Ktv and Movie

Met up for ktv with my jc friends and Mb's friends going Europe together.

Ktv

Gs and Terence joined us for dinner at Sushi Tei after the ktv session and we had 2 games of bowling at Safra Mt Faber before going to Vivocity to watch The Baader Meinhof Complex. The review and synopsis are as follows.

Germany in the 1970s: Murderous bomb attacks, the threat of terrorism and the fear of the enemy inside are rocking the very foundations of the yet fragile German democracy. The radicalised children of the Nazi generation lead by Andreas Baader (Moritz Bleibtreu), Ulrike Meinhof (Martina Gedeck) and Gudrun Ensslin (Johanna Wokalek) 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 inhuman means they not only spread terror and bloodshed, they also lose their own humanity. The man who understands them is also their hunter: the head of the German police force Horst Herold (Bruno Ganz). And while he succeeds in his relentless pursuit of the young terrorists, he knows he's only dealing with the tip of the iceberg.

This movie has such a brilliant storyline. What movie is able to combine terrorism, Vietnam war, Nazism, political activism, American imperialism and freedom of speech into one single movie? The Baader Meinhof Complex does have such a storyline which infuses all these elements together, although it can be way too ambitious.

The acting from the talented cast is top notch and Martina Gedeck as Ulrike Meinhof and Johanna Wokalek as Gudrun Ensslin are particularly impressive. The story spans over a number of years and we get the full picture from the RAF group's initiation and motivation to the implementation phase and the final captive phase.

The initiation and implementation phase were really engrossing from the sheer passion and fervour some of the individuals exhibited and their way of grabbing attention. These people would rather die than be apathetic towards events like Vietnam war, Isreali-Palestinian conflict, etc. They would not want to live their lives under fascism or a police state and they started their rebellion from throwing stones to building bombs.

This movie is a really fascinating outlook at the formation of terrorism and the drive which motivates them. The second half of the movie felt less compelling after the members of the RAF were captured. The trials and the numerous attempts by the new RAF members to free the group masterminds were exhausting and somewhat draining. The film editing could also be better if minute events that did not contribute to the overall quality of the script were removed, e.g. the squabbling over Springer's attack by Meinhof and Ensslin.

Nominated for Academy Awards, Golden Globes and BAFTA Best Foreign Film category, this German film on terrorism and political activism based on a true story is definitely quite an interesting and thought provoking movie which questions how far people should go to do greater good. Too bad about the meandering second half of the movie. Will you go against morality to save morality?

***1/2