Todesspiel (1997 TV Movie) User Reviews

Marx vs. Kant (favorite reading of Helmut Schmidt at the time)

[ChWasser · 8/10 · 20 April 2001]

Before this two-parter was shown on German TV, the director Heinrich Breloer said in several interviews that he had to wait 20 years to shoot the film, because the emotions would have boiled over again, if he made it earlier. It seems that he was right, because the interviews in the finished documentary are composed but outspoken at the same time, which would indeed have been impossible even ten years ago. Thus the film gains an objectiveness and a fairness towards all involved persons that puts similar films like the overrated and manipulative "One Day In September" to shame.

This gave a critic from the 'Süddeutsche Zeitung' the necessary distance to see that the events of the 'Hot Autumn' bear all the characteristics of a Greek tragedy. In fact, one can argue (as Dorothea Hauser did in her excellent book "Baader und Herold") that 1977 was a catharsis in German post-war history. Before that climax in the fight of the RAF against the state, the legitimacy of the monopoly on the use of force was questioned by many (as a result of its abuse in Nazi-Germany), but after that the concept of democracy became much more firmly rooted in the public's consciousness.

One question remains however: why is it that the 'Kontaktsperregesetz' and other laws are still in effect although even former chancellor Helmut Schmidt admits that he is glad, that the constitutional court didn't scrutinize the actions of the 'great crisis management group' too closely ?

If "Todesspiel" made you curious about the history of the RAF let me recommend the following movies: "Deutschland im Herbst", "Stammheim", "Die Stille nach dem Schuss" (also "Die verlorene Ehre der Katharina Blum", "Die dritte Generation", "Die bleierne Zeit", "Die Terroristen!", "Das Phantom" and "Die innere Sicherheit"). But all these movies combined still don't give a complete picture IMO, so I hope there will be more in the future. The subject matter certainly is interesting enough.

Better than MUNICH

[alexandermangoldt · 9/10 · 13 February 2006]

Well done documentary with fictional elements in it that enhance the accuracy of the events at the time. Hans Brenner is the spitting image of Hans-Martin Schleyer and gives the documentary an authentic look all over. The interviews with Helmut Schmidt, Ben Wischnewski and others give enough credit to all the people involved and you end up incapable of blaming anyone for their actions at the time. Everyone involved truly seemed to believe that they were fighting for a worthy cause and that society had to be changed. I was amazed about how the two events (hijacking of the Landshut and kidnapping of Schleyer) were linked together. It really gave me the feeling that I had finally grasped the subject matter and that I finally understood what the Arab terrorists had to do with the RAF. Although it was never proved that Baader, Ensslin and the like committed suicide I think it is even less likely that they were killed by policemen. I am quite sure that in order to show how serious they were and how much their political agitation meant to them, they committed suicide. Their intention was to show society that they were more than just a bunch of juvenile delinquents and that they were willing to die for their political conviction.

The best documentary I've ever seen.

[sphinx.letter · 10/10 · 27 April 2000]

Das Todesspiel by Heinrich Breloer is the best documentary I've ever seen. As I've experienced the time of the terrorism in germany ( in the 70's) as a child, I learned a lot by watching this great movie.

Especially the interviews with the involved people like the former chancellor Helmut Schmidt, Mrs. Schleyer or Souhaila Andrawes, are shown very carefully but they make you feel, what these people thought and felt in this time.

If you want to know and to learn about this difficult chapter in german history, you just have to watch this documentary!!!

One of the best drama-documentaries ever made.

[hansi-8 · 10/10 · 28 February 1999]

