CSLC 226 Terrorism and Film: Bonnie and Clyde in Germany

We will outline the historical background of the Baader-Meinhof Gang, a violent, leftist collective with roots in the revolutionary student movement that swept Germany in the 1960's. The group’s assassinations, kidnappings, and bombings of the German establishment left a legacy of terror - a legacy that has been argued over ever since. The literature and films about the Baader-Meinhof Gang, which illustrate the crushing effect of National Socialism on the generation of '68, as well as their rebellion against the excesses of the capitalist consumer paradise, are controversial. Many have condemned the movies for their exciting, Bonnie-and-Clyde depiction of the gang members that gives the group’s leaders their cult status. We will discuss why German filmmakers tend to heroize a group that has terrorized a country for decades and analyze what effect this has on German collective memory.