<strong><span class="subhead">&lsquo;The Baader Meinhof Complex&rsquo; &#x2605;&#x2605;&#x2605;</span></strong></p><p><strong>Rated R | Time: 2:30</strong></p><p><strong>German with subtitles</strong></p><p>It&rsquo;s one thing to know the facts of history.</p><p>It&rsquo;s another to immerse yourself into the minds of the men and women who made that history, to comprehend the complexities of their lives and circumstances.</p><p>That&rsquo;s the sort of intense insight provided by Uli Edel&rsquo;s &ldquo;The Baader Meinhof Complex,&rdquo; an epic look at a recent blood-soaked episode of post-war Germany. No wonder it was nominated for a best foreign language Oscar. (It opens today at the Tivoli.)</p><p>Scrupulously adhering to the known facts but structured like a first-class thriller, the film examines the violent career of that country&rsquo;s Red Army Faction, popularly known as the Baader Meinhof Gang. For 30 years these Marxist anarchists terrorized Germany with bank robberies, kidnappings, assassinations and bombings.</p><p>Edel&rsquo;s film focuses on the first decade of this notorious band of urban guerrillas. It begins in the late &rsquo;60s with German university students opposing a visit to Berlin by the Shah of Iran &mdash; an incident that turned violent when the police allowed the shah&rsquo;s supporters to attack the protesters, resulting in one death. Later the young leftist spokesman Rudi Dutschke was shot in the head by a right-wing fanatic.</p><p>We witness these events largely through the eyes of Ulrike Meinhof (Martina Gedeck), a leftist journalist and mother of two who is increasingly radicalized. The Nazis may have lost the war, she reasons, but thanks to Cold War paranoia West Germany is still a fascist state.</p><p>Recruited by comrades of jailed radical Andreas Baader (Moritz Bleibtreu), she arranges to interview the controversial firebrand but in fact is part of a scheme to free him. Instead of feigning surprise at the jailbreak, as planned, Meinhof at the last minute impulsively runs off with the perpetrators, disappearing into an underground of Marxist rhetoric and gangster activities.</p><p>The title of &ldquo;The Baader Meinhof Complex&rdquo; refers to a unique situation among the German populace, whose support of the Red Army Faction was astonishingly high. One in four young Germans sympathized with the guerrillas; one in 10 said they would hide gang members from the authorities.</p><p>Even after Baader, Meinhof and other organizers were captured and imprisoned, for another 20 years autonomous cells sprang up to wreak havoc. </p><p>Edel&rsquo;s movie is more about history than individuals, but it features one slam-dunk performance. Bleibtreu&rsquo;s Baader is simultaneously inspiring and repellent, a sexist who throws around the &ldquo;c&rdquo; word and uses crazily dangerous methodology yet who is capable of inspiring others to go to their deaths. He&rsquo;s a spoiled showoff who cultivates a Brando-esque image and a brilliant political manipulator.</p><p>No other cast member makes so striking an impression, but all the roles are competently handled. And it&rsquo;s always a pleasure to see the great Bruno Ganz, here playing a sage bureaucrat who discovers a way to outfox the radicals.