Die Welle (The Wave) (2008)

‘The Wave’, or its German name ‘Die Welle’, is a German movie directed by Dennis Gansel. It’s a film based on a true story, but of course updating it and adding more micro elements in it. The Wave is a movie based on and surrounded by politics. It’s about an experiment by a teacher who gives his students an option to choose either democracy or autocracy, one of the leadership styles. However, things don’t turn out to be as expected in the duration of the film. With one side of politics being defined and shown in the film, you will like it. Yes, as a 17-year old teenager, I’m making this statement. I liked certain elements in the film. The background music is definitely one of them. It added some intensity to the interesting story. Moreover, the acting by all the students and the teacher was convincing. Rainer Wenger, a German teacher who is played brilliantly by Jürgen Vogel. Other characters and actors such as Tim (Frederick Lau), Karo (Jennifer Ulrich) and Anke (Christiane Paul) were all crucial for the film. There are a lot of codes I liked in the movie. Examples would be the actual wave, their salute to their teacher, wearing identical clothing such as white shirts and blue jeans, hanging out together as a unit and having their own symbol being created and sprayed everywhere like restaurants and buildings. This was done in order to spread the word of their political movement and group’s existence. The Wave has a main focus throughout its entire duration, which is autocracy. You see a major change in the students’ attitude. Moreover, this becomes the main theme of the film. Vandalism, bullying, violence, threats and such things are specifics in terms of their behaviour. You would get mainly two things out of this film – surveillance and personal relationships. You’ll obviously be informed and educated about the experiment. Moreover, you will be compelled to really think in depth regarding the storyline (the events and especially the ending) and very likely, you will end up discussing with at least a few people, even those who haven’t watched it. It is very unlikely that you will be passive while and after watching this film. The movie is so realistic that makes it worth watching. You just think that some of the events shown in the film can still actually happen, even if chances are odd. The Wave is entertaining and especially thought-provoking. It offers and presents many rhetorical questions that are left for you to try and answer after watching. In conclusion, I definitely recommend you watch this film. Just make sure young kids below the age of 16 are not around while you’re watching it.