Rosa Luxemburg (1986)

Margarethe von Trotta's Rosa Luxemburg tells an interesting piece of political history, but it is regrettably tepid film. Stylistically, it is conservative, and I never get the feeling that the grasp of Rosa Luxenburg departs from the very, very traditional image of woman-AND-politician/scientist/adventurer. It's a shame, because this could have been an excellent movie, had von Trotta taken a more adventurous path. von Trotta's depiction of Rosa Luxemburg as a person and as a political agitator (we do not see the philosopher) is not one-dimensional. In that respect, the film has its merits. The problem is rather that very few images transcend the story, the written text. Apparently, making films about political history is not an easy task. von Trotta's film shows us why. Indeed, it has a political message. But that message is told too crudely. I am sure there must be better examples of films that have come to terms with this task better than this one.