I'm always suspicious of the phrase 'based on a true story' when it appears in the opening credits of a film. More often than not, the basis of truth on which the fictionalised account that follows is based is so sliver-thin as to be nigh on invisible. This appears to be the case here, with standard (in fact clichéd) genre staples such as the girl alone in the corridors of a deserted school who is plunged into darkness when the lights are mysteriously extinguished (we never find out the culprit) inserted purely to add an element of tension that merely yanks the viewer from what is otherwise an absorbing and reasonably intelligent study of the power of the fascist mindset and its' emergence from noble ideals. There's also some gunplay at the end and a murder attempt in a swimming pool which we can be sure never really took place. The writers will no doubt claim such moments were inserted to emphasise the point they were trying to make - but sometimes they underestimate their audience, these writers, and end up insulting our intelligence. Others have cast doubt on such events occurring within the space of five days, but Ron Jones, the originator of the real Wave in California in the 60s, grew so frightened by how his little experiment was spiralling out of control that he called it off after just four days, by which time a reported 200 students had been seduced.
Die Welle is a gripping piece of movie-making, despite the obvious flaws, and delivers a frighteningly believable account of how easily impressionable young minds can be moulded, and how easily the good intentions of such organisations (with its obvious parallels to the Third Reich) can so easily become tainted and ultimately erased, leaving only the bad to flourish. The fact that it's a German film, paradoxically weakens the subject - although it's easy to understand why it would be of interest to a German filmmaker; it would surely have been more powerful had it been based in America - home of the (on the face of it) most rabidly democratic society on earth. It can't happen here? Don't you believe it.
Die Welle is a gripping piece of movie-making, despite the obvious flaws, and delivers a frighteningly believable account of how easily impressionable young minds can be moulded, and how easily the good intentions of such organisations (with its obvious parallels to the Third Reich) can so easily become tainted and ultimately erased, leaving only the bad to flourish. The fact that it's a German film, paradoxically weakens the subject - although it's easy to understand why it would be of interest to a German filmmaker; it would surely have been more powerful had it been based in America - home of the (on the face of it) most rabidly democratic society on earth. It can't happen here? Don't you believe it.