We all know that the Germans make great cars, beer, etc.etc. But I think that they are the best TV-makers of the World. Their documentary programs and TV-films are of top quality, and they hardly ever leave you with the impression, that you could have done something else other than spend a couple of hours watching television. This particulary drama-documentary flips between the fiction and interviews with the people that were involved in the kidnapping of the president of the German employers union, Hanns-Martin Schleyer, September-October of 1977. At that time Europe, but particulary Germany, was struck with political terrorism, with kidnappings and assassinations. Until Schleyer's kidnapping the German Government had agreed to kidnappers' demands. When Schleyer was kidnapped the German Government decided that they would no longer tolerate that, and stood firm. Later the German airplane "Der Landshut" was hijacked by a palestine terrorist "Captain Machmoud", over Marseilles. The intention was to put more pressure on Bundeskansler Helmuth Schmidt, to release the imprisoned members of the terrorist gang "Rote Armee Fraction" (RAF). But eventually the plane was raided in the airport of Mogadisiho in Somalia. When the imprisoned RAF-members learned that, they commited suicide in the Stanheimprison near Stuttgart and Hanns Martin Schleyer was brutally liquidated by his kidnappers. In particular, the interviews with ex-Bundeskansler Helmuth Schmidt are extremely good.

great documentary about the Martin Schleyer Kidnapping 1977

[sri-1 · 9/10 · 7 August 2002]

I wasn't born yet when Martin Schleyer was kidnapped by RAF terrorists in 1977 and I didn't know much about terrorism in Germany's late 1970s. So on the one hand it was very interesting to learn about the "deutschen Herbst", the (bloody) second half of 1977 when the RAF declared German government the war. On the other hand it was a shocking and gripping documentary. I never thought a second about changing the channel and days after it I still thought about it. Especially decisions to risk lifes (this of Schleyer and these of the passengers in the kidnapped Boeing) to demonstrate strength of the own government are things, which I am happy I don't have to make.

Well done, but not perfect!

[krazykool_kat · 9/10 · 15 July 2000]

Since I am really interested in history, I was looking forward to see this documentary. There are many really cool features in it, like mixing the interviews, news features from back then and the "action scenes" but unfortunately there are some missing points! For example, after having seen this documentary one might consider the RAF activists to be complete psychos - what's the worth of a documentary when it can't explain their motivations and goals? It just says, well, they were completely ill in the head and that's it. Not much of a "science way" to explain things... Furthermore, "Todesspiel" shows the suicide of the imprisoned RAF activists right after the "Landshut" gets evicted by special force GSG-9. This is a REAL faux-pas! It was NEVER proven, that those activists committed suicide. On the other hand, there are some "hints" that they might have been executed by police men in their cells. I don't claim to say that THIS is the truth, but at least it was never proven WHO killed those prisoners - whether they were killed by cops or by themselves. All in all it is not THAT bad as it might sound right now, but I think a documentary needs to be authentic, and well, in some ways this documentary just isn't.

Too much mediocrity

[Horst_In_Translation · 4/10 · 17 February 2017]

"Todesspiel" or "Dead Pool" is a German movie from 1997, so this one has its 20th anniversary this year. Actually, it is two movies I would say as it consists of two episodes of roughly 90 minutes, which means it runs for almost three hours. The writer and director is Heinrich Breloer and this small screen work is still among his most known efforts today. The cast includes a couple familiar names, such as Ünel, Michelsen, Koch or Matthes. The subject here is probably the second favorite subject when it comes to German film(maker)s: the left-wing terror during the years of the Cold War. The first chapter here is about the kidnapping of Hanns-Martin Schleyer (played by Moritz Bleibtreu's father briefly before his death) and the second is about the hijacking of the Landshut airplane. Both are extremely interesting subjects in my opinion, but I am not sure if this film did them justice. It is a mix of documentary (interviews, old footage) and reenacted scenes with today's actors. Or I should say with actors from 20 years ago even if some of them are still known today.

I don't think this movie will really get anybody interested in this most tumultuous time in German history. It may be a good watch for those who have a deep interest in the topic already, but not to anybody else. There were certainly more than just a few lengths during these 180 minutes unfortunately and there is so much filler material in here. For example they show a scene from the Landshut and 30 seconds later they show an interview with one of the hostages where she says exactly the same as the actress said in the re-enacted scene. Why include it double? It felt pretty amateurish at times. Still the film does the subject justice sometimes, but this is also not really because of quality filmmaking, but because of re-enacting very baity very showy moments that actually happened back then. I think these moments are also, especially as they are packed at the end in a pretty desperate manner, why voters here on IMDb gave this movie such a high rating. I myself cannot agree with it and I think this is nowhere near the best German RAF movies sadly. Thumbs down and with more focus and slightly over half the runtime it would have been a far superior work.