 |
|
|
|
Synopsis
Based on an actual teaching experiment conducted in California in 1967, The Wave (Die Welle) relates what happens in a fictional 21st century German secondary school when a classroom project on fascism gets out of control.
Charismatic teacher Rainer Wenger (Vogel), an ageing radical with unorthodox teaching methods, is put out when he is given autocracy as the subject for Project Week at school. His students are none too enthusiastic, either: The Nazis were awful. Yeah, yeah, we’ve heard it all before.
So he devises an experiment in conformity. From now on students must address him as Mr Wenger, they must stand when he enters the classroom and he gives them mottoes for the day, such as ‘strength through discipline’. Before long, the disaffected teenagers find that they actually like the camaraderie that conformity brings. It makes them feel part of something and some of the fundamental principles – social equality, the will of the people – they find appealing, too. They decide to wear white shirts, create a logo and devise their own form of greeting – not unlike a Nazi salute.
Soon, their enthusiasm for this new-found discipline spills over into activities outside the classroom. Newcomers are attracted and those who resist joining in are isolated.
And it’s the most disturbed and marginalized members of society who embrace the new way the fullest and become leaders in a community where they finally belong.
When violence and bullying break out, Wenger realizes that things have gone too far, but – in a brilliant performance by Vogel – he struggles with the realization that he enjoys being idolized.
Notes
Director Dennis Gansel has taken complex issues and created a tense and thrilling psychological drama with gripping action sequences, a fine ensemble cast and a chilling intensity that has earned the film a slew of accolades.
|
|
|
|
|
 |
Do you ever have flashbacks from Lebanon? |
 |
Which film?
| | |
|
In which film did the director use all amateur actors?
| | |
|
Click here for Internet Movie Database page
