Die Welle (The Wave) Reviews and Ratings


  • bbkiko
    January 23, 2010
    bbkiko
    well made , in germany . based on true facts ...
  • habzygoga
    January 7, 2010
    habzygoga
    un pò scontato,soprattutto il finale , e non mi ha detto niente di nuovo.
  • gultenreiz
    December 15, 2009
    gultenreiz
    Jurgen Vogel is Rainer Wenger, a teacher that comes up with an interesting idea for a class in order to distract the children from their apathy, but everything turns into something really ugly.
    The idea was to create a autocratic microcosm right in his class, so that the student...( read more)s would understand the mechanism of an totalitarian regime, but everything goes above himself.
    "Die welle" is well written , with some clever dialogue and decent acting, and tries to show how easily is to be influenced, to fall into the trap, and how one could lose his identity. A very good examination on mob mentality, even though I didn't believe, not even for a second, that a week was sufficient to turn those children into fascists.
  • blacksheepboy
    December 14, 2009
    blacksheepboy
    Very well written and directed, this film is a fascinating, thought-provoking study on men's terrifying disposition to let themselves be led by a fascist-like autocracy that can take root in any society.
  • Luciusthebigboss
    December 3, 2009
    Luciusthebigboss
    Awesome, just like the first one!!
  • iniaki6751
    November 24, 2009
    iniaki6751
    The movie plot starts out with a simple question:
    Can there be another dictatorship in Germany?
    all the students automatically answer ¡NO!

    this movie shows by imposing some dicipline students from a normal school like ours turn to belive in a new auto...( read more)cracy. What I really liked about this movie is that it has a progressive entreteinig plot. That is really an important dificult to make part; because you need to see how the wave is taking the power and how the diferent people from the school and city are being brain washed by a simple idea of a profesor in a weeks project.

    Although this movie has some flaws as every movie is really worth watching and its also really shocking because this is not just a says:

    Hey! don´t be playing with the autocracy terms because yu can create a masive movement!!
    This is serious stuff! this case is a real one the happened in 1967 in a city of California so... WATCH OUT!! or we could be dealing in a few years with HITLER II
  • countmontechristo
    November 8, 2009
    countmontechristo
    Very interesting movie in the steps of "Das Experiment" but better. recommendable
  • lucianojoaquim
    October 28, 2009
    lucianojoaquim
    Muito bom! Ritmo e história muito interessantes!
  • lucianaa
    September 24, 2009
    lucianaa
    why do germans love autocracy that much? deep inside the are so prone fascism
  • PirateHatsRock
    September 20, 2009
    PirateHatsRock
    Incredible! Written fantastically.. just brilliant. So subtle. Immense.
  • mrpopcorn
    September 17, 2009
    mrpopcorn
    "Can there be another dictatorship in Germany?"

    A high school teacher's unusual 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.

    ...( read more)Century Schoolbook">REVIEW
    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.
  • MandyDarko
    September 14, 2009
    MandyDarko
    Todo se da de una forma un tanto precipitada, sin embargo, no se altera la esencia. Resulta fascinante ser testigo de los resultados a los que lleva el experimento, los cambios en las relaciones, el fanatismo, la violencia para con el resto, en fin, un film muy interesante. En la...( read more) línea de Das Experiment, muy recomendada.
  • charlesbronson
    August 25, 2009
    charlesbronson
    A cautionary tale above all,the movie raises many questions and shows how fascism can sprung anywhere,even in a high school,and the fact that it's based on a real event that happened in the sixties in California is even more thought provoking. I saw it yesterday and I'm still th...( read more)inking about it.An engrossing movie experience,doesn't let you go from start to finish.The director did an amazing job as did most of the lead actors.Strongly recommend this.
  • battleaxeofdoom
    August 8, 2009
    battleaxeofdoom
    twas good, but i find it hard to believe that a whole school could turn into a group of neo-nazis within a week.
  • Micoz15
    July 14, 2009
    Micoz15
    la sensazione è che le potenzialità non siano state sfruttate in pieno, però è da lodare per le argomentazioni su cui poggia e per la (triste) realtà che mostra
  • bubblana
    June 22, 2009
    bubblana
    This movie awakes so many thoughts and really makes you think. Good movie, even though I wish they had kept some of the deleted scenes, I guess they wanted to keep more focus on the class than on the teacher. There was also an alternate ending, but just like in the Butterfly effe...( read more)ct, it's the more extreme version that has made it to the DVD, unlike the Piano, where they skipped the harsher ending.
  • EarthlyAlien
    June 18, 2009
    EarthlyAlien
    "Heil Headmaster!"

    Based on a real event from a California high school in 1967 and transposed to Germany today, The Wave is a cautionary tale about the roots of fascism. Seductive and horrifying at the same time, it suggests that anything is possible in today's uns...( read more)table environment. And it's pretty damn scary to think it might be right.

