The Wave (2008 film)
Encyclopedia
The Wave is a 2008 German film directed by Dennis Gansel
and starring Jürgen Vogel
, Max Riemelt
, Jennifer Ulrich
, Jacob Matschenz
and Frederick Lau
. It is based on the book The Wave which was inspired by the social experiment The Third Wave
. The film was produced by Christian Becker
for Rat Pack Filmproduktion
. It was quite successful in German cinemas, and after 10 weeks 2.3 million people had watched the film.
) driving to his job while passionately singing along to a cover of Rock 'n' Roll High School
.
The high-school is having a project week and Wenger discusses autocracy
with his class. His students, third generation after the Second World War, do not believe that a dictatorship could be established in modern Germany, so Wenger starts an experiment to demonstrate how easily the masses can be manipulated. Critically, the lead up to this shows Herr Wenger as an anarchist by nature and, prior to taking the class, asks the Head to swap with the teacher taking the Anarchy project and is refused. However, he goes into the project with enthusiasm and, as a popular teacher, has the students' full attention.
He begins by demanding that all students address him as "Herr Wenger", as opposed to Rainer, and changes the seating arrangement in a direction facing the front of the class, placing students with poor grades beside students with good grades – purportedly so they can learn from one another and become better as a whole. If the students want to say something aloud, they must stand up and give short pre-considered answers. Wenger shows his students the effect of marching together in the same rhythm, motivating them by suggesting that they could really annoy the class below them (the Anarchy class).
Wenger suggests every student in the group should wear a white shirt and jeans, to remove class distinction and further unite the group. Mona also argues it will remove individuality as well. The student Karo (Jennifer Ulrich
) shows up to class without the "uniform" and is surprised to find out that everyone is wearing a white shirt and jeans. The students suggest that since they are a group, they should choose a name, and they decide on "Die Welle" (The Wave). Karo suggests another name and which ends up with no votes at all. The group is shown to grow closer, and the bully Bomber is shown to reform for the better. He also creates a distinctive salute for the group. Karo and Mona, protest against the actions of the group, in addition to three boys who leave the project. Eventually, two of the three boys return to class, while Mona, disgusted with how her classmates are embracing fascism, leaves the project group. The other classmates don't see any connection with their activity and fascism seeing only good things come from the movement. The members of The Wave begin spray-painting their logo around town, having parties where only Wave members are allowed to attend and generally, even unwittingly, ostracising and tormenting anyone not in their group.
One young man in particular, Tim, becomes very attached to the group, having finally become an accepted member of a social group in school. He burns his name-brand clothes after a discussion about how large corporations do not take responsibility for their actions. A pair of punks start a fight with Tim, but he is saved by Bomber and Sinan. He starts to bond with them and many other students. Tim later shows up at Wenger's house, offering to be a bodyguard. Wenger invites Tim in, saying he can have dinner, but no guarding is necessary. This puts further strain on Wenger's already tense relationship with his wife, who thinks the experiment has gone too far. Wenger finally ejects Tim from his house, only to find in the morning that the boy had slept on his doorstep.
Karo continues her attempts to expose the actions of The Wave, eventually earning the anger of many in the group, who approach her boyfriend, Marco (Max Riemelt
), and ask him to do something about it. During their confrontation, Marco becomes angry and hits Karo, which drives home the fact that the experiment has become out of control. Marco approaches Herr Wenger, and asks him to stop the project. Wenger tells Marco to leave it up to him, and calls a meeting of all Wave members in the auditorium.
Once in the meeting, Wenger has the doors locked and begins whipping the students into a fervour, shouting that they will roll over Germany and change things to the way they ought to be. All the students are cheering and applauding. Marco stands and speaks against their actions, at which point Wenger calls for the "traitor" to be brought to the stage. When four boys bring Marco on stage, the teacher finally confronts them with their actions, asking them how far they would have gone; if they would have killed this boy had he asked. He reminds them of their assertion at the beginning of the week that another dictatorship would be impossible in Germany, and the majority of the students seem to feel shame and remorse when they realize that they have been participating in just that.
Some students insist that the Wave has also brought forth good things, but Wenger insist that it has to end, pointing out that the negative sides outweigh the positives on too many levels. Tim, stating that the Wave has become his life, acts frantically, shoots his new friend Bomber when he tries to calm him down, wounding him, before taking his own life. Wenger falls to his knees next to Tim's body and looks helplessly on his students.
