'Terrorist Chic' Film Shocks Germany

Baader-Meinhof Complex glorifies violence, say critics

By Jason Farago, Newser Staff

Posted Sep 25, 2008 10:14 AM CDT

(Newser) – A controversial new film opening this week tackles the darkest chapter in Germany's postwar history: the bombings, kidnappings, and assassinations of a high-profile 1970s leftist group. The team behind The Baader-Meinhof Complex, which stars several of Germany's biggest celebrities, calls it an attempt to debunk myths about the gang. But victims' families, historians, and even some gang members' children say the film glorifies terrorism.

The film is "the worst-case scenario," co-leader Ulrike Meinhof's daughter blogged. "It would not be possible to top its hero worship." The Baader-Meinhof gang of radicalized student demonstrators blew up buildings, took hostages, and killed 34 people before committing suicide in prison. But the high-budget film has faced accusations of "terrorist chic" and giving the gang the Bonnie-and-Clyde glamor it always sought.

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Jan-Carl Raspe, Gudrun Enslin and Andreas Baader, three of the leading figures of the Baader-Meinhof gang that terrorized Germany in the 1970s. (AP Photo)

A still from "The Baader-Meinhof Complex," a controversial new German film. (Courtesy EPA)

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The trailer for The Baader-Meinhof Complex, a highly controversial new German film. (htmltrailer2008)

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'Terrorist Chic' Film Shocks Germany