the wave

part 3 of my film festival day was meant to be the orphanage
but the wimp in me was more than a little worried
psycho-horror-thriller-drama stuff always unsettles me
so when the festival program offered an alternative i went for it
the write-up of this german film was quite enticing
based on an real time experiment gone wrong in a californian school
though here relocated to a more appropriate german high school
the opening sees the teacher driving his french car to the school
ramones blasting out of the stereo with their anthemic school song
so an international feel to the film from the opening scene
the premise of the film is that he has freedom of cirriculum for a week
the week to be spent on a project and in his case teaching autocracy
so he very deliberately sets out teaching this in a practical way
this entails the students adopting an emblem, salute and uniform
already sounding a bit derivative but done fairly convincingly
the wave cleverly used as both a salute and emblem
indicating a crashing wave swamping all in it's path
by the middle of the week there's a strong sense of comraderie
and a pervasive sense of righteousness overriding all activities
this quickly includes the application of their emblem all over town
and the marginalising of any student not agreeing to partake
at times i thought the film seemed overly simplistic
possibly not helped by the rapid-fire sub-titles
required to keep pace with this dialogue-heavy film
but at the same time it was difficult to find any real fault with it
the various relationships explored in the film seemed quite plausible
students and teachers reacting unexpectedly as the experiment went on
mostly amongst the students as their personalities quickly evolved
particularly in one case of a previously shy and insecure boy
who's involvement with the wave gave him real meaning in his life
this all pointing very deliberately to how such movements can grow
and in the wrong hands can just as quickly grow out of control
it's no accident that this film is set in germany with it's history
and a mention of current problems caused by unchecked nationalism
in an update on this scenario the use of technology was a warning
with the internet used to spread information and obtain weapons
by the end of the week the teacher recognises the monster he has created
and provides a chilling climax where he addresses his students
firstly as a dictator with full control to make his point very clear
but a full shutdown of the project is not what everyone wants
making for a hugely powerful and disturbing final scene
even if there was no historical parallel it would be telling
but given that perspective and the world today
it's downright scarey what could happen
this one should be mandatory viewing
...especially in schools