Deutschland im Herbst

Deutschland im Herbst (Germany in Autumn) is a 2 hour 1978 omnibus film created by a variety of German filmmakers. The film is, loosely, an exploration of the Red Army Faction as it was in late 1977 and a window into the political climate of West Germany at the time. It spawned the term German Autumn, referring to the series of terrorist attacks in late 1977 culminating in the kidnapping and murder of Hanns Martin Schleyer, the hijacking of Lufthansa Flight 181, and the simultaneous deaths in prison of RAF founders Andreas Baader, Gudrun Ensslin, and Jan-Carl Raspe.

It combines disparate vignettes, traditional scenes, and real world footage (including an interview with Horst Mahler, a prominent RAF member) in a way that captures the political mood of the time, showing the moral questions leftist terrorism raised, the tension and fear it created, and how it fits into German society in the wake of Hitler.

I was hoping there would be some aspects of it I could use in my video, of which there were plenty.

Early in the film there is an argument shown between two people on whether democracy is a priority higher than security given the danger of leftist terrorism, and how those terrorists should be treated. I thought this was something I could take dialogue from to use as part of the ideological exploration of the RAF.

Shortly after, there is a vignette including a series of paintings, three of which depict the dramatised suicide of a woman. I could use this as a way of helping to convey the likely suicides of RAF members in prison, in addition to the photos.

There is real footage shown of the assassination of Alexander I of Yugoslavia in 1934 by a revolutionary guerrilla group. Given the thematic similarities I could use that footage in the part showing the RAF’s terrorist acts.

Another of the documentary aspects shows a moment of silence in a factory in respect for Hanns Martin Schleyer, a prominent businessman who was kidnapped and executed by the RAF. In addition to being a businessman, Schleyer was a former SS officer who lied about his position and went largely unpunished. I thought this would be an excellent final shot to use. It would serve as a moment of breathing room after the faster paced climax, and would show not only the human impact and devastation the terrorism had, but would also hint that underneath their actions was a motivation that many people could sympathise with.

The interview with imprisoned RAF member Horst Mahler shows concisely his interpretations of the group and their views/actions, so there are definitely some quotes I could take from there.

One of the fictionalised elements is the story of a woman who brings an injured man back to her home only to discover he is a wanted member of the RAF. The short sequence where she realises this is incredibly visually compelling, so while I’m not sure exactly how I could fit this into the larger narrative it is something to consider using.

Another scene shows a discussion about the deaths of the Baader, Ensslin, and Raspe in prison: whether they committed suicide or were murdered, and whether it mattered. This could be something good to have as one of the last notes in the video.

The making of another film is briefly shown, with strong revolutionary imagery used that would fit well into this narrative.

There is a vignette about the pre-war communist movement in Germany, highlighting Rosa Luxembourg’s quote ‘socialism or barbarism’ combined with graphic footage including publicly hanged corpses. Parts of this could be used to show the authoritarian reaction to the RAF.

Footage is shown of an SPD conference and a speech being made there on the RAF, which could blatantly portray the response from not only the political leadership of the time but also from other left-wing perspectives.

There is a section about some TV executives planning on showing a version of Sophocles’ Antigone, but debate how to include it given the parallels they see between the story and recent events, particularly concerning Ulrike Meinhof. I could draw from either the version of Antigone shown here, or generally any version and use it to draw the same comparisons.

The film concludes with extensive footage of the funerals of Baader, Ensslin, and Jan-Carl Raspe, who were buried together. It shows the protests that occurred there, the reaction from the police, and fascinatingly what a state-supervised funeral for people who waged war against the state looked like. Some of this could be included towards the end of the video, showing the public reaction and the fallout the group left behind.