Movieo
Poster for Germany in Autumn

Germany in Autumn

1978 · 2h 3m · N/A Documentary, Drama
Directed by Alf Brustellin , Hans Peter Cloos , Rainer Werner Fassbinder , Alexander Kluge , Beate Mainka-Jellinghaus , Maximiliane Mainka , Edgar Reitz , Katja Rupé , Volker Schlöndorff , Peter Schubert

Where to watch
Seen it?

Overview

Germany in Autumn does not have a plot per se; it mixes documentary footage, along with standard movie scenes, to give the audience the mood of Germany during the late 1970s. The movie covers the two month time period during 1977 when a businessman was kidnapped, and later murdered, by the left-wing terrorists known as the RAF-Rote Armee Fraktion (Red Army Fraction). The businessman had been kidnapped in an effort to secure the release of the orginal leaders of the RAF, also known as the Baader-Meinhof gang. When the kidnapping effort and a plane hijacking effort failed, the three most prominent leaders of the RAF, Andreas Baader, Gudrun Ensslin, and Jan-Carl Raspe, all committed suicide in prison. It has become an article of faith within the left-wing community that these three were actually murdered by the state.

Director and cast

Critics on Rotten Tomatoes

Top critics, in their words

All reviews
88%
Tomatometer
Fresh

It's sometimes startlingly beautiful, often obscure and confusing, sometimes funny and mostly disturbing, as it should be.

Vincent Canby, New York Times
Fresh

It is, of course, wildly uneven (and sometimes insufferable), but there is an urgency and engagement in each of the episodes.

Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader
Fresh

At its best, the film argues that it's impossible to have a 'coherent' left wing position on terrorism.

Time Out

Comments

Talk about the film with other members

More films