13/03/2008

Today sees the release of a film that has been eagerly awaited by German audiences: Dennis Gansel’s The Wave [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (distributed by Constantin).

The film is based on the revealing educational experiment carried out by Morton Rhue, a teacher in a Californian high school in 1967. Within a few days, this charismatic teacher managed to get his students to obey the discipline and series of rules he imposed, with no tolerance of rebellion, and even made them adopt particular behaviour and wear a uniform.

What they didn’t realise was that this movement, called "the third wave" – which they had followed with disturbing enthusiasm – closely reproduced the mechanisms of Nazism.

Convinced, as was Rhue, that this dangerous phenomenon could easily be repeated, Gansel chose to relocate the story to modern-day Germany, with the role of the crowd-leading gym teacher played by Jürgen Vogel.

The Wave was produced by Christian Becker for Munich-based company Rat Pack Filmproduktion.

Two other German releases hit screens today. Roland Reber’s Mein Traum oder Die Einsamkeit ist nie allein centres on the existential stroll of a "Man" accompanied by another character whose name "Godot" speaks volumes about the film’s artistic aspirations and the aesthetic realm that inspired it.

The film was produced by wtp international, who are also handling distribution.

Theatre is also in the spotlight in Regina Schilling’s documentary Bierbichler, a cinematic portrait of one of Germany’s most famous stage and film actors. The title was produced by Zero One Film and is being released by RealFiction.

The other European titles in this week’s line-up are all French (co-)productions. Bildkraft are re-releasing Johan (1975), in which Philippe Vallois describes the gay scene in Paris in the 1970s. Meanwhile, 3L are launching French/UK comedy Love and Others Disasters [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Alek Keshishian.

Weltecho are giving German viewers the chance to discover 13 Tzameti [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Fanny Saadi
interview: Gela Babluani
film profile], the superbly directed French/Georgian co-production for which Gela Babluani has won several awards.

Finally, Arsenal are launching French/Israeli co-production Jellyfish [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], which tells the story of three women in Tel Aviv. The film is directed by Shira Geffen and cult writer Etgar Keret, who picked up the Camera d’Or and the SACD Screenwriting Award at the latest Cannes Film Festival.

(Translated from French)