Die Welle (The Wave) - 2008

Some controversial experiments in modern psychology have dealt with how far test subjects will go when told to do something. Years ago, a social exercise, The Third Wave , took place at a California high school. To illustrate the Germans complicity during the Nazi regime, a teacher motivated his students into creating a unified, anti-Democracy front that looked frighteningly familiar. The event inspired a novel by Morton Rhue and a TV program in the US (1981).

Die Welle takes place in a current-day Gymnasium in Germany. It s a fascinating twist on that story. While introducing the ideology for a class project, the teacher (hip, left, popular - Jürgen Vogel) finds his lethargic students can t imagine a dictatorship could actually take place again in today s German society. He decides to teach them a lesson: He quickly establishes a minor cult of personality and provides the kids the intoxicating taste of mob power. Within days the WELLE builds into a real movement. A score of rock songs (e.g. Heiko Maile/Camouflage) add to the combustible mix and excellent cinematography captures the action. The original end of the story is changed to what could and has happened in schools today. There is something additionally chilling about seeing it take place in Germany. However, as the film makes abundantly clear, the seeds of fascism can be sown easily anywhere at any time.