AllMovie

Directed by Christopher Roth, this biopic chronicles the rise of '70s West German terrorist Andreas Baader from his beginnings as a small-time car thief to his stint as the leader of the Marxist revolutionary Red Army Faction. Baader opens in 1972, as an unexpected traffic stop signifies the end of the radical's (Frank Giering) efforts to return to a socialist society. A flashback brings the audience back to 1967, when Baader (Giering) helped firebomb a Frankfurt department store and fled to Paris. Though captured by local authorities, he managed to escape from a German prison with the help of fellow activist Ulrike Meinhof (Birge Schade). Following training at a terrorist camp in Jordan, Baader and his gang proceeded to initiate a slew of violent activity; bombings ensued in various newspaper buildings, American military bases, and German police stations at a disturbingly high rate between the summer of 1970 and their disbanding in mid '72. Baader also features Vadim Glowna, Laura Tonke, Birge Schade, Jana Pallaske, Michael Sideris, and Sebastian Weberstein.