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Leftist Extremism in Germany

Leftist Extremism in Germany. HONORS 280 – Monday, September 22, 2014. In-Class Writing #1: Evaluation Status Report. Hopefully completed by Wednesday, definitely by Friday. Reading for Today. “The Baader Oedipus Complex,” pp. 462-482 in A Companion to German Cinema .

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Leftist Extremism in Germany

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  1. Leftist Extremism in Germany HONORS 280 – Monday, September 22, 2014

  2. In-Class Writing #1: Evaluation Status Report • Hopefully completed by Wednesday, definitely by Friday.

  3. Reading for Today • “The Baader Oedipus Complex,” pp. 462-482 in A Companion to German Cinema. • Small Group Work: I asked you to identify the information in the article that seems to you to be useful in understanding the film Der Baader-MeinhofKomplex. Now let’s try and create meaningful order out of this chaos! 

  4. Background Information • Political Extremism in Germany in the 1960s: • It was a time of demonstrations and violence. • Young Germans questioned tradition and authority embodied in the government, social classes, political parties, the economy, university hierarchy, etc. • Young Germans demanded to know what their parents had done during the Nazi period.

  5. Their GOAL: Participation in and relaxation of hierarchies, which were believed to be inherently discriminatory. • The OUTCOME: The movement successfully brought about a reevaluation of the system, but did not end capitalism.

  6. Important People in the German Students’ Movement • Rudi Dutschke (1940-1979): Marxist sociologist; one of the leaders of the student movement in the 1960’s; suffered a brain injury during an attack and passed away later as a result of this.

  7. BennoOhnesorg (1940-1967): student in West Berlin who was killed by a police officer (Karl-Heinz Kurras) at a demonstration during a visit by the Shah of Iran. The police officer was acquitted which was one of the factors leading to an escalation and radicalization of the German student movement. • Interesting Side Note: In May 2009, it was made public that Kurras was an agent for the Stasi (East German Secret Police) working undercover in West Berlin.

  8. Many have noted that the pose is reminiscent of a pietá. Iconic Photo of BennoOhnesorg after he has been shot.

  9. Pietá(1505) by giovanni BelliniGalleriedell'Accademia, Venice, Italy

  10. Andreas Baader (1943-1977), Ulrike Meinhof (1934-1976), and Gudrun Ensslin (1940-1977) = founders of the Baader-MeinhofGang, i.e. a domestic terrorist group. • Extra-Parliamentary Opposition (Ausserparlementarische Opposition [APO]): political protest movement in Germany in the later half of the 1960’s.

  11. 1970’s – Decade of Terrorism • Leftist extremist groups evolved from the disillusionment resulting from the 1960’s student revolution. • Marxist Student Groups • Baader-Meinhof Gang: a leftist terrorist group that felt the only hope for social change was to totally undermine the system. • Methods: robberies, bombings, kidnapping, etc. • Red Army Faction (RAF): emerged after the arrest/demise of the Baader-Meinhof Gang and disbanded formally in 1998.

  12. Key Institutional Players in the Film • Axel-Springer Verlag: A media corporation in (West) Germany that publishes the Bild-Zeitung, a tabloid newspaper. • BKA (Bundeskriminalamt=Federal Criminal Investiguation Bureau): This is the German equivalent of our FBI.

  13. The Baader-Meinhof Complex • Opening Scene on Sylt, the largest of the North Frisian Islands in the North Sea off the coast of Germany. • Questions to ponder on nudity in the United States: • When is nudity accepted/appropriate? • What factors determine the acceptability of nudity?

  14. Sylt and FKK (Freikörperkultur): This practice dates back to the 1920’s naturalist movement. According to a tourist website, 60% of the ~600,000 annual visitors to Sylt swim nude. There are separate beaches: FKK-Strand & Textilstrand.

  15. View opening scene . . . • Baader-MeinhofKomplex (00:00:00-00:04:50) • What are your initial impressions of Ulrike Meinhof? What kind of woman do you think she is? What kind of relationship does she have to her children? To her husband?

  16. Opening Scene: Cinematography • Choice, use, and function of Music, i.e. what we’re hearing juxtaposed with what we’re seeing: Janice Joplin’s “Mercedes Benz” (heterodiegetic) and the Beatles’ “Dizzy Miss Lizzy” (homodiegetic; song inspired by Little Richard’s “Good Golly Miss Molly”) • Editing

  17. A bit of background info . . . • Der Baader-MeinhofKomplex(2008, Dir. and Co-writer UliEdel, 148 Minutes) • Edel’sFilmography – Highlights: • Christiane F. Wir Kinder vomBahnhof Zoo (1981) • The Mists of Avalon (2001 American TV movie) • Your film response sheet will be collected at the beginning of class on Wednesday.

  18. German Films – Leftist Extremism • Der Baader-Meinhof Komplex (2008) • Blackbox BRD (2000; Black Box Germany) • Die Stille nach dem Schuss (2000; The Legend of Rita) • Die bleierne Zeit (1981; Marianne and Juliane)

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