The Red Army Faction (RAF), a left-wing terrorist organization also known as the Baader-Meinhof Gang, was active in Europe in the 1970s. Its members, who believed in the strength of the visual, at first expressed their militant ideas in art, media and film. But when that failed to get the effect they wanted, they radicalized into a combat army, going so far as to commit murderous attacks that contributed to the climate of social and political violence during those dark years.

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On paper, the idea of going back to the birth of the Baader-Meinhof Gang is a good one. The historical aspect poses in-depth questions on the limitations of militancy, making this documentary very in sync with current events. But A German Youth is less interesting than the theory behind it, thanks to very dense editing and a script packed with information, overwhelming the audience with clusters of archival footage that rush by with no commentary. Despite its value, this documentary by Jean-Gabriel Périot is raw, opaque and probably too difficult to be effective with general audiences.