Wednesday September 25th 2019
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Germany  2008   107 minutes
Director: Dennis Gansel
Starring: Jurgen Vogel, Frederick Lau, Max Reimelt

A high-school class is learning about different forms of government. Their teacher decides to illustrate the essentials of autocratic dictatorship by playing the role of dictator himself, with the pupils as his ‘subjects’. Most of them soon adapt to their parts with enthusiasm, even wearing a simple uniform and using an invented form of salute- the ‘Wave’ of the film’s title. But in the space of a week events threaten to spiral out of control, and the teacher is faced with calling the experiment to a halt. An engrossing film with a disquieting message, it had particular resonance in its country of origin when it was released some ten years ago.