The subtitle of Jean-Marie Straub and Danièle Huillet’s first feature, from 1965, “Only Violence Helps Where Violence Reigns,” suggests the fierce political program evoked by their rigorous aesthetic....

81-year-old master, Jean-Marie Straub, once again invents and surprises with his latest film. Kommunisten consists of six parts, five of which have been taken from his earlier works. Straub does not a...