The Wave (2008)

A high school teacher's experiment to demonstrate to his students what life is like under a dictatorship spins horribly out of control when he forms a social unit with a life of its own.

Director:

Dennis Gansel

Writers:

Ron Jones (short story and original protocols) (as William Ron Jones), Johnny Dawkins (screenplay "The Wave")

Stars:

Jürgen Vogel, Frederick Lau, Max Riemelt

9 wins & 8 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jürgen Vogel	...	Rainer Wenger
Frederick Lau	...	Tim Stoltefuss
Max Riemelt	...	Marco
Jennifer Ulrich	...	Karo
Christiane Paul	...	Anke Wenger
Jacob Matschenz	...	Dennis
Cristina do Rego	...	Lisa
Elyas M'Barek	...	Sinan
Maximilian Vollmar	...	Bomber
Max Mauff	...	Kevin (as Maximilian Mauff)
Ferdinand Schmidt-Modrow	...	Ferdi
Tim Oliver Schultz	...	Jens
Amelie Kiefer	...	Mona
Fabian Preger	...	Kaschi
Odine Johne	...	Maja

Storyline

High school teacher, Rainer Wenger, may be popular with the students, but he's also unorthodox. He's forced to teach autocracy for the school's project week. He's less than enthusiastic at first, but the response of the students is surprising to say the least. He forces the students to become more invested in the prospect of self rule, and soon the class project has its own power and eerily starts to resemble Germany's past. Can Wegner and his class realize what's happening before the horrors start repeating themselves?

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Plot Keywords:

autocracy | dictatorship | experiment | school project | teenage activist | 

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Taglines:

IT WILL THRILL YOU. IT WILL CARRY YOU AWAY. IT WILL CHANGE YOU. IT WILL BREAK YOU

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Genres:

Drama | Thriller

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

Constantin Film [Germany]

Country:

Germany

Language:

German

Release Date:

27 May 2011 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Wave

Filming Locations:

Berlin, Germany

Box Office

Budget:

EUR5,000,000 (estimated)

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$32,350,637

Company Credits

Production Co:

Rat Pack Filmproduktion, Constantin Film, B.A. Produktion

Technical Specs

Runtime:

107 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Much like Napola, the film was partly inspired by Gansel's grandfather, with whom Gansel had a lot of fights when young because his grandfather used to tell him he was supportive of the Nazi government when they where in power. It was not until Gansel's grandfather told him of his ambition to become an artist - which family poverty could only avail him towards joining the National Political Academy (NAPOLA) instead - that Gansel understood the lure of fascism was all about seduction and psychology. This laid the basis for the film and its themes.

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Goofs

(at around 15 mins) The teacher is formally called Rainer Wenger, although informally he uses his first name is Rainer, among his students initially and later his surname during the project, Wenger. One might think the principal would use his first name when talking to him, but in Germany when adult colleagues speak to each other, they use their last name when talking to each other, i.e. Herr Wenger.

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Quotes

Rainer Wenger: Come on, there must be one autocracy you all heard about?
Bomber: Third Reich...
Kevin: No, not again...
Rainer Wenger: I did not choose this either, but we have to get through this week. I will copy some papers...
Bomber: No, not this shit again!
Mona: It's an important subject!
Bomber: The Nazis sucked, we get it!
Kevin: Those fucking Nazis!

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Crazy Credits

Opening and closing credits appear as graffiti.

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Connections

Referenced in KILL La KILL: Azami no gotoku toge areba (2013)

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Soundtracks

Execution Song
Written by John Engelbert and Oskar Bonde
Performed by Johnossi
©Copyright Control

User Reviews

A wonderful and moving film that had me gripped throughout. Absolutely brilliant.

This is a wonderful film with a superb screenplay and direction and great acting from its mainly young cast. I felt myself being drawn into the film in the same way as Mr Wenger's students were being drawn into his 'experiment'. The drama unfolds relatively slowly at first, but with gathering momentum and consequences. There is also a very moving portrayal of some of the tensions produced within some of the romantic pairings as well as the extreme anguish caused in one student by his heightened susceptibility. I think the depth to which personal relationships and social groupings are explored make this into much more of a fascinating drama than an exercise in the condemning of fascism. Please don't be put off by the subtitles. I can't recommend this film too highly.