The Wave

Inspired by true events, The Wave follows German high school teacher Rainer Wenger (Jürgen Vogel) as he reluctantly agrees to spend a week demonstrating the dangers of autocracy – which he attempts to accomplish by adopting the role of dictator and forcing his students to, among other things, wear white shirts and great each other with a salute. (Wenger even agrees to name the group the Wave.) The experiment initially seems promising – the teenagers become studious and obedient – yet it’s not long before things begin to spiral out of control. There’s little doubt that The Wave fares best in its opening half hour, as filmmaker Dennis Gansel does a superb job of employing the inherently compelling premise to engaging and periodically fascinating effect – with the stirring atmosphere heightened by the stellar performances and by Gansel’s striking visual sensibilities. The lack of subtlety within Gansel and Peter Thorwarth’s screenplay is, as a result, not as problematic as one might’ve feared, with the scripters’ less-than-delicate modus operandi reflected most keenly in the subplot revolving around an especially ardent follower of the Wave (eg the kid goes so far as to burn his regular clothes). The film’s taut atmosphere persists right up until the increasingly stagnant midsection, as Gansel and Thorwarth slowly-but-surely begin to emphasize elements of a decidedly repetitive and conventional nature (eg Wenger accuses his wife of jealousy after she confronts him over the Wave’s growing popularity). The inclusion of an engrossing (yet expected) finale ensures that The Wave ends on an exceedingly positive note, though it’s ultimately clear that the movie could’ve used a few more passes through the editing bay.

*** out of ****