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88 out of 99 people found the following comment useful :- Fascism is Only A Few Missteps Away, 19 January 2008 Author: sampotter25 from United States
An amiable German social sciences teacher has to teach his children about an autocratic government. The children at first seem bored, not wanting to hear any more about The Third Reich and Nazism. The teacher is surprised. "We're too knowledgeable to ever fall into something like that again," say the students. The teacher then decides to show the children what it's like to live in an autocracy, and sets up a simple experiment in class. They elect a leader (him) and he begins to instill in them (merely as an example) the virtues and practices that accompany an autocracy ("Strength through discipline", "Work as one"). The students take to it, and become obsessed with it. Soon, what was a simple classroom experiment grows to a social entity all it's own, with the teacher not sure if he can reverse the effects.The film was very well acted and written, and was seriously creepy. It showed how - easily a society could fall into fascism, if presented to the society in the correct way. Watching the film, I understood why the students enjoyed the new system, but was also privy to the horrors that come with it. A shocking and powerful film. The way the different children reacted and how such a seemingly innocent experiment profoundly affected their lives was incredible and horrifying. Vogel gives a powerful performance as an idealistic teacher who isn't aware of the influence he has on others. Worth seeing.
59 out of 70 people found the following comment useful :- A Clever, Ironic Account of Fascist Autocracy, 25 February 2008 Author: sesmallz from United States
Die Welle (The Wave) is truly a brilliant tale that lures viewers into its cleverly developed plot just as Herr Wenger lures his unsuspecting students into a sense of fascism. When Wenger, an affable schoolteacher who seems to be rebellious towards traditional instruction, gets selected to teach a class on autocracy, he is upset. However, he soon devises a plan with which to teach the students a valuable lesson on the sheer dangers of fascism and the ease with which one can be lured into it.His class starts out simple and nonthreatening. The students choose Wenger as their leader and are instructed to wear a uniform and create a name for themselves (the students choose Die Welle "The Wave"). But, this club slowly turns into a sort of fascist regime. The unsuspecting students think they are participating in some sort of fun club, but they are really being shown how easily impressionable people can be attracted by autocracy.The biting irony of this film is that at the beginning of the autocracy class, Wenger touched on the subject of Hitler's reign, and the students almost instinctively spit out answers about how Germany would never fall into that trap again knowing what they know now. But, the children soon eat their words when they become members of a much less disturbing, yet frighteningly similar clique.There is a glimmer of this fact when two students who aren't members of "The Wave" pick on a student who is. Two other members come to the rescue of the victim. Though many may view this as a positive aspect of this sort of togetherness, the point is that fascism has developed and can easily become corrupt.I highly recommend this to any potential viewer who either holds the same views as the students at the beginning of the film or simply wants to be entertained by the ironic theme of the film (so long as you don't mind the subtitles).
28 out of 36 people found the following comment useful :- A wonderful and moving film that had me gripped throughout. Absolutely brilliant., 19 September 2008 Author: geoffgee from Sheffield, England.
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.
17 out of 18 people found the following comment useful :- Fascism is still possible and alive, 29 September 2008 Author: (pei_yin_lin@hotmail.com) from United Kingdom
Die Welle details how a project on autocracy gradually leads to disastrous results. Initially without enthusiasm to teach the topic, Rainer Wegner conducts an unorthodox experiment to demonstrate to his students (equally lukewarm to start with) what life would be like under fascism. Neatly structured by days, the experiment begins with simple disciplines and grows to become an exclusive cult named "the wave" with its own uniform and salute.Similar to his 2004 film "Before the Fall" which concerns the Nazi's seduction of youth, Dennis Gansel probes the individual psychologies that bring about uncontrollable collective movement, and how personal life is transformed by it. It offers a balanced view on an organisation like "The Wave" by enquiring whether it is a crystallisation of the students' class-free utopia (at the cost of losing individuality) or a community for those in need of belonging and empowerment.What is frightening is that many (though not all) of them voluntarily follow the conformity through reasoning. Ironically, the mob mentality engulfing the students is what they condemn formerly; even the "anarchist" Rainer finds himself intoxicated with his increasingly idolised status.An engaging and powerful film with a sense of humour, suspension (terror arises when the light goes off during Karo's anti-Wave poster distribution), twist (Rainer's concluding speech), believable characterisation and excellent acting (Jürgen Vogel, Max Riemelt, and Frederick Lau). Inspired by a true event in California , this intelligent film merits attention particularly because of its non-preaching and humanistic treatment of a heavy subject.