    Photobucket

    An assured piece of filmmaking by Dennis Gansel, The Wave captures the intoxicating power of conformity. Gansel opens the film with a rush of energy and doesn't let go. Charismatic teacher Rainier Wenger (Jurgen Vogel) is driving to school with the Ramones' "Rock 'n' Roll High School" blasting in his car as the camera gazes at the calm life of the city passing outside. It's not going to last long.

    It's Project Week at school, and though Wenger, an aging post-punk radical with unconventional teaching methods, is disappointed he doesn't get to teach the class on anarchy, he dives headfirst into the preparing for his class on autocracy. It's a hard sell to the indifferent students and as one puts it, "What is there left to be against? All we want is to have fun." What follows is a textbook study of how fascism starts and takes hold. When Wenger asks if a dictatorship like Hitler's would be possible in Germany today, the students either say no or don't care. But Wenger gets an idea for an experiment.

    So the class elects him as leader and in contrast to his usual easygoing style he demands that students call him Mr. Wenger and stand when they have something to say. The motto for the day is "strength through discipline." Once he's got the students' attention, things escalate within a week. Fascism has traditionally taken hold among an underprivileged, alienated population, and who is more alienated than high school students? They like the idea of dressing the same to reduce social pressures and they start wearing jeans and white shirts. They name the group "The Wave," create a cool logo and a come up with a salute scarily reminiscent of Hitler's.

    Much to their surprise, and Wegner's, they find that they like the power of unity, of being able to rely on others, and soon this new-found discipline spills over to other school activities, and newcomers join the group. One student, Karo (Jennifer Ulrich), who has a fairly stable familial structure, resists the rising conformity, but even her boyfriend, Marco (Max Riemelt), who comes from a broken home, is smitten.

    The Wave gives these kids something to believe in for a change and some of the initial ideas about social equality and the will of the people are appealing, until they go too far. As in the rise of the Nazis, unstable and disturbed individuals latch on and feel powerful for the first time, and the most damaged become the lieutenants. That's what happens to Tim (Fredrick Lau), a disturbed, skittish student who no longer feels like an outsider.

    But when the insiders start bullying other students and violence erupts outside school, Wegner realizes things might have gone too far. The genius of the screenplay by Gansel and Peter Thorwarth is that they recognize Wegner's good intentions, his psychology and mixed feelings. His wife, Anke (Christiane Paul), who also teaches at the school, holds him accountable, and he admits he loves being idolized.

    Vogel (a very underrated German actor) is brilliant in the film's climactic scene as his agreeable face hardens and contorts into a scowl as he becomes the dictator he feared. The cast of kids, especially Ulrich as the dissenter and Lau as the most vulnerable, are convincing enough to command the belief that they really are high school students. Gansel is obviously dealing with complex stuff here and he does so with first class filmmaking. A pounding score of rock songs and music by Heiko Maile adds to the combustible mix and cinematography by Torsten Breuer captures the action, including some aggressive water polo matches, with a combination of outstanding hand-held and slow-motion camera work.

    Although the original experimental demonstration, named "The Third Wave," in a Palo Alto high school did not end this way in 1967, Gansel has updated the climax to what could and has happened in schools today. There is something additionally chilling about seeing it take place in Germany. But as the film makes abundantly clear, the roots of fascism grow everywhere. It's just particularly brave of a German filmmaker to decide to make this film, to acknowledge his county's history for once, and not look the other way.
  • Smallville92
    June 7, 2009
    Smallville92
    9/10 Stunning movie! One of the most chocking and Best movie I've seen in my entire life!
  • andrewkinnaird
    June 6, 2009
    andrewkinnaird
    This is one best movies i have ever seen. Not only does it brilliantly tell the story based on an actual event that happened in Los Angelas, but its one of these films that takes on a sort of journey. When students get more and more involved in a totalitarian class project you fi...( read more)nd yourself understanding and quite possibly slightly believing in totalitarianism and especially why it took Germany by storm in the 1930's. Hitting you with a hell of a realisation as the film comes to a fantastic end.
  • jimbotender
    May 8, 2009
    jimbotender
    Instability of the fragile man and the turning points arrive,hellish consequences,oh,don't forget detrimental gorges.Please,the sentimentalist approach on a film cannot be put in action while you're removing the aggressiveness of the subject.So Vogel is a fuckin' talent.An A-clas...( read more)s performance is not enough to seal this film's eternal mystery.Especially this desperate,deus ex machina wannabe finale...
  • xXBlackFairyXx
    April 30, 2009
    xXBlackFairyXx
    I loved it!
    it just shows us that we are still able to fall into it all again...! we have to be careful!!
  • ZlatkoGR
    April 5, 2009
    ZlatkoGR
    Well, you have this great idea, right? That reminds us that a dictatorship appeals to the humblest instincts of man, how everyone wants to fit in and belong to a team or something. And you have this pretty decent cast to act in it, huh? Nice. Now, DON'T RUN to make a point, ok? T...( read more)ake your time. Add depth both to your characters and your story development. And please, take the spotlight off the damn wacko student. I saw this coming from the very beginning. It was good. But it had to be better...
  • jesse4u247
    April 3, 2009
    jesse4u247
    5 on 5 may seem like a tad more, but believe me, it's worth it! A brilliant story depicted masterfully, with not just witty repartees and clever acting, but a moving cacophony of mind-boggling imagery! Well, it's not a Kieslowski work, but the constant, in-your-face images depict...( read more)ing the subtle nuances of the story takes the film to the levels of... um... let's say... The Double Life of Veronique!
  • sportboy
    March 29, 2009
    sportboy
    want to see sometime in my life.
  • eupnee
    March 24, 2009
    eupnee
    *_*

