Horst_In_Translation Review of If Not Us, Who?

If Not Us, Who? (2011)

Ensslin pre-Baader and a forgotten historic figure

[6/10 · 20 November 2016]

"Wer wenn nicht wir" or "If Not Us, Who?" is a German movie from 2011, so this one has its 5th anniversary this year. The director and one of the two writers is Andres Veiel and these two hours we have here are certainly his most known effort as a filmmaker. However, the fact that he has not made a new film afterward (yet) shows that he has other fields of profession too in which he is active. His work here received a pretty great deal of awards attention including German Film award nominations for lead actors Diehl and Lauzemis and the movie itself was chosen as the third-best movie of the year back then. And there was awards attention outside the German Film Awards too, but I will not go into detail here as you can check these out on another place too. The perspective to take when watching this film is to find out why it is so interesting. And one of the main reasons is probably the historical context. There are so so many German films that take place during the days of Nazi Germany and also quite a few that take place during the days of RAF terror, but this one is in-between in terms of time. Also it takes place after the days of the "Trümmerfrauen" and the time depicted in this film is actually one that does not get really that much attention, so this alone is already why the approach can be appreciated here. Basically, if you plan on watching "The Baader Meinhof Complex" at some point, then it's a good choice to watch this one here maybe a day earlier, especially because it takes place in the years before that. And this is mostly seen through the depiction of Gudrun Ensslin here, a German terrorist who is still very well-known here today and Lauzemis gives possibly the biggest performance of her career here, especially in terms of awards attention. The male main character is played by August Diehl and Bernward Vesper is really a name that not too many know today anymore, maybe also because he vanished before the most radical days of Ensslin and the RAF. But Diehl once again does a tremendous job and while I was not too impressed by Lauzemis, Diehl steals really every scene he is in. The film is also written pretty interestingly and making a 120-minute movie that has really no lengths at all is quite a success. Rising young actor Alexander Fehling plays Baader, who also plays a major role already in the two protagonists' lives, especially Ensslin's, mostly in the second half of the film. And the cast includes several other really gifted German actors in supporting roles, such as Thieme (personal favorite of mine), Lothar, Wittenborn or Blomberg. And more. This is why the acting and script of this movie were certainly good enough to let me recommend the overall outcome. The only problem I see with the film is that it is extremely bleak from start to finish and deals with a time in German history that may not interest that many and even those who do may end up not really caring for it as it just is not as showy or in your face as "The Baader Meinhof Complex" for example. These two hours here are much much more subtle. But like I already said, I enjoyed the watch, especially Diehl, who once again makes it easy to understand that he is among the very best Germany has to offer in terms of acting these days. His performance is enough already to let me give a thumbs-up here.