| B+ 3.25 | An unorthodox teacher in Germany puts his class through an experiment in autocracy. It works way too well. Directed by Dennis Gansel Starring Jurgen Vogel, Frederick Lau, Jennifer Ulrich, and Max Riemelt Initial Review by Joe Setnor |
Die Welle, or The Wave, is a 2008 film that explores the influence that can be felt when a sociopolitical ideology like fascism or nationalism affects the disenfranchised and how quickly one can find him or herself swept up in a movement.. Director Dennis Gansel uses the natural setting of a modern day German high school as the stage for his revolution. Jurgen Vogel plays the classic cinematic cool teacher, Rainer Wenger, who finds his students to be disillusioned with their current state of life. Making statements like “What are we supposed to rebel against?”, “It’s not gonna happen again,” or “We get it, Hitler sucked,” the students doubt when the suggestion of a modern day dictatorship could happen in Germany. Spurred by the student embitterment, or perhaps by his collection of The Ramones and The Clash t-shirts, Wenger puts in motion a classroom experiment that soon builds beyond his control. Built on unity, discipline, and a call to action, the young German students begin contributing to their Greater Good in a movement that becomes known as The Wave.
Gansel does a great job of quickly setting the pace for the film, illustrating how easily people might feel ostracized from society. We see characters from several socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds. Athlete (Marco), loner single chick (Lisa), foreigner (Sinan), bored rich kid (Kevin), bully (Bomber), smart chick dying to leave home (Karo), and of course the really fucking weird dude (Tim). Fortunately for us, Gansel doesn’t spend much time of trying to convince us who these characters are. He allows the actors to show us who they are as the story unfolds. Of particular notice is Frederick Lau’s Tim. Tim is creepy as fuck, and Lau plays the role perfectly. If you ever knew a guy growing up or in college that always took something too far, then you know Tim. Whether it’s showing up with an ass ton of sticky bud at a party or designing the class website with handguns, Tim had a certain flair for surpassing moderate expectations. Lau’s low key demeanor, coupled with some timely emotional outbursts, created a character that gave me chills. Reminded me of Paul Dano’s character Eli/Paul Sunday from There Will Be Blood.
Another character I really liked, and really it was more about how she was portrayed than anything, was Karo. A well-read and studious youth, Karo represents the opposition to her peers’ class movement. While seeming pouty at times, Jennifer Ulrich plays the role of contrarian quite well. What really makes her standout, however, is how Gansel presents her on the screen. Ulrich already standouts with eye-catching auburn hair, but throughout the film we see her dressed in red. Positioned against her white shirt adorned classmates, Karo looks the part of adversary while only simply being herself. We see this color theme carry itself into the big water polo match (did I really just write “big water polo match?) towards the end of the film when members of The Wave face off against a team dressed in red.
Before finishing, one last thing I want to make note of is the number of American references that were found in the film. I don’t consider myself naive to how the world has become more connected with the development of the Internet. However, I was certainly surprised to hear several American pop culture references like the Starbury One’s, Paris Hilton, and Tim referring to some other guys as his “homies.” On second thought, maybe I should be disapointed, rather than surprised.
I give the movie a B, and maybe even a B+ because the ending didn’t go exactly how I thought it might. It moves quickly through the plot, and overall I found the characters believable.
Another character I really liked, and really it was more about how she was portrayed than anything, was Karo. A well-read and studious youth, Karo represents the opposition to her peers’ class movement. While seeming pouty at times, Jennifer Ulrich plays the role of contrarian quite well. What really makes her standout, however, is how Gansel presents her on the screen. Ulrich already standouts with eye-catching auburn hair, but throughout the film we see her dressed in red. Positioned against her white shirt adorned classmates, Karo looks the part of adversary while only simply being herself. We see this color theme carry itself into the big water polo match (did I really just write “big water polo match?) towards the end of the film when members of The Wave face off against a team dressed in red.
Before finishing, one last thing I want to make note of is the number of American references that were found in the film. I don’t consider myself naive to how the world has become more connected with the development of the Internet. However, I was certainly surprised to hear several American pop culture references like the Starbury One’s, Paris Hilton, and Tim referring to some other guys as his “homies.” On second thought, maybe I should be disapointed, rather than surprised.
I give the movie a B, and maybe even a B+ because the ending didn’t go exactly how I thought it might. It moves quickly through the plot, and overall I found the characters believable.
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