Die Welle, The Wave [Region All, NTSC]

Product Information

Ron Jones's attempt to answer this question as a new teacher in 1960s California led to a risky experiment in fascism that has intrigued successive generations ever since. Although he declines his offer, Wenger still invites Tim in for dinner; this puts further strain on his already tense relationship with his wife, Anke, who thinks his experiment has gone too far. An anarchist teacher is given a teaching assignment to make a class of bored teens interested in autocracy and demonstrates with impact the easy route into fascism by turning his school mob of lazy greasers, geeks and swats into hard core neo-nazis, in under a week. Christiane Paul as Anke Wenger, the wife of Rainer who teaches in the same school but leaves him after seeing how much damage The Wave is affecting both the school and their students. Nolan says to Professor Keating in "Dead Poets Society" teenagers get impressed very easily with everything a teacher says and in that case the director said: "Follow the schedule and teach them to be disciplined".

To summarize the plot, Rainer Wenger (Jürgen Vogel) is selected in his department to teach autocracy for one week, to his disapproval.

But what Dennis Gansel has done with Die Welle is far more accessible and entertaining, although not necessarily better. It shows what happens when you stress that identity, when you stress the sameness, and thus also the otherness of those not belonging to the group.

Seeing the movement falling apart right in front of his very eyes, Tim suffers a mental breakdown and pulls out a gun, refusing to accept the Wave is over as he does not want to lose all that he's gained. The group is shown to grow closer together, and former bullies Sinan and Bomber are shown to reform, protecting Tim, the class outcast, from a pair of anarchists demanding he sell them drugs. It does have some historical basis, which clearly resonates with director Dennis Gansel and his domestic audiences, all too familiar with their country's dominant role in two World Wars. Although this is a German flick, I was taken aback when I learned it is based on a true story that took place in California! For a great exploration of a social experiment gone wrong, and a group as a microcosm of society, rather see The Experiment / Das Experiment.The movie itself is shaped like a proverbial wave, starts gently and slowly gathers momentum and before you know it it turns into a powerhouse. Show the children's reactions by all means, but at least have the courtesy to show us how these reactions came to be. Film parallels to the effect of Third Reich within its members and climax reminds audiences of the Bruno Ganz header "Der Untergang", as it clearly parallels the extent of loyalties that may arise in such occasions. Based on a real incident in California, the action has been transferred to Germany, where it even makes a bigger impact, taken the country's own domination by a political power that was so disastrous for that nation. Wenger suggests a uniform of a white shirt and jeans, to remove class distinction and further unite the group.