The film ends with Wenger being taken into custody by the police, while he looks about at the victims, he is driven off. The film ends with Wenger seeing something ahead of him that frightens him, but this is not revealed to the audience leaving it out to speculation (Gansel's next film We are the Night
ends the same way).
, and contains tracks by The Subways
, Kilians
, Johnossi
, Digitalism
and The Hives
, as well as an EL*KE version of the classic Ramones
' track "Rock 'n' Roll High School
". The title-song "Garden Of Growing Hearts" was performed by Berlin band Empty Trash. The original film score was composed by Heiko Maile, a member of the band Camouflage
.
, Kevin the aggressive bully and Dennis from East Germany who is mocked as "Ossi". The film's ending is more extreme than the novel's where there is no violence nor is the teacher arrested.
The film can be seen as echoing the earlier German film Das Experiment
, and also has tones of the Stephen King book (also made into a film), "Apt Pupil
".
Dennis Gansel
Dennis Gansel is a film director, writer and actor from Germany.-Movie career:Gansel is best known for directing The Wave; his following project is the vampire film We Are The Night, which stars Karoline Herfurth, Nina Hoss, Jennifer Ulrich, Anna Fischer and Max Riemelt.- Filmography :* 1999 — Das...
and starring Jürgen Vogel
Jürgen Vogel
Jürgen Peter Vogel is a German actor, screenwriter, film producer and singer.-Biography:Jürgen Vogel is the son of a Hamburg waiter and a housewife. He worked as a child model, later had various jobs and visited the Munich drama school for one day. In 1985 he moved to Berlin, where he shared a...
, Max Riemelt
Max Riemelt
Max Riemelt is a German actor born in Berlin in 1984 . He says "it was more by coincidence because I hadn't really thought about getting involved in acting and hadn't joined any drama groups at school"....
, Jennifer Ulrich
Jennifer Ulrich
Jennifer Ulrich is a German actress who has starred in such films as The Wave and We are the Night. She was born in Lichtenberg, Berlin.-Career:...
, Jacob Matschenz
Jacob Matschenz
Jacob Matschenz is a German actor. He is notable for film and television work including The Wave , 12 Paces Without a Head and The Sinking of the Laconia . He won the Adolf Grimme Award in 2008 for his appearance in An die Grenze.-Sources:*http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0559326/...
and Frederick Lau
Frederick Lau
Frederick Lau is a German actor. He grew up and still lives in Berlin-Steglitz. He was awarded with the Deutscher Filmpreis for portraying the student Tim on the film Die Welle based on the novel by Dennis Gansel...
. It is based on the book The Wave which was inspired by the social experiment The Third Wave
The Third Wave
The Third Wave was an experiment to demonstrate that even democratic societies are not immune to the appeal of fascism. It was undertaken by history teacher Ron Jones with sophomore high school students attending his "Contemporary World" history class as part of a study of Nazi Germany...
. The film was produced by Christian Becker
Christian Becker
Christian Becker is a German film producer. He ist co-owner of Rat Pack Filmproduktion together with German major studio Constantin Film.-Biography:...
for Rat Pack Filmproduktion
Rat Pack Filmproduktion
- History :Rat Pack Filmprouduktion GmbH was founded by Christian Becker with Anita Schneider, Jürgen Egger, Alexander Rümelin, Catarina Raacke and Constantin Film in January, 2001 in Munich, Germany.- List of films by Rat Pack Film Production :...
. It was quite successful in German cinemas, and after 10 weeks 2.3 million people had watched the film.
Plot
The film opens with high-school teacher Rainer Wenger (Jürgen VogelJürgen Vogel
Jürgen Peter Vogel is a German actor, screenwriter, film producer and singer.-Biography:Jürgen Vogel is the son of a Hamburg waiter and a housewife. He worked as a child model, later had various jobs and visited the Munich drama school for one day. In 1985 he moved to Berlin, where he shared a...
) driving to his job while passionately singing along to a cover of Rock 'n' Roll High School
Rock 'n' Roll High School (song)
"Rock 'n' Roll High School" is a song by the punk rock group the Ramones from the soundtrack album Rock 'n' Roll High School. The single did not chart in the U.S. but peaked at number 67 on the UK Singles Chart....
.
