Der Baader Meinhof Komplex

The film tells the story of the early years of the West German far-left terrorist organisation the Rote Armee Fraktion (Red Army Faction, or Red Army Faction, a.k.a. RAF) from 1967 to 1977. In 1967, a visit by Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi of Iran to West Berlin leads to a clash between the West German student movement and German police. Inspired by left-wing journalist Ulrike Meinhof's rhetoric, radical communists Gudrun Ensslin and Andreas Baader mastermind the Frankfurt department store firebombings of 1968. Meinhof joins Baader and Ensslin, who recruit youths, including Astrid Proll and Peter-Jürgen Boock, to their cause. The group, now calling themselves the Red Army Faction, return to Germany and begin robbing banks. In response, German Federal Police chief Horst Herold orders all municipal police to be put under federal command for one day. The radicals, now determined to carry out violent action, launch a deadly bombing campaign against police stations and United States military bases. The authorities respond in force, and many members, including Baader, Ensslin, Meinhof, and Holger Meins, are arrested and imprisoned.