User Reviews

"Sympathisanten: Unser Deutscher Herbst" is a new German documentary movie from 2018 that runs for 100 minutes and is the most recent filmmaking effort by Felix Moeller, son of successful German actress and filmmaker Margarethe von Trotta. It deals with the days of left-wing terrorism in Germany back int eh 1970s and obviously there was a lot more going on and brooding under the surface than the Baader Meinhof Complex who is known to many obviously. This film gives a partially solid insight in this subject. With the filmmaker's family connection to von Trotta, it is not too surprising that she shows up in here on many occasions, but I found it relative unimpressive and not very insightful what she had to say. Pity. Same goes for singer Marius Müller-Westernhagen, who I admire as an artist, but who felt out of place here. The exact opposite were Schlöndorff and Cohn-Bendit like some others, whose comments and elaboration added a great deal of quality here. Another problem as a whole was Moeller's involvement in front of the camera which just did not feel right in terms of how he was displayed and how he tried to ask question that were supposed to make an impact. I was also not too fond of his narration which seemed stale and sounded lackluster. Maybe a film without a visible interviewer and without a narrator, or with a more qualified one in both areas, could have been the better choice because in terms of the subject this documentary is evidence how the subject, despite all that was made about it already still has a great deal of new information to offer that can help us in examining our history between the subject of World War II and today. The term "Sympathisant" was a good choice though to put in the center of the film, I was not aware of it before watching this one, but it works well in the context of people not speaking out against or opposing left-wing terrorism completely, but being wise enough in their expressions to not break any law. It's similar to more recent political terms here in Germany like Wutbürger or Gutmensch and we will see if films centering around these will be made 10 to 20 years from now. The documentary also offers parts that were not too new, but worked well because they just offered really a lot in terms of summarizing the events and helping people with little knowledge on the issue of Germany's 1970s. Those many film references here also make it a solid watch for fans of Schlöndorff, von Trotta and Fassbinder, who in my opinion brought more memorable value to this documentary in his one or two scenes than MvT with her many scenes. Shame he left us so early. What could have been? So overall, there are some major cons, but I really don't hesitate in recommending the watch here, only because there are some undeniable flaws. Most of the time, it's easy to ignore them and enjoy the film for what it is. Groundbreaking or really making a difference? Probably not. But still a good watch for everybody who is curious about the subject regardless of how much he knows about it already. It may be a bit difficult to get a hand on this one outside of Germany, maybe outside of France too, but if you are lucky enough to do so, then go ahead and take the chance. Most likely, you won't regret it. Not a particularly daring watch and maybe a bit too much by the books at times, but well, you should not be scared away by that. Like I said, it works for what it is. Go check it out.