The high-school is having a project week and Wenger discusses autocracy
Autocracy
An autocracy is a form of government in which one person is the supreme power within the state. It is derived from the Greek : and , and may be translated as "one who rules by himself". It is distinct from oligarchy and democracy...
with his class. His students, third generation after the Second World War, do not believe that a dictatorship could be established in modern Germany, so Wenger starts an experiment to demonstrate how easily the masses can be manipulated. Critically, the lead up to this shows Herr Wenger as an anarchist by nature and, prior to taking the class, asks the Head to swap with the teacher taking the Anarchy project and is refused. However, he goes into the project with enthusiasm and, as a popular teacher, has the students' full attention.
He begins by demanding that all students address him as "Herr Wenger", as opposed to Rainer, and changes the seating arrangement in a direction facing the front of the class, placing students with poor grades beside students with good grades – purportedly so they can learn from one another and become better as a whole. If the students want to say something aloud, they must stand up and give short pre-considered answers. Wenger shows his students the effect of marching together in the same rhythm, motivating them by suggesting that they could really annoy the class below them (the Anarchy class).
Wenger suggests every student in the group should wear a white shirt and jeans, to remove class distinction and further unite the group. Mona also argues it will remove individuality as well. The student Karo (Jennifer Ulrich
Jennifer Ulrich
Jennifer Ulrich is a German actress who has starred in such films as The Wave and We are the Night. She was born in Lichtenberg, Berlin.-Career:...
) shows up to class without the "uniform" and is surprised to find out that everyone is wearing a white shirt and jeans. The students suggest that since they are a group, they should choose a name, and they decide on "Die Welle" (The Wave). Karo suggests another name and which ends up with no votes at all. The group is shown to grow closer, and the bully Bomber is shown to reform for the better. He also creates a distinctive salute for the group. Karo and Mona, protest against the actions of the group, in addition to three boys who leave the project. Eventually, two of the three boys return to class, while Mona, disgusted with how her classmates are embracing fascism, leaves the project group. The other classmates don't see any connection with their activity and fascism seeing only good things come from the movement. The members of The Wave begin spray-painting their logo around town, having parties where only Wave members are allowed to attend and generally, even unwittingly, ostracising and tormenting anyone not in their group.
One young man in particular, Tim, becomes very attached to the group, having finally become an accepted member of a social group in school. He burns his name-brand clothes after a discussion about how large corporations do not take responsibility for their actions. A pair of punks start a fight with Tim, but he is saved by Bomber and Sinan. He starts to bond with them and many other students. Tim later shows up at Wenger's house, offering to be a bodyguard. Wenger invites Tim in, saying he can have dinner, but no guarding is necessary. This puts further strain on Wenger's already tense relationship with his wife, who thinks the experiment has gone too far. Wenger finally ejects Tim from his house, only to find in the morning that the boy had slept on his doorstep.
Karo continues her attempts to expose the actions of The Wave, eventually earning the anger of many in the group, who approach her boyfriend, Marco (Max Riemelt
Max Riemelt
Max Riemelt is a German actor born in Berlin in 1984 . He says "it was more by coincidence because I hadn't really thought about getting involved in acting and hadn't joined any drama groups at school"....
), and ask him to do something about it. During their confrontation, Marco becomes angry and hits Karo, which drives home the fact that the experiment has become out of control. Marco approaches Herr Wenger, and asks him to stop the project. Wenger tells Marco to leave it up to him, and calls a meeting of all Wave members in the auditorium.
Once in the meeting, Wenger has the doors locked and begins whipping the students into a fervour, shouting that they will roll over Germany and change things to the way they ought to be. All the students are cheering and applauding. Marco stands and speaks against their actions, at which point Wenger calls for the "traitor" to be brought to the stage. When four boys bring Marco on stage, the teacher finally confronts them with their actions, asking them how far they would have gone; if they would have killed this boy had he asked. He reminds them of their assertion at the beginning of the week that another dictatorship would be impossible in Germany, and the majority of the students seem to feel shame and remorse when they realize that they have been participating in just that.
Some students insist that the Wave has also brought forth good things, but Wenger insist that it has to end, pointing out that the negative sides outweigh the positives on too many levels. Tim, stating that the Wave has become his life, acts frantically, shoots his new friend Bomber when he tries to calm him down, wounding him, before taking his own life. Wenger falls to his knees next to Tim's body and looks helplessly on his students.
