Und So Weite: More on The Wave (die Welle)
May 5th 2008 23:53
Warning: Posts on Und So Weite offer criticism on the film in question and contain major spoilers!
Last week's review of "The Wave (die Welle)" at the Festival of German Films brought some heated discussion to my group of friends. While the reception to the film has been overwhelmingly positive, I noted some problems I had with the movie.
The film races through the first third, attempting to establish the backgrounds of the various characters who feature prominently in the story. It's scattered and unfocused, which made me resent the film at first.
When "The Wave" finally hits its stride, after about 15 minutes, it's engrossing. The teacher, Rainer, attempts to teach his students about fascism, but they resist. These are German students who have had history lessons since they were tiny, force-fed endless discussions about how Germany tried to destroy the world.
As a result, they have a collective sense of shame... I've noticed this in the Germans that I've met, all very reluctant to express any kind of nationalism, unable to sing their national anthem.
The other effect of their school system repeatedly beating the past into them, is that the student are confident that it could never happen again in Germany, precisely because, as one student notes, "we're too well-informed".
"The Wave" is based on a true story, based on events that happened in California, where a teacher, Ron Jones, tried to show his students how the Nazis swept into power. He started small, with suggestions for uniforms, changes in discipline and form a sense of community.
The group was called The Wave and the experiment quickly grew out of control, self-assembling into a 200-strong army. Most frighteningly, the group involuntarily adopted practices that the Nazi started; an essay from a former student:
"By day's end Coniglio says banners were all over the school, including a 20 footer in the library. Members brought in some 200 converts from other classes to be "sworn in."
"It just swept through the school," recalls Jones..."It was like walking on slippery rock...by the third or fourth day, there was an obvious explosion of emotion that I couldn't control."
Several boys were assigned to "protect" Jones as he walked the school's corridors, wearing Third Wave armbands to signify their responsibility.
"It was a black band. When I went home, it got my parents worried," says Steve Benson, now a Palo Alto mechanic. "They thought it was the equivalent of the SS." Although his mother called Jones to express her concern, the teacher reassured her it was merely a class exercise."...
By the end of four days, approximately half the class had approached Jones with detailed information about the transgressions of others, ranging from improper salutes to coup plots against him.
"It just swept through the school," recalls Jones..."It was like walking on slippery rock...by the third or fourth day, there was an obvious explosion of emotion that I couldn't control."
Several boys were assigned to "protect" Jones as he walked the school's corridors, wearing Third Wave armbands to signify their responsibility.
"It was a black band. When I went home, it got my parents worried," says Steve Benson, now a Palo Alto mechanic. "They thought it was the equivalent of the SS." Although his mother called Jones to express her concern, the teacher reassured her it was merely a class exercise."...
By the end of four days, approximately half the class had approached Jones with detailed information about the transgressions of others, ranging from improper salutes to coup plots against him.
Terrifying... the film excels in replicating Jones' exercises, including posture, discipline and the Third Wave salute, disturbingly similar to the Nazi salute.
The film appears to lack conviction in some aspects, but after reading Jones' essay and writings from his students, I think the most disturbing aspect of this movie is that it all happened in real life. The movie has the teacher shutting down the project at the end of the week, which made me feel as if the entire premise was rushed. How could teenagers form a cohesive group that quickly, I wondered. Unlikely. Impossible.
Unfortunately, the truth is that Ron Jones had to shut down the exercise after just four days. In the 60s, less than 20 years after the end of WWII, American students adopted fascism in just four days.
Perhaps the most peculiar aspect of the movie is that it seemed fitting to release this movie now, in 2008. Has some aspect of German society changed? Is nationalism coming back? The last World Cup saw a German audience that was turbocharged to support their team... at face value, perhaps this is trivial, but does it carry some significance?
Jones writes in his essay:
"It was strange how quickly the students took to this uniform code of behavior I began to wonder just how far they could be pushed. Was this display of obedience a momentary game we were all playing, or was it something else. Was the desire for discipline and uniformity a natural need? A societal instinct we hide within our franchise restaurants and T.V. programming."
and on the road to more horror, Jones starts to question his previous methods of teaching, being open and tolerant:
"Why hadn't I thought of this technique before? Students seemed intent on the assignment and displayed Accurate recitation of facts and concepts. They even seemed to be asking better questions and treating each other with more compassion. How could this be? Here I was enacting an authoritarian learning environment and it seemed very productive. I now began to ponder not just how far this class could be pushed but how such I would change my basic beliefs toward an open classroom and self directed learning. Was all my belief in Carl Rogers to shrivel and die? Where was this experiment leading?"
Jones' experiment was a fascinating study on group behaviour... at the heart, Jones was as much an unwilling participant as the students. Information about the Third Wave is limited, but there have been cases of similar experiments conducted in recent years.
The subject matter of the film, "The Wave" is inherently fascinating... nearly any movie that tackles this subject would be compelling.This particular movie fails on the development of its characters. Several of the students appear to be one-dimensional stereotypes, perhaps intentionally, and even the teacher is left unexamined.
Despite the flaws, though, "The Wave" is a powerful movie and one that is a necessary reminder of the dangers of mob mentality. We've seen it so many times and we're in the middle of it now.
*this image is from Zelluloid
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"The other option of just letting the experiment run its course was also out of the question. Things were already getting out of control. Wednesday evening someone had broken into the room and ransacked the place. (I later found out it was the father of one of the students. He was a retired air force colonel who had spent time in a German prisoner of war camp. Upon hearing of our activity he simply lost control Late in the evening he broke into the room and tore it apart. I found him that morning propped up against the classroom door. He told me about his friends that had been killed in Germany. He was holding on to me and shaking. In staccato words he pleaded that I understand and help him get home. I called his wife and with the help of a neighbor walked him home. We spent hours later talking about what he felt and did, but from that moment on Thursday morning I was more concerned with what might be happening at school."