This is a film review from the Melbourne International Film Festival 2008. To see all my reviews from the festival, go here.
The Wave (or Die Welle in it’s native tongue) is a film based on a true story on a teacher who does an experiment with a class to show how easily a dictatorship could happen in today’s society. Of course the experiment starts going wrong when the students take it a bit too seriously.
This is a nicely made, fun film. Set in a modern German high school the characters tend to be stereotypical without being overbearing. It’s the same with the plot here. Whilst you won’t be surprised with any of the turns or twists here, it’s an enjoyable ride with enough content here to mull over later.
Whilst it’s no surprise that yet again we have a German film with heavy political tones to it but what’s different here is that this film is seeing it through the teenager’s eyes. It’s a refreshing change, even if it’s a bit simplistic (to quote one of the students in the film, “We get it, the Nazis sucked”).
See it for: See how much German actually seeped through during those 2 1/2 years you took it in High School.
The Dark Side: The ending. Seems to be reaching
The Final Word: Seriously, no school is that clean, even if it is Germany.
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