things easier for viewers such as myself to follow it. I know the big events (the Munich Games and the Lufthansa hijacking for instance) but I know little of the players in this game and the film does little to flesh them out, which results in The Baader Meinhof Complex being an interesting film, but far from a great one.

Tags: Action, film, Germany, hijacking, movie, nazi party, red army faction, The Baader Meinhof Complex, trailer, war

Next up is a movie that I’ve been avoiding, primarily because I am quite certain I am going to need to scrub myself with Brillo pads to recover from the experience. Just remember, I watch these movies so you don’t have too. That’s because the next film I will review is Jörg Buttgereit’s Schramm.

It’s not often that I find fault with Netflix. I’ve been a subscriber and unabashed fan of the service for over three years now and I am typically hard pressed to find something to quibble over when it comes to them. Oh sure there was that stretch of receiving cracked discs that was beyond frustrating, but due to the sheer ridiculous amount of them that occurred (at least six in a matter of just a few months) that I chalked the issue up to an overzealous mail carrier. Plus Netflix was so quick at sending out replacements that it was hard not to be impressed.

But there is one minor quirk that shows up from time to time that still can aggravate me. Since I live in Minneapolis I happen to be near a hub which results in some surprisingly quick turnaround times. Sometimes, too quick.

I’m not very diligent with my queue, and as a result I am often times moving a film into the number one (Ed note: Make it so!) position the day, or the day after, that I return a movie. But with turnaround times that are often less then a day, my number one (Ed note: Make it so!) selection is sometimes skipped because I have added it too late.

Such an incident occurred last week when my number one (Ed note: Make it so!) selection was skipped in favor of my number two selection, which just so happened to be Dario Argento’s Cat o’ Nine Tails.

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