21 out of 27 people found the following comment useful :- Even if you know the story, this movie will grab you., 16 March 2008 Author: lual from Jena, Germany
*** This comment may contain spoilers ***
Director Dennis Gansel seems to like movies about the power of groups and how they affect the individual. All of his movies deal with this subject. I had some problems with his previous outing "Napola" (wrote a review on IMDb), but in "Die Welle" he gets most things right.Let's start with the negatives, just to get them out of the way:-I found the marketing to be too aggressive. That's not the movie's fault but one could almost picture the producers trying to find a project which will get hundreds of German classes into the cinema.-The big gripe I have with this movie is that it chooses the wrong girl as the heroine. Each of the students is a symbol for a certain type of students. Gansel avoids turning them into clichés, but they are symbols nonetheless. Most of the kids go for the movement, there are mainly 2 girls who don't. I don't have a problem with the first one, the smaller role. She is the typical hippieesque do-gooder who is almost fascistic herself in the way she is trying to get her own point across and thus creates an interesting and realistic persona. She values the individual, but by listening to her you get the feeling that she herself does not respect people who don't share her opinion. It's the other girl who is the problem. This is the type of over-achieving person who engages in all kind of projects, plans ahead for the future and does everything to succeed in life. She is mostly egocentric but can hide it pretty well by engaging in group projects. Nevertheless, she is a typical "Generation Y"-kid who only acts when she can find personal gain in it. This girl is the spitting image of the ideal that German teachers and parents are trying to create at the moment and that in my own personal opinion is just wrong. The reason why she quits the group initially is that a white shirt doesn't suit her well. In fact, laughable as it is, this is the one realistic thing about her. I am deeply convinced that this character would in reality not be able to look through this scheme, but that instead she would happily participate in the group and try to advance her own position by bringing in lots of more new ideas.In my opinion, the most realistic opposer would be an outsider who remains an outsider just because he feels unwell in groups. But this guy would be hard to identify with.-One minor point: The Turkish guy should not have been so well-adjusted to German culture. It would have been interesting to see how he would have reacted to the group and how they would have taken him in. The movie would be even more controversial if it had shown that this would be a way in which integration could work, even though with horrible side-effects.But enough about the negative. The movie works well even with its flaws. It grabs you from the beginning and does not let go. The movie adapts the novel towards modern Germany but sticks close enough the source material to realize the main plot points. Even if you know what is going to happen the movie makes you follow the plot and think along.What I like most about it is that it does not preach or give easy answers. It raises questions and forces you to think. Except for the very last scenes the events are never too much over the top and every single event by itself could find some sympathy in the viewer. This way you yourself are tempted by "Die Welle" and you have to force yourself to think why exactly it should be wrong to oppose it. In fact, in many ways I was reminded of school spirit in American high schools, especially while I was watching the sports scenes. There is no easy way out of "Die Welle" and therefore it makes it interesting for all nationalities, not just Germans.The movie changes the ending of the novel a bit. (Here comes the spoiler).Instead of revealing Hitler as the groups true leader, the teacher only gives a speech after which the events get out of control and a student dies. This is some rather shaky territory, because in this scene the movie really threatens to go over the top. I can definitely understand viewers who dismiss this movie as junk at this moment, but I think that it is actually a quite realistic scenario. Gansel wisely shot this scene in a very realistic way: he makes it quick, surprising and ugly and this way he makes it feel organic stylistically. It invokes the terror of school shootings and reflects one of Todd Strasser's other novels, "Give a boy a gun", and suddenly one understands the decisions of the character Tim, the boy who finally found a meaning in his life even though he still was not really accepted. He was now accepted as part of the movement, but not as an individual. Unfortunately he does not recognize this and this leads to the tragic events.End of spoiler.Final Comment: What I found most strange about the movie was that none of the characters knows "The Wave", since it has been taught to death on German schools. But I guess the movie would not have worked otherwise. Even though I believe that most people know about the story already I advise everybody to watch this update. They will definitely find something new in it to keep them thinking.
23 out of 31 people found the following comment useful :- The Wave, 3 January 2009 Author: stensson from Stockholm, Sweden
That's what the title "Die Welle" means. A teacher makes an experiment. He wants his class to understand what autocracy means. It starts with them stopping calling him by first name. Then they have to rise while addressed. Then, there are uniforms and a special saluting. And then, it runs out of control.The most disturbing thing is that the teacher slowly loses control over himself, until there is a disaster.OK, does it take a week to form young people to fascists? That's not the point. How ever long it takes, the interesting answer here is that it is possible at all. Do we run that risk too? Well, if you look into yourself, you maybe won't find a fascist, but you'll probably find someone who wants to be a part of something. Whatever it is.
16 out of 21 people found the following comment useful :- Entertaining fictional experiment in classroom dictatorship, 9 November 2008 Author: Joe from United Kingdom
How does anyone really portray autocracy and/or fascism? In most ways, it can be done in the usual one-dimensional concoction of corruption, evil deeds, extreme delusion and paranoia amongst the ruling elites of the regimes. The Wave ("Die Welle") though looks at the issue from a different angle, examining how it can arise and entrance those it touches, and in the process makes the whole issue look fresh again.The basic story is that of a school teacher (an anarchist at heart) who has to teach a class about "Autocracy". Failing to get their attention, he decides to create an experiment whereby they are to create their own mini autocracy and rules amongst themselves (named "The Wave"). With such a controversial subject, the whole thing gets out of hand with the pupils succumbing to the autocratic fascist methodology with grave consequences.One important point that needs to be added is that its a German movie, and for historical reasons the topic is a delicate one, yet seems to add to the whole feel. The film is quite realistically disturbing in many ways, and shows how most of the pupils slowly fall for fascism in quite innocent ways. It will make you think and possibly reassess the important question, as asked in the film, if Autocracy can rear its head again.The writing, the acting and direction are excellent. Jürgen Vogel as the class teacher is both entertaining and thoughtful in his role, but the cast in general is exceptional especially as in the main they are mostly teenagers.If you like thoughtful films, and wish to see something that is questioning historical events in the present, then there is little to better this. Deserves to be watched. Its a film that will definitely be spoken about and re watched by many repeatedly for many years to come.