    wir haben die Moglichkeit, Geschichte zu schreiben!
    [...]
    ich bin zu weit gegangen.
  • dil1788
    March 10, 2009
    dil1788
    Fascinating and relevant movie about dictatorships and autocracy.
  • pjcardo
    March 10, 2009
    pjcardo
    Um exercício com trágicas consequências.
  • dex5
    March 6, 2009
    dex5
    juju Marco.
    Die Welle
  • alessiocolangelo
    March 2, 2009
    alessiocolangelo
    La settimana a tema prevede un corso sull'autocrazia e l'esperimento del professore porta a una microsocietà totalitaria con un proprio nome (l'onda del titolo), un motto, un saluto e un credo che si definisce velocemente, ferocemente. Se gli studenti pensano di sapere cos'è il n...( read more)azismo e sono convinti che esso non potrà mai tornare, la realtà dimostra l'esatto contrario, la dittatura si impone facilmente, i ragazzi fanno crescere all'istante uno spirito di corpo esasperato (eliminazione di sottogruppi, uniformi e pochi accidenti: le menti deboli sono subito soggiogate ed emarginano e bollano come diverso chi non si adegua) ed è un veleno sottile che si impadronisce delle loro vite e della loro sensibilità.
  • arashxak
    February 26, 2009
    arashxak
    What can save a movie like this from being just an educational lecture is a bit of ambition which this movie lacks, The first half is actually good but then it goes downhill & leads to the predictable ending, & I must say this, that annoying supposed to be smart & aware of everyt...( read more)hing chick was on my nerve throughout the whole movie
  • dublingunner
    February 25, 2009
    dublingunner
    what a amazing film, set in a german high school, an experiment in social studies gets out of hand, very powerful and moving
  • Jennybunni
    February 23, 2009
    Jennybunni
    That´s a really good movie. I don´t like most of the german movies but The wave is really good and Jürgen Vogel is a great actor.
  • memnoch8
    February 11, 2009
    memnoch8
    This is a powerfull movie based on real events, on how easy it is to influence and manipulate teenagers. It's horrifying just to think that this has happened in real life, and this is just one out of many cases.
  • efou
    January 28, 2009
    efou
    a nice film with a very important message to deliver. but I have to say I found it a bit superficial, it could be a little longer and hence better developed, since the primary idea was really good...
  • donymicro
    January 26, 2009
    donymicro
    Really well done, and very thought provoking..
  • alex13ever
    January 15, 2009
    alex13ever
    Anatrixiastiki tainia....
  • gor41
    January 15, 2009
    gor41
    Passable German treatise on the potential for fascistic ideas to appeal to a modern generation but I didn't believe the pupil's relationship with their tutor would precipitate the radicalism so quickly if at all.
  • stormerswe
    January 4, 2009
    stormerswe
    Better than I expected it to be. Strong performances and real.
  • aleksei96
    January 3, 2009
    aleksei96
    Superficial dramatization of a very controversial (unproven) experiment that took place in California in the 60s. This adaptation is tv-movie-like and full of teenager stereotypes, but the core subject is so interesting that the result is mildly interesting, thanks also to Jurgen...( read more) Vogel's charisma.
  • shiwave
    December 31, 2008
    shiwave
    this movie was so cool..
    perfect psychology of characters..
  • Liesebieke
    December 22, 2008
    Liesebieke
    Apart from the last killing scene - which was quite predictable - this movie really fascinated me. And young people can learn a lot from it! A must see!
  • Phonex
    November 29, 2008
    Phonex
    2 important works about schools. The first one in Germany by Dennis Gansel.
  • skinnyfists
    November 29, 2008
    skinnyfists
    Good effort. However, it's predictable and the didactic nature of the ending was slightly cheesy.

Summary

Die Welle (The Wave) Summary