Die Welle (The Wave) 2008

Rainer is the cool teacher - he wears t-shirts and jeans to school, listens to rock music, and lets his students address him by his first name. When given the task of teaching a week long class on Autocracy, Rainer becomes Herr Wenger and teaches his class about authority, discipline, group harmony, and unity. Based in part on an experiment by a California high school teacher, Die Welle reveals how easily people can be motivated and manipulated, especially young people. Parts of the film seem implausible. For example, could high school kids really get this engrossed in something in such a short amount of time? Also, are high schoolers really this impressionable? With a strong script, engaging subject, and great young actors. They make the film feel more like a documentary with genuine high schoolers rather than a scripted film.

Die Welle made me a believer with 3 out of 5 Poblanos!

Director: Dennis Gansel
Writer: Dennis Gansel, Peter Thorwarth
Starring: Jürgen Vogel, Frederick Lau and Max Riemelt
Rotten Tomatoes: 65%
Metacritic: Not reviewed