The film ends with Wenger being taken into custody by the police, while he looks about at the victims, he is driven off. The film ends with Wenger seeing something ahead of him that frightens him, but this is not revealed to the audience leaving it out to speculation (Gansel's next film We are the Night
We Are the Night (film)
We Are the Night is a 2010 German vampire thriller film directed by Dennis Gansel, starring Karoline Herfurth and Nina Hoss. The film deals with a young woman who gets bitten by a female vampire and drawn into her world. She falls in love with a young police officer who investigates a murder case...
ends the same way).
Cast
- Jürgen VogelJürgen VogelJürgen Peter Vogel is a German actor, screenwriter, film producer and singer.-Biography:Jürgen Vogel is the son of a Hamburg waiter and a housewife. He worked as a child model, later had various jobs and visited the Munich drama school for one day. In 1985 he moved to Berlin, where he shared a...
as Rainer Wenger, the teacher who started the experiment with his class. - Frederick LauFrederick LauFrederick Lau is a German actor. He grew up and still lives in Berlin-Steglitz. He was awarded with the Deutscher Filmpreis for portraying the student Tim on the film Die Welle based on the novel by Dennis Gansel...
as Tim, an insecure student who has had problems at school. At the beginning of the film he is pictured as an outsider until The Wave project starts. Then he becomes a committed member and finds new friends. - Max RiemeltMax RiemeltMax Riemelt is a German actor born in Berlin in 1984 . He says "it was more by coincidence because I hadn't really thought about getting involved in acting and hadn't joined any drama groups at school"....
as Marco, a strong boy, who plays in Wenger's water poloWater poloWater polo is a team water sport. The playing team consists of six field players and one goalkeeper. The winner of the game is the team that scores more goals. Game play involves swimming, treading water , players passing the ball while being defended by opponents, and scoring by throwing into a...
team. He is Karo's boyfriend. - Jennifer UlrichJennifer UlrichJennifer Ulrich is a German actress who has starred in such films as The Wave and We are the Night. She was born in Lichtenberg, Berlin.-Career:...
as Karo, a diligent and intelligent student. She protests against The Wave and because of this, she has intense rows with Marco and her friends. - Cristina do Rego as Lisa, a shy girl who has never had a boyfriend. She is best friends with Karo, but later they have an argument when Karo protests against The Wave.
- Christiane PaulChristiane PaulChristiane Paul is a German film, television and stage actress.Paul first worked as a model for magazines such as Bravo. She was 17 when she obtained her first leading role in the film Deutschfieber...
as Anke Wenger, is the wife of Rainer and teaches in the same school. - Elyas M'Barek as Sinan, a student of Turkish descentTurkish peopleTurkish people, also known as the "Turks" , are an ethnic group primarily living in Turkey and in the former lands of the Ottoman Empire where Turkish minorities had been established in Bulgaria, Cyprus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Greece, Kosovo, Macedonia, and Romania...
and member of the water-polo team. He is Bomber's best friend. - Jacob MatschenzJacob MatschenzJacob Matschenz is a German actor. He is notable for film and television work including The Wave , 12 Paces Without a Head and The Sinking of the Laconia . He won the Adolf Grimme Award in 2008 for his appearance in An die Grenze.-Sources:*http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0559326/...
as Dennis, a student who comes from East Germany. He becomes a member of The Wave, like most of his classmates. - Maximilian Vollmar as Bomber, a bully who reforms thanks to The Wave and befriends Tim
- Maximilian Mauff as Kevin
- Ferdinand Schmidt-Modrow as Ferdi
- Tim Oliver Schultz as Jens
- Amelie Kiefer as Mona
- Odine Johne as Maja, a beautiful girl, who also joined the project.
- Fabian Preger as Kaschi
- Alexander Held as Tim's father
- Dennis GanselDennis GanselDennis Gansel is a film director, writer and actor from Germany.-Movie career:Gansel is best known for directing The Wave; his following project is the vampire film We Are The Night, which stars Karoline Herfurth, Nina Hoss, Jennifer Ulrich, Anna Fischer and Max Riemelt.- Filmography :* 1999 — Das...
as Martin
Soundtrack
The soundtrack of the film was released on May 25, 2008 through EMI GermanyEMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
, and contains tracks by The Subways
The Subways
The Subways are an English alternative rock / indie rock band. Their debut album, Young For Eternity, was released on 4 July 2005 in the UK and February 14, 2006 in the U.S. Their second album, All or Nothing, was released on 30 June 2008 and their third album Money and Celebrity debuted on the...
