Both of them are about communist revolutionary terrorists in 1970s Europe. If you've seen both, how do you think they compare? And which do you prefer?
I admire the detail and research that went into making 'Carlos' but I prefer 'Baader' because it's more focused and condensed, which is why it's much shorter, and I think this makes it easier to digest than 'Carlos'.
The Baader-Meinhof Complex + Mesrine Parts 1 & 2 = Carlos
Or
Mesrine is to The Godfather as Baader-Meinhof is to Goodfellas as Carlos is to The Sopranos. (Loosely.)
Most interestingly, all 3 (technically 6) are pretty amazing films. I say interestingly because they EASILY could've been HUGE BORING CONFUSING MESSES. They weren't. All were very clear and engaging, exciting, technically virtuosic, beautifully shot and directed and written and cast and acted. I love the genre (70's Euro political crime epics) and am fascinated by the history, but that doesn't mean I give them a pass. They're all great movies INDEPENDENT of my affinity for these types of stories.
All 3 managed to make us empathize with (root for?) the psychotic anti-heroes in each, while not defending or even justifying their actions.
All 3 have overlapping characters. Mesrine references starting a Baader-Meinhof group in France and he works with a left-wing terrorist. The Parisian cop Broussard captures (kills) Mesrine and pops up again in Carlos. The Germans in Carlos worked with Baader-Meinhof before starting their own group in Frankfurt. Carlos and Baader trained at camps in Jordan in 1970. Carlos says he didn't like the camp because there were too many urban leftists there (aka people like Meinhof.)
Mesrine and Carlos are more French in nature. Messier, jumpier, sexier.
Baader is more German. Precise, cool, intense yet removed. Best explosions of any movie I've ever seen.
The character Mesrine hates Arabs. It's implied that his experience in the Algerian war helped form this prejudice. The characters in Baader-Meinhof and Carlos obviously don't (though they do have issues with them.) They're not so much anti-Semitic as anti-Israel and anti-Zionist. The characters in Carlos are even anti-Arafat and Sadat, who were both at least open to the idea of peace with the Israelis.
Finally all 3 are SO MUCH BETTER than most American action flicks.
Hope some of this made sense. Check out Mesrine. It's on Netflix.
I really liked Mesrine and it was the first time I'd really seen Vincent Cassel in anything and I liked Carlos and the fact that both were split over two films did not deter me. I'm watching BMC now and came on the board to check who some of the actors are as I only recognise one. I agree with your penultimate statement the action and the grittiness of them makes them much better.
shareThanks for this post Orest. I have been wanting to watch Carlos & Mesrine since I purchased Baader-Meinhof on DVD in 2009, knowing all three were interrelated. Hard to get copies where I am (Australia) but your explanation of the links is succinct except for that one beginning line with Goodfellas and Sopranos LMAO.
Will check out Netflix.
"All 3 managed to make us empathize with (root for?) the psychotic anti-heroes in each, while not defending or even justifying their actions. "
Huge contradiction, to say nothing of the fact that at no point in time did I feel a lick of empathy for the sociopathic, totalitarianism-obsessed murderers documented in this film.
"The characters in Carlos are even anti-Arafat and Sadat, who were both at least open to the idea of peace with the Israelis.
"
If you think Yasser Arafat was open to peace with israel, you're even more historically illiterate than you let on.
I know exactly (exactly) where you're coming from and couldn't disagree more. Political leanings/historical interpretation aside, I'll only say that "huge contradictions," as you put it, are extremely important in good storytelling.
shareI liked the Baader Meinhoff Complex better too. As you say, it seems a bit more focused. I also just liked the style of it. And I think I could take seriously the RAF as revolutionaries more than Carlos who seemed to mostly like causing trouble.
Unless Alpert's covered in bacon grease, I don't think Hugo can track anything.
THEY ARE BOTH DIFFRENT TYPE OF PEOPLE
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