18 out of 25 people found the following comment useful :- Straight forward filming will captivate audiences, along with a pleasing cast., 26 July 2008 Author: crey014 from Auckland, New Zealand
"Die Welle" is an above average classroom drama with a political voice. Helmed by director Dennis Gansel, film is unforgiving in depicting the youth as a generation without anything to rebel about but loneliness, making them sensitive to any sort of illusion of belonging. Mostly a riveting affair, film lags in its second act as it jumps into Dawson's Creek. Film goes ashore into a memorable finale. Straight forward filming will captivate audiences, along with a pleasing cast.Project week in a suburban high school entails them to study various forms of government and restriction. Rainer Wenger (Jürgen Vogel), an under-appreciated teacher finds a way in engaging his students. He cleverly manipulates his class to slap them out of apathy and disinterest with tiny minute changes which eventually builds up to a boil. Classroom scenes are stimulating as debates between the students are daring and engrossing – writing mention controversial topics that are usually not spoken with lethargy. Film focuses on a group of smart people, highlighting further that what's bound to happen is even more tragic and rings a bell to what can happen out of celluloid..Inspired by a 1960's social experiment in California documenting how easy it is to influence individuals, film looses track in its middle section as it begins to refocus on the individual lives of the students. Most characters seem to be run in the mill with general high school romance trouble, which would have been interesting but brings nothing new to the table. Stories work better as a collective rather than individuals, which further add to the intended effect. Some personalities shine though: students who never had any sense of belonging are indeed looked at with much heartbreak here as this false sense of security is embraced by them, motivating them to go a step further in preserving the society.Finale is spellbinding as even if it diverts a lot from the actual experiment, it still proves as a necessity to further establish a point. 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. From the get go, death of a character is imminent and even with its shock value, it justifies itself as beyond a plot device.As an ensemble, the acting here is impermeable as they all deliver solid performances. Vogel especially convey solid work as the teacher. He brings gravity and his semi-bald haircut proves ominous. It's a shame that audiences lose connection to him midway though as he suddenly becomes the background to the melodrama.German setting of the movie elevates the film's status. It creates this palpable undercurrent, that even with a country that already identifies itself as guilty; it still cannot escape the possibility of anarchy. Even if the picture becomes stern with its themes, it still is digestible to the mainstream. Word of mouth can secure a life outside the tills.
15 out of 20 people found the following comment useful :- Spot on!! It explains a lot about world history., 24 July 2008 Author: crappydoo from New Zealand
The Wave rides high (pun intended) on the new wave of film makers from Germany. 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. The movie will amuse you, frighten you, disturb you and enthrall you completely.The movie takes a lesson in human psychology and shows how it is possible for a person with oratory skills and confidence to start a movement that turns into a revolution with frightening possibilities. It explains a lot about world history and current affairs.Theme apart, I don't usually like to discuss any movie's story but I suppose if you're here you would've read the other reviews and summaries and would know a fair bit already. Putting it mildly, the movie deals with a classroom experiment about autocracy which has interesting positive and negative consequences.The direction is sharp and spot on. The director is able to delve deeply into the minds of the various characters and explain their behaviour and position in the society that is created. It is all done realistically. The acting by and large is very good; however a few of the actors displayed a scope for further improvement. However this does not take away much from the movie experience. There are certain similarities with another great German film, Das Experiment, but not many.I am certainly going to suggest this film to people I know including people who live on a staple of Hollywood blockbusters and like to keep away from festival films. So if you get the opportunity to watch it, please do.
15 out of 21 people found the following comment useful :- Good twists / no black & white opinion, 27 September 2008 Author: Stuart Barrett from United Kingdom
This is a German film (subtitled) about a school project looking at autocracy (a la Nazi Germany). In order for the teacher to persuade his pupils that autocracy remains a real threat to democracy, he persuades them to take part in a class dictatorship. The key difference between this and your average school classroom is that he convinces the pupils not just to obey but also to want his every command. Of course the project turns bad and things get scary.What I liked about the film was that it did not treat the pupils as "just kids"; they had brains, opinions, and their own ethics too. It is not a very black and white in it's opinion, you could draw some distinct opinion from the film but I suggest that there are several different opinions that are equally as valid. It keeps you guessing what is going to happen & even deliberately misleads you.
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