Narrative, 2008
Director: Dennis Gansel
Germany/ German with subtitles
93 minutes
This was simply brilliant.
Based on the true story of a 1967 California high school experiment on the roots of fascism that went dangerously out of control, the filmmakers make the tale even more controversial and potentially explosive by setting it in modern Germany.
The class has a week-long project on autocracy led by popular rebel teacher Rainier Wegner (Jurgen Vogel) who would have much preferred to teach anarchy.
The views of the teens themselves were interesting and probably very reflective of the true feelings of much of Germany's younger generations. "Not again, the Nazi's sucked we get it." Some felt weighed down by the constant reminders of the most terrible parts of their country's history, burdened by the fact that of all countries they felt they were most limited in showing their national pride. Others felt they had to constantly face it because it was part of their country's "special social responsibility." Still others thought the Bush regime was more relevant in discussions of fascism. One thing they all agreed on, was that it absolutely, positively could never happen again. Challenged by this potentially dangerous delusion, Wegner began an experiment to try to show them just how wrong they were. He did.
Little by little, he coaxed them into an autocracy without them ever even realizing it. Through praise, unity, and other psychological ploys he created an exclusive club that took pride in itself and began to exclude and mistreat others. The experiment got out of control so fast it was scary and took on a life of its own before few even realized it.
The performances are excellent, the characters fully rounded showing how each was more or less susceptible based on their individual circumstances. The directing and production quality were as good as any Hollywood film with energetic editing and a pounding soundtrack to go with the palpable sense of suspense. You knew it was going to get bad. But, how bad? How far would it go? How fast? Could they stop it? Would they want to?
It is definitely a must see and an excellent warning on what could happen if we do not stay vigilant. This is especially true if after seeing the movie you read up on the actual experiment it was based on, "The Third Wave." The scariest thing about this movie is how little they had to change or exaggerate from what actually happened and how easily this could have been how things really went down.
Lucy Cruell