Young And In Revolt

I watched a couple of 'for left wing (idealist) yoof' films recently. Freedom Writers was interesting, if rather hollywood and short on any kind of genuine political message. But it represents an interesting and 'true' (it is depressing that we can't see the worth in films like this that aren't based on a true story but still carry a message worth hearing) tale of a teacher's, Erin Gruwell, attempts to get her disinterested class of ghetto minorities interested in study. It works out pretty well for her even if that class was the only class she actually taught before being promoted to some high office position with the aim of diseminating her teaching philsophy. Personally I'm not sure how that would transmit and she probably could have made more of a difference by staying in the classroom, but oh well.

The Baader Meinhof Complex (or Komplex as it's wildly different and totally neccessarily translated original German title reads) is a look at the R.A.F., who were a pro-Communist militant group in West Germany in the 70's. They start with protesting and rioting (recurring themes in the world) and end up assassinating politicians and bombing police stations and US Airforce bases on an a regular basis. Certainly in terms of their success they must be right up there as one of the most effective terrorist organisations of all time, most manage one or two successful bombings tops, and it's a surprise that in this country we know next to nothing about their existence. There are tons of characters in the film but it's easy enough to follow. It's presented primarily from the view of those taking part in it (which would certainly suggest directorial sympathy for the group), although it occasionally cuts to scenes were government officials charged with combatting them debate their actions and merits. There was very little information about what the members of the R.A.F. actually believed in, at most somebody would mumble something about 'the workers' but otherwise, whether deliberately or through directorial oversight, they appear to have possessed no actual political plans or ideas.