The Return of the Human
The Return of the Human
Germany in Autumn
This chapter focuses on the 1978 film Germany in Autumn, an omnibus film that was shot in immediate response to the events of the so-called “German Autumn,” a series of terrorist attacks by the Red Army Faction (RAF). The film is about two funerals: that of the industrialist hostage Hanns-Martin Schleyer, and the joint funeral of RAF leaders Andreas Baader and Gudrun Ensslin, and member Jan-Carl Raspe. The significance of mourning and the public act of grieving evident in Schleyer’s funeral becomes apparent in contrast to the funeral of Baader, Ensslin, and Raspe, which is contested with respect to both its legitimization and its legitimacy. The chapter then examines how the question of humanization or dehumanization is confined to the question of presentation; and it is the task of cinematic presentation that the film pursues.
Keywords: Germany in Autumn, German Autumn, Red Army Faction, Hanns-Martin Schleyer, Andreas Baader, Gudrun Ensslin, Jan-Carl Raspe, humanization, dehumanization
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