Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1862 in DVD
• Released on: 2009-01-12
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Format: PAL
• Original language: German
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 102 minutes

Synopsis
In an attempt to engage his students in politics, a high school teacher takes the controversial decision to turn the classroom into a Nazi-style dictatorship. But what starts out as an innocent social experiment ends in tragedy when the roots of fascism begin to take hold of the students. Before long, notions of discipline and community give way to more sinister methods of intimidation and violence as the movement grows in power. Can the teacher quell the wave before it engulfs the entire school? Based on actual events, THE WAVE is a gripping drama that delves deep into the fascist mindset, exposing all its flaws and contradictions through the characters' newly-adopted behaviours and attitudes.

Customer Reviews

Die Welle
A real thought-provoking and interesting film. I knew little of the story before taking the sixth form German students from my school to a viewing. We all came away shocked and entertained, shocked by the possibilities and entertained by the drama and suspense. It may put some people off that the film is in German but it is worth seeing nevertheless. For those of you who speak German, the language is that of the everyday schoolyard, not of the textbook so exposes the student to a different aspect of culture and society.

Disturbingly brilliant
Entirely fictional - convincingly imaginable! This modern-day take on the haunting spectre of unconsciously becoming a willing participant in a dictatorship (Germany has had its set of unhappy and gruesome exeperiences with such) is worth anybody's time and is a fantastic study piece for students of history (English subtitles are good) and of German (authentic modern-day German including youth language).

A very thought provoking film.
My wife recommended this to me as she'd seen a review of the DVD release and thought it sounded interesting. Boy, was she right. I knew nothing of the story until I came on to Amazon to buy it and read the reviews, but I thought it would be maybe worth a look. The story is set in modern day Germany, although the actual events took place in America in the late 60's. A teacher conducts an experiment with his class to demonstrate how people can be swept along by an autocratic regime.
I don't want to say too much about what happens, but it was extremely unsettling to think how easy it could be to manipulate people to behave in ways they would not ordinarily dream of.
The film is subtitled but please don't let that put you off - after five minutes you won't even notice them. I would recommend this film to anyone.