Abstract
Elena Caoduro discusses two films on the 1970s revolutionary terrorism in Japan and West Germany, Jitsuroku rengo sekin/ United Red Army (2007) and Der Baader-Meinhof Komplex/The Baader Meinhof Complex (2008). Caoduro argues these films host tensions as well as anxieties between nostalgia for the spirit of revolution of the past as well as anguish over history. Caoduro is interested in the portrayal of the female terrorist figure and finds that the women in these films challenge stereotypical understandings of the female as passive and prone to nurturing, even though these combatants are depicted as the worst kind of transgressor in a patriarchal structure. Caoduro concludes that the female violence that falls outside traditional social expectations within these films is domesticated.
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Films
Amants réguliers, Les. (Regular Lovers). Directed by Philippe Garrel. France, 2005.
Baader Meinhof Komplex, Der (The Baader Meinhof Complex). Directed by Uli Edel. Germany, 2008.
Battleship Potemkin. Directed by Sergei Eisenstein. Soviet Union, 1925.
Bleierne Zeit, Die (Marianne and Juliane). Directed by Margarethe von Trotta. West Germany, 1981.
Carlos. Directed by Olivier Assayas. France, Germany, 2010.
Children of the Revolution. Directed by Shane O’Sullivan. Ireland, United Kingdom, 2010.
Dreamers, The. Directed by Bernardo Bertolucci. United Kingdom. France, Italy, United States, 2003.
Dritte Generation, Die (The Third Generation). Directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder. West Germany, 1979.
Hikari no ame (Rain of Light). Directed by Banmei Takahashi. Japan, 2001.
Innere Sicherheit, Die (The State I Am In). Directed by Christopher Petzold. Germany, 2000.
Jitsuroku rengo sekin (United Red Army). Directed by Koji Wakamatsu. Japan, 2007.
Kichiku daienkai (Banquet of Devils). Directed by Kazuyoshi Kumakiri. Japan, 1998.
Totsunyu seyo! Asama sanso jiken (Change! Asama Sanso Incident). Directed by Masato Harada. Japan, 2002.
Wer Wenn Nicht Wir? (If Not Us, Who?). Directed by Andres Veiel. Germany, 2012.
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Caoduro, E. (2019). Sisters in Arms: Epic Narratives in United Red Army (2007) and The Baader Meinhof Complex (2008). In: Tholas, C., Goldie, J., Ritzenhoff, K. (eds) New Perspectives on the War Film. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-23096-8_12
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