, Kilians
Kilians
Kilians are a German indie rock band. They started out as a loose group of music mad students from Dinslaken, Germany. In 2005, the band's line-up stabilised and they recorded their first self-titled EP...
, Johnossi
Johnossi
Johnossi is a rock duo from Saltsjöbaden, Stockholm, Sweden, consisting of songwriter, singer, guitarist John Engelbert and drummer, percussionist, singer Oskar "Ossi" Bonde...
, Digitalism
Digitalism (band)
Digitalism is a German electro house duo founded in 2004 in Hamburg and consisting of Jens "Jence" Moelle and İsmail "Isi" Tüfekçi. They are signed to French label Kitsuné Music, and have released four singles to date: "Idealistic", "Zdarlight", "Jupiter Room", and "Pogo"...
and The Hives
The Hives
The Hives are a Swedish garage rock band that first garnered attention in the early 2000s as a prominent group of the garage rock revival. Their mainstream success came with the release of the "greatest hits" album Your New Favourite Band, featuring their most well-known song "Hate to Say I Told...
, as well as an EL*KE version of the classic Ramones
Ramones
The Ramones were an American rock band that formed in the New York City neighborhood of Forest Hills, Queens, in 1974. They are often cited as the first punk rock group...
' track "Rock 'n' Roll High School
Rock 'n' Roll High School
Rock 'n' Roll High School is a 1979 musical comedy film produced by Roger Corman, directed by Allan Arkush, and featuring the Ramones.The film starred P. J. Soles, Vince Van Patten, and Clint Howard...
". The title-song "Garden Of Growing Hearts" was performed by Berlin band Empty Trash. The original film score was composed by Heiko Maile, a member of the band Camouflage
Camouflage (band)
Camouflage is a German New Wave trio consisting of Marcus Meyn, Heiko Maile and Oliver Kreyssig. Their only Billboard Hot 100 hit was "The Great Commandment" which climbed to #59 in 1988, though it did spend three weeks at #1 on the US dance chart...
.
Differences from the novel
In the book the action takes place in 1969 in the fictitious US Gordon High School, which in turn is based on an actual event at Cubberley High School, in Palo Alto, California. The film is set in 2008 in a German high school. The names were changed to sound Germanic, but the characters are similar. For example, Rainer Wenger is Ben Ross; Karo and Marco, Laurie Saunders and David Collins; Mona is Andrea; Tim, the outsider, is Robert Billings. The outsider theme was expanded by introducing three new characters: Sinan who is TurkishTurkish people
Turkish people, also known as the "Turks" , are an ethnic group primarily living in Turkey and in the former lands of the Ottoman Empire where Turkish minorities had been established in Bulgaria, Cyprus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Greece, Kosovo, Macedonia, and Romania...
, Kevin the aggressive bully and Dennis from East Germany who is mocked as "Ossi". The film's ending is more extreme than the novel's where there is no violence nor is the teacher arrested.
Trivia
The students are rehearsing a play, in which only "The Wave" students have roles after Karo is fired. This play is 'Der Besuch der alten Dame' of Friedrich Durenmatt. In this play, an old woman who was exiled from her village by her fellow inhabitants comes back after years; since she has lost her billionaire husband and inherited his wealth, she has her revenge by leading all the villagers to kill her former lover who didn't help her. One of the themes is the group action and how people lose their personalities in a group. This mirrors the teacher's experience, who lead people into acting and losing personalities.The film can be seen as echoing the earlier German film Das Experiment
Das Experiment
Das Experiment is a 2001 German film directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel, about a social experiment, based on Mario Giordano's novel Black Box, which resembles Philip Zimbardo's Stanford prison experiment of 1971.-Plot:...
, and also has tones of the Stephen King book (also made into a film), "Apt Pupil
Apt Pupil
Apt Pupil is a novella by Stephen King, originally published in the 1982 novella collection Different Seasons, subtitled "Summer of Corruption".-Format of the story:Apt Pupil consists of 29 chapters, many of which are headed by a month...
".
External links
- Official site
- The Wave Home Website with story history, FAQ, links, etc. by original Wave students