THE WAVE

DIE WELLE

 

Directed by Dennis Gansel

FRIDAY JANUARY 16 1 PM CASTRO

Based on an experiment at a Palo Alto high school in 1967, this cautionary tale about the roots of fasciscm is transposed to an unnamed German high school.
The students prepare for project week, a one-week unit covering one of several political theory topics such as anarchy, democracy, and autocracy. Instructor Rainer Wenger (Jürgen Vogel), a rebellious type who coaches water polo and wears Ramones T-shirts to work, will teach autocracy, and he decides on a controversial approach. Beginning with well-placed homilies about unity and cooperation, he suggests class uniforms and a group name. Some students switch to another class, disturbed by Wenger’s mode of instruction, while some of those remaining take the lessons to heart in increasingly disturbing ways. The heightening conflict finally erupts with exciting and surprising results.
A chilling allegory of fascism, director Dennis Gansel’s keenly observed film about the need to belong is based on events at a Palo Alto high school in 1967.
--Courtesy of the Mill Valley Film Festival

 

IN PERSON: Ron Jones

Co-presented by the SAN FRANCISCO JEWISH
FILM FESTIVAL

 

 

PURCHASE TICKET

Country
Germany
Year
2008
Run Time
35mm, 102min., German
with English subtitles
Cast
Jürgen Vogel
Frederick Lau
Max Riemelt
Jennifer Ulrich
Christiane Paul
Camera
Torsten Breuer
Screenwriter
Dennis Gansel
Peter Thorwarth
Printsource
Celluloid Dreams
Email
pascale@celluloid-dreams.com
Awards
German Film Awards 2008: Best Feature Film (Bronze); Best Suporting Actor (Frederick Lau)
Sundance 2008: In World Cinema Dramatic Competition

Director

Dennis Gansel
was born in 1973 in Hannover. After concluding his civil service he studied at the Munich Academy of Television and Film. His films include several shorts and THE PHANTOM (TV, 2000), GIRLS ON TOP (MÄDCHEN MÄDCHEN, 2001), NAPOLA (2004), and THE WAVE (DIE WELLE, 2008).