How does anyone really portray autocracy and/or fascism? In most ways, it can be done in the usual one-dimensional concoction of corruption, evil deeds, extreme delusion and paranoia amongst the ruling elites of the regimes. The Wave ("Die Welle") though looks at the issue from a different angle, examining how it can arise and entrance those it touches, and in the process makes the whole issue look fresh again.

The basic story is that of a school teacher (an anarchist at heart) who has to teach a class about "Autocracy". Failing to get their attention, he decides to create an experiment whereby they are to create their own mini autocracy and rules amongst themselves (named "The Wave"). With such a controversial subject, the whole thing gets out of hand with the pupils succumbing to the autocratic fascist methodology with grave consequences.

One important point that needs to be added is that its a German movie, and for historical reasons the topic is a delicate one, yet seems to add to the whole feel. The film is quite realistically disturbing in many ways, and shows how most of the pupils slowly fall for fascism in quite innocent ways. It will make you think and possibly reassess the important question, as asked in the film, if Autocracy can rear its head again.

The writing, the acting and direction are excellent. Jürgen Vogel as the class teacher is both entertaining and thoughtful in his role, but the cast in general is exceptional especially as in the main they are mostly teenagers.

If you like thoughtful films, and wish to see something that is questioning historical events in the present, then there is little to better this. Deserves to be watched. Its a film that will definitely be spoken about and re watched by many repeatedly for many years to come.

A class learning about "autocracy" soon gets a taste of what a little dictatorship is like. What starts out as a fun experiment gets a bit messy. Oh, and don't even ask about The Wave...

The film is of special importance due to being made in Germany, a country quite familiar with how dictatorships can come about. As the film suggests, unemployment, inflation and social injustice is a breeding ground for dictatorship. Interestingly, they also point to nationalism -- the waving of flags. Where does patriotism end and nationalism begin? There is a subtle message about capitalism and consumer culture, too, with Nike and Adidas getting a nice jab or too in the eye.

I am unclear how this school works, because the teacher, Rainer Wenger (Jürgen Vogel),is referred to by his first name by his students, at least until he becomes the dictator Herr Wenger.

Could this work so easily in real life? I do not know -- it seems suspicious. But perhaps even more suspicious was how quickly some students objected when there was no danger or offensiveness present.

The film works even better for American audiences than you might think. We may not generally like subtitles, but having a German voice bark commands automatically calls to mind the speeches of Hitler, which is exactly what they are going for here.

"Die Welle" is a 100-minute movie from 7 years ago. It was written and directed by Dennis Gansel, who adapted an American short story for this one. Gansel is trying to become a known name in America in the next couple years and we will see if his attempt becomes more successful than the ones of Henckel von Donnersmarck and Uli Edel. This movie here features some of Germany's most established actors (Vogel, Paul, Kroymann) and some of Germany's biggest rising stars (Riemelt, Lau, Ulrich, Matschenz, M'Barek). Max Riemelt is a regular in Gansel's movies as well. Lau won a Best Supporting Actor German Film Award for his portrayal here. I believe that, even if his characters are not too different most of the time, he is a pretty talented actor and there will be certainly a lot more to see from him in the future.

"Die Welle" is a great example of an actually creative approach to putting the German Nazi past on the screen. There are so many movies out there that deal with the topic and are all basically the same, but this one here is a refreshingly different way of coming to terms with our past. Well done. It is not perfect by any means, but very watchable for almost the entire movie. I personally felt that the final scene at the auditorium was a bit too showy for my taste and it is certainly very different from the 1981 45-minute version and much more in your face. Also, I was not particularly wowed by the scenes with Paul and Vogel. The scenes with the kids were just better and more interesting except the escalation scene during the water polo game, in which the violence did not feel too credible. And Ulrich's character turned a bit too much into a second Sophie Scholl as the film went on. A bit of a shame as the movie's take on freedom pf press and opinion was a good one. A bit more subtlety would not have hurt this film. However, I really liked the final shot with Vogel in the police car. The screenplay is mostly fine from start to finish and Vogel and Lau give pretty good performances. Vogel's character is also very interesting. He did not get enough approval from his teaching colleagues, but the kids love him. He is a bit of an outsider as well and that is why he enjoyed all the appreciation and kept pouring oil into the fire not realizing the intensity of the flames he was creating. This film is certainly worth a watch. It was the most successful German movie in cinemas here in the year 2008, made even more money than the Oscar nominee "The Baader Meinhof Complex".