This 2008 film is a thriller based in the classroom. A teacher, who himself is an anarchist, decides to create a social experiment, mimicking what it is like under a dictatorship. It’s like a high school version of das Experiment (which, by the way, is another great German film).
This film has to do with mob mentality and what the mob will do in order to keep that sense of community and Zusammenarbeit (English doesn’t do it justice here). What happens when members of the mob believe in the leader more than the leader meant to happen. What happens when some realize that the mob has gone too far.
This film is filled with successful and popular actors. On the top of that list is our main character, actor Jürgen Vogel. He has been acting steadily (several appearances per year) since 1985, and even had made an appearance back in 1973 on Sesamstraße.
There are several swear words said throughout the movie, in both English and in German, but none are glorified. They’re mostly said by the “bad” kids who are trying to impress everyone and obviously impressing no one.
This movie would almost certainly fall in the PG-13 range in the US. There is some violence that may be triggers to some. The hardest thing about it is that this violence is something that could happen in our lives.
Die Welle is a favourite for many of my students in the high school level and has led to impressive presentations and essays regarding German political history in German 2 classes.