Bambule

https://vimeopro.com/user3539702/ubuweb/video/121854681

Ulrike Meinhof was at one point known as a renowned left-wing journalist. Active in documenting the poor conditions of foster homes in West Germany, she interviewed many institutionalised girls and often let them stay in her home (at this point a single working mother, this would have eased the burden on her too). In the late 1960s she had committed herself to writing a film titled Bambule which aimed to raise awareness about the conditions those girls lived in. The film is about an oppressive public home for young women in West Berlin, and follows the stories of various girls in the institution.

I watched it, assuming that there would be a few shots or any aspects that I could take from it to use in my Final Major Project. I found some shots I think I could definitely use in some way, as well as some lines and themes and even a couple of audio clips. There were also various thoughts I had about it that I felt were worth noting even though I don't yet know exactly how they'll factor into my outcome.

The film is fascinating in the sense that it offers a window into Meinhof's worldview and her state of mind at the time of writing. She very clearly wrote her own frustrations and ideology into the story, which excellently reveals the reasons behind her turn to militarism, making it easy to understand how she reconciled the seemingly contradictory clash between idea and action.

Characteristically of Meinhof, Bambule is very progressive, especially for a film from 1970. There are frequent scenes of the women in roles of domestic labour, oppressed by an authoritarian figure, and there are strong themes of homophobia. One lesbian character recounts her story of being demonised in a convent she had lived in. Incidentally, Meinhof was raised as a committed Christian. Another scene from that convent shows two girls rehearsing a play, playing the roles of mother and daughter. Once they're alone, they embrace in a kiss with a crucifix prominent behind them, conflating their sexuality with incest and sin within the context of the oppressive establishment. These themes would have been personal for Meinhof, as, after her father died when she was a young child, her mother's friend, a political activist and lesbian, moved in with them and helped to raise her, and became the strongest parental figure in Meinhof's life after her mother's death when she was fourteen.

The cinematography is interesting, it's shot very tightly and the camera seems too close throughout most of the film. This adds to a level of hopelessly trapping claustrophobia in the institution, as if the girls there are being crushed and cut off from the outside world. Additionally, the only time music is present is when it's diegetic, which also adds to the sense that there's no escape from the monotonous and soulless conditions, it forces you to be depressingly immersed in the film.

One flashback shows a young girl refusing to eat and sitting there with her food for hours, against the commands of the workers in that home. Hunger striking would later be a common tactic of the RAF after their imprisonment, and one that would be fatal for Holger Meins.

In another scene, one man, scolding a group of girls for causing chaos and refusing to own up to it, tells them 'We used to admit our wrongdoings.'. This might be a coincidence, but the line could be there to mock the generation he represents. Meinhof, not without reason, felt there was no attempt at denazification of German society and that the people running West Germany were the unpunished perpetrators of the horrors of the Nazi era, which had then become a subject of quiet taboo. 'We used to admit our wrongdoings' coming a man of that generation feels very symbolic when written by Meinhof.

In another scene, a sympathetic worker pleads to the draconian figure in charge not to transfer back to the convent the lesbian girl who was demonised there. When I watched this, I thought it was interesting as it seemed to convey that you can work within the system to achieve positive change - something that runs counter to Meinhof's ideology - but later you see that her pleas changed nothing, cementing Meinhof's ideas that some systems are too corrupt and flawed to be reformed or reasoned with.

In one scene, a man in the background selling newspapers shouts 'plane still in the hands of the hijackers'. This is completely coincidental, but the height of a series of leftist terror attacks by the RAF and others in Germany was the hijacking of a plane by a Palestinian group in order to barter for the release of imprisoned RAF leaders.

Throughout the whole film, the girls are frustrated and want to do something to change their situation, but nothing they do ever works and they feel trapped within an unjust system they are powerless to affect. The responsibilities and expectations placed upon them are unfair, they suffer systemic sexist oppression and struggle to survive under a bureaucratic state that does nothing to help them. This is EXACTLY what Meinhof felt she was going through. The film opens with one character loudly singing a protest song, and the last scene begins with the same character now faintly whistling that tune with one other girl, her spirit broken. The one worker who was sympathetic to their plight then enters the room, where she consoles the two there. Suddenly, in a completely abrupt shift in tone, the girls snap at her. 'Decide once and for all, if you are with us or with them.' 'When it's important you collapse.' 'You can't do anything about it, it's the others' fault. When it's important, Mrs Lack is just like the others.' after a feeble protest, the worker leaves the room and the two girls continue to converse. '...it doesn't achieve anything.' 'If we knew what we wanted, Mrs Lack could take our side.' 'We do an action and what happens? Cops come and then nothing.' 'We will do it again.' 'We'll never get those cunts to change.' 'We must discuss more, explain why. Say what we want! write it on the walls. instead of "I love you" or "all is shit". "The homes are jail!" or "we want real salaries!". Things like that.' 'Then you will never get out.' 'It's bullshit. It's the toughest who get thrown out. Those that act good, are forgotten. They rot in here. Those that submit, they finish them. You understand? If you obey, they are happy because you are ruined. Then they are cool because they have crushed you.' There is a long pause, and the other girl replies 'Who is guarding tonight?' and the film ends. Bambule was scheduled for release in May 1970, but just two weeks beforehand Meinhof helped break Andreas Baader out of prison, and she went underground to co-found the RAF. Bambule's release was cancelled, and it was only aired decades later.

The characters in Bambule can generally be divided into two categories: the victims and the perpetrators. The most notable exception is the sympathetic yet powerless Mrs Lack, who is torn between the two sides. Meinhof started out like her, but by the end she had chosen her side. In my eyes, the final scene of Bambule serves as the moment Meinhof knew she had to take drastic action. The entire film, but specifically the last scene, work perfectly as her manifesto. This film beyond almost anything else shows exactly why Ulrike Meinhof descended into militancy.