Saturday, December 29, 2012

The Wave [MA] - German


Germany today: a downtrodden nation riddled with class and culture clashes. High School teacher Rainer Wenger misses out on teaching the topic of anarchy in Project Week and is stuck with autocracy instead. To make the lesson more inclusive and fun, Rainer decides to conduct an experiment to teach the students how a totalitarian government works. It begins as a role-playing game, a sort of club that is formed for the week, but by the third day students are taking it too seriously and The Wave is formed. By midweek the students are ostracising those who aren’t members of The Wave and when a violent fight erupts during a water polo game, Wenger realises that the experiment must be stopped. But by Friday it’s too late; The Wave is out of control. 

Based on a true story, The Wave is a brilliantly political and moving piece of cinema that’s riddled with drama, education, politics, and the high of unity. Beginning as a sort of edgier Dead Poets Society it quickly escalates into a full-blown spine-tingling drama with a climax that will shock and tremble you. The Wave is absolutely brilliant! 

Germany today: a downtrodden nation riddled with class and culture clashes. High School teacher Rainer Wenger misses out on teaching the topic of anarchy in Project Week and is stuck with autocracy instead. To make the lesson more inclusive and fun, Rainer decides to conduct an experiment to teach the students how a totalitarian government works. It begins as a role-playing game, a sort of club that is formed for the week, but by the third day students are taking it too seriously and The Wave is formed. By midweek the students are ostracising those who aren’t members of The Wave and when a violent fight erupts during a water polo game, Wenger realises that the experiment must be stopped. But by Friday it’s too late; The Wave is out of control. 

As I mentioned before, this movie is based on a true story, making it all the more incredible and adding much of its shock value. 
The script is particularly wonderful because it’s both dramatic and educational. Most of the heated discussions, which happen within the classroom, are politically based as well as drawing many references from history. As a result, the film greatly conveys the modern attitude of German students and their opinions on the state of their nation and the bloody events of their nation’s past. It’s a rare movie that makes politics and history really gripping and deserves an accolade for that fact alone. 
All the actors were brilliant, delivering memorable and wonderfully dramatic performances as each character and their troubled home life is somehow or other affected by The Wave. But without a doubt, special rounds of applause are due to Jurgen Vogel who stars as Rainer Wenger and Frederick Lau who plays over zealous student, Tim. Both delivered most moving and hugely memorable performances with Jurgen playing the role of the cool teacher turned dictator with remarkable conviction and Frederick delivering a most adorable and quite shocking towards the end performance as Tim. 
Starring Max Riemelt, Jennifer Ulrich, Christiane Paul, Jacob Matschenz, Cristina do Rego, Elyas M’Barek, Maximillion Vollmar, Max Mauff, Tim Oliver Schultz, Ferdinand Schmidt-Modrow, and Amelie Kiefer, The Wave is a remarkable and wonderfully edgy and grungy movie packed with action, defiance, union, drama, romance, politics, and change. You’ll be glued to the screen from start to finish! It’s brilliant!

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