GERMANY: Germany's Oscar-contender "Der Baader-Meinhof-Komplex" premieres in Munich

Record ID: 351894

  • Title: GERMANY: Germany's Oscar-contender "Der Baader-Meinhof-Komplex" premieres in Munich
  • Date: 18th September 2008
  • Summary: MUNICH, GERMANY (SEPTEMBER 16, 2008) (REUTERS) CINEMA WHERE "DER BAADER-MEINHOF-KOMPLEX" PREMIERES SIGN READING "WELCOME TO THE PREMIERE" VARIOUS OF MORITZ BLEIBTREU WHO PLAYS ANDREAS BAADER AND JOHANNA WOKALEK WHO PLAYS GUDRUN ENSSLIN POSING FOR CAMERAS NADJA UHL WHO PLAYS BRIGITTE MOHNHAUPT TALKING TO JOURNALISTS UHL DURING INTERVIEW MARTINA GEDECK WHO PLAYS ULRIKE MEINH
  • Embargoed: 3rd October 2008 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Germany
  • Country: Germany
  • Reuters ID: LVAAS8DJNCP1G0EIP0U2AKA15NYT
  • Story Text: Oscar-nominated film, believed to be the most expensive film ever made in Germany, premieres in Munich.
    A film tracking the rise and fall of the Red Army Faction, a group of left-wing militants suspected of killing dozens of prominent West German figures in the 1970s and 1980s premiered in Munich on Tuesday (September 16).
    The cast and crew happily chatted about their characters in the controversial drama. The premiere took place only hours after it was announced that "Der Baader- Meinhof_Komplex" has been picked as Germany's entry for Best Foreign Language Film for Hollywood's 2009 Academy Awards.

    "If you hear something like this, of course it makes you happy, even more so as it is our premiere tonight. It's great news on top of a moment like this, when one is introducing one's work and presents it to the public.
    In a moment like this, news like that are all the more great," said producer and scriptwriter Bernd Eichinger.

    "It was a nice present, a nice gift to hear, we are in. We are still not nominated, but I guess we have a chance!," added director Uli Edel.
    The documentary-style thriller is a graphic account of one of the darkest chapters in post-war Germany. The film is produced by Bernd Eichinger, best known for "Downfall" in which he fuelled controversy with his human portrayal of Hitler's last days. "The Baader Meinhof Complex"
    is based on a best-selling book by Stefan Aust.
    Aust and the filmmakers say they have paid close attention to detail, including the number of bullets used in each assassination, and tried to make an authentic account of the movement without glorifying the militants.

    "It is difficult that she was a radical woman and a thoughtful person at the same time. In my opinion, she made her words and thoughts into a weapon and to her, it was always about making a decision between action and thought. I believe she connected the two instead of making that ultimate decision, she did not decide for one or the other, but she connected the two", said Martina Gedeck who plays Ulrike Meinhof.

    "By fulfilling her role as the R.A.F. spokesperson, she was using violence, if you will, and she helped that the gang became so infamous and famous. It was very difficult for me to create the connection between the two temperaments", she added.
    The RAF is suspected of murdering 34 people, mainly senior figures in the West German establishment, between 1970 and 1991.
    Also known as the "Baader-Meinhof Gang" after founders Andreas Baader and Ulrike Meinhof, the RAF grew from the left-wing student protest and anti-Vietnam war movements in the late 1960s.
    Its members were angry with their parents generation who had lived through the Nazi era and had gone on to live capitalist, and -- as they viewed it -- middle-class lives.
    Figures killed by the group included Dresdner Bank head Juergen Ponto and federal prosecutor Siegfried Buback.
    The peak of the group's campaign of terror was the 1977 kidnapping of industrialist Hanns Martin Schleyer whom they held hostage for over a month.
    Eventually he was executed; the identity of the RAF member who shot him remains a mystery.
    Some 26 RAF members died during their campaign and many were sentenced to long prison terms. Baader and Meinhof were caught and committed suicide in prison. In 1998, the RAF said it was giving up its struggle and disbanded.
    Many members have now been released and are working as teachers, accountants and journalists, some under new names.

    "The brilliant performance by the cast and the extraordinary adaptation of the story allows a view of the early 1970s in the West Germany without glorifying the perpetrators," said a jury appointed by German Films to select its entry for the Oscars.
    The film, believed to be the most expensive film ever made in Germany, opens in theatres across the country on September 25.
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