[filmlover-l] Movie this wednesday: Die
Welle (The Wave) |
Monday, February 06, 2012
6:43:48 PM |
From: |
tbco@mtu.edu |
To: |
filmlover-l@mtu.edu |
Hello everyone,
For this week, we are showing a German movie "Die Welle (The Wave)"
directed by Dennis Gansel. (More details below).
Please feel free to pass the
message around and invite your
friends. The more the merrier.
Hope you can join us.
Regards,
Tom Co
=================================
Title: Die Welle (The Wave)
Date and Time: February 8
Wednesday, 6:30-9pm
Place: 308 Cooper Ave, Hancock
Director: Dennis Gansel
Partial List of Actors:
Jürgen Vogel
Frederick Lau
Max Riemelt
Jennifer Ulrich
Christiane Paul
Jacob Matschenz
US Rating: not rated (I think it is R)
Language: German (with English subtitles)
Media: DVD color
Length: 107 mins
Summary: (from www.imdb.com)
"A high school teacher's unusual experiment to
demonstrate to his students what life is like
under a dictatorship spins horribly out of
control when he forms a social unit with a
life of its own."
My Comments:
I think the movie is well made and actors do a good job.
The most popular complaint, however, is that the story is
too
predictable and kind-of by the numbers. I sort of
concur,
and it could be done a little more artfully, but
there are
certain elements of the story that might be
more subtle than critics think. For instance, when
does one
wake up away from a "tsunami" of emotions and peer
pressure and form a counter-rebellion - is it just luck?
The movie is of course fictional, but the events are based
on a real experiment done by Ron Jones. If you search
wikipedia for "The Third Wave" you will find an interesting
set of events:
"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
experiment took place at Cubberley High School in
Palo Alto, California, during the first week of
April
1967. Jones, unable to explain to his students how
the German population could claim ignorance of the
extermination of the Jewish people, decided to show
them instead. Jones started a movement called
"The Third Wave" and told his students that the
movement aimed to eliminate democracy..."
A cautionary tale indeed, but like most events,
when emotions run high, history lessons are forgotten
immediately. Perhaps humans are often just too
primeval for their own good.
Apparently, a documentary entitled "The Lesson Plan"
was released in 2010 with interviews of the students
during that Third Wave and Ron Jones himself, recalling
the events....I have not seen that movie yet.
I think the lessons are still very relevant today.