Contextual Analysis of the Wave by Dennis Gansel - Movie Review Example

Contextual Analysis of “The Wave” Introduction The wave is a movie set over a nine day period in a high school. Contrary to expectation, it is not just the ordinary high school drama type of movie. The movie has deep and thrilling revelations. Based on an informal sort of class experiment by a high school teacher making efforts to teach issues ascribed to autocratic leadership despite the fact that he is a an anarchist. The movie meets the criteria for making any good movie or story for that matter. It has all the right ingredients to ensure success there is the initial situation, complication, conflict, suspense, climax and conclusion. The plot is organized in a manner that depicts various imperative contexts that basically make the movie more interesting. Dennis Gansel gives his audience various ideologies ascribed to dictatorship in the Movie, ‘The Wave’. This is described in various themes in the movie. One of the major ideologies that seem to form the basis of the movie is the theme of power. Moreover, he also described various ways that are usually applied by dictators and other leaders to seek massive support from a populace, basically, the theme of identity. In this regard, one may ask questions such as: How do they manage to brainwash masses to support their ideas? Therefore, it is prudent to argue that there are various specific ways used by autocrats to gain support from masses. Consequently, the director of the movie also seems to describe certain challenges that are usually experienced by dictators at the initial stages of convincing the public to accept their ideas. One of the major challenge emanate from the fact that their ideas may not be properly received by the populace they intend to lead. Contextual Analysis of the Movie In the movie, the ‘Wave’, the director presents the plot in a manner that gives viewers an opportunity to determine various ways used by dictators to brainwash the minds of their support making them support even their immoral actions. This is described as indicated below. For the conflict the movie introduces the documentary watched by the students. These students have questions that the teacher can’t seem to have the answer, a scenario that creates conflict since. The question that disturbs the students and the teacher the most is that they cannot understand why the Germans did not stop Hitler from killing the millions of Jews. This question is not exactly fair for several reasons because that question has been floating around since the event and a solution has never been found so it would be unfair to expect one teacher to solve it. Another reason is that the unfair treatment was spread out over Europe and hence answering that one question would lead to several others. This is just an example of the various questions that arise and remain unanswered since it is a very complicated topic so this qualifies it as conflict. Out of the frustration faced by being unable to answer the questions raised by the students, the teacher decides that an experiment is in order. The teacher Rainer creates an environment that is similar in conditions to that which existed during the Nazi era (Die Welle, 34:56). He dubs the experiment, “The wave”. The experiment is so successful that it takes on a life of its own and complicates life for the entire school. It even makes the teacher look like somewhat of a mad scientist. This becomes the main complication of the movie. It is the teacher’s plan to end the experiment. He seems to have forgotten however all about Tim turned from class loser to unwitting wave leader. The waves bring the young man unexpected power and fame. This is however reversed by the end of the wave leaving him once more with nothing in terms of power and fame. The audience is persuaded not to feel sorry for him based on his actions during the wave as he is only too willing to intimidate people just to keep it going. The end of the wave leaves him desperate confused and at a loss. Thus is the conclusion to the movie. We are left unaware of the talk between the teacher and Robert. The movie has several themes hidden in the plot. Basically, the themes are organized in a manner that elicits different feelings among viewers. Additionally, the themes are presented in a manner that they ensure that overall objective of the movie is properly presented to the audience. These themes also indicate various issues ascribed to autocrat leaders and how they manage to acquire wide aspects of public support. One of the most prominent themes is that of power. The whole concept is based on the context of a struggle for power since the trigger for the experiment is the outcome of one of the most incidences of corruption of power. The movie exemplifies to great detail what the craving for power will do to a persons and the extent to which they will go to retain it. The teacher abuses his power as an authority figure by exposing his students to an experiment that has potentially hazardous results. This corruption trickles down to the students. Not all power in the movie is negative as the school paper editor uses her power to bring the truth about the wave to light. Teacher Rainer applies various aspects of character to exhibit to his students the manner by, which autocratic leaders make the society aware of their existence; that is, the manner, which dictators creates an Identity. He applies certain undesirable characteristics and behaviors to make the society aware of their existence and emulate their actions. One of the methods applied by teacher, Rainer, is unfair marking of students’ exam papers. Moreover, he compels the students to put on certain specific uniform, almost similar to the ones that were used by the Nazis. This is conducted though meetings organized by the Wave leader, Mr. Rainer. Yet another theme is that of competition. In any high school setting competition is very high even under normal circumstances. While competition is sometimes good it usually makes for some very messy situation for the students of the high school the pressure to be popular and high grades intensifies competition among them. The students seem to be receptive to the idea of the wave because it offers relieve from the constant competition. The movie attempts to depict the manner by, which autocratic regimes usually make efforts to compete with other societal phenomena such as rules and regulations. In the movie, teacher Rainer is properly aware that there are rules that govern the general behavior of the students, ranging from students dress code to the manner by, which their papers are marked. Basically, it is apparent the movie is meant of explicit various issues ascribe to dictatorship. Teacher Rainer is an anarchist; however, owing to the fact that the country is faced with instances of dictatorship exhibited by Adolf Hitler, he is compelled to teach issues related to the prevailing autocratic leadership of the country. He makes attempts to explain to his students how leaders can use dictatorial modes of governance and become accepted. Basically, the movie is based on a scenario whereby, a teacher is faced by a challenge how dictators can be accepted in the society. Basically, the movie indicates the manner by, which autocratic leaders brainwashes their citizens in order to facilitate the acceptance of their leadership strategies. Personal Opinion on the general context of the movie Another imperative context depicted in the movie, ‘Wave’, is how public opinion is usually developed and manipulated by dictators. According to Welle, the same people who makethe society to accept their dictatorial forms of leadership are also responsible for shaping public opinions. Dictatorial ideas begin by an individual’s ideas; he/she applies the brainwashes the public in order to seek their opinions regarding their opinions. According to Welle, the corpus of public opinion alludes to the presentation of individuals’ opinions in a collective manner. In the movie, teacher Rainer teaches his class modes of autocratic leadership. In this scenario, the theme of dictatorship begins by a single individual, the teacher; he compels his students to emulate various behaviors of autocratic leadership. At the end of the movie, Rainer manages to convince a large following, leading to the development of a group known as the ‘Wave’. He manages to convince majority of students to support his autocratic ideas and support his movements. This context attempts to exhibit the manner by, which societies can be ‘brainwashed’to an extent that they believe on one leader, to whom they swore their loyalty and allegiance. Basically shaping public opinion is directly related to manipulating the society’s beliefs on certain issues. In the movie, the teacher manages to manipulate the teacher manages to manipulate his student’s perception and belief in regard to dictatorship and its impacts on the society. Summary The movie is based on a true story to a point although not in entirety. The generic setting of the movie seems to suggest that the events in the movie are not location specific meaning that the can occur anywhere and at it any time. This simply means that we are not necessarily safe from the occurrences of the movie just because the period it was set on sometime in the late 60’s is over. This combined with several other factors causes the viewer to wonder what would happen if they were put through the events of the movie. Even though events such as the holocaust which shape the movie happened in highly specific settings the struggle faced by one who chooses to speak out against the status quo for what they believe in is always almost the same. The setting of the movie works well to bring this out. Work Cited "Adolescents Values Can Serve As A Buffer Against Behaving Violently At School." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, n.d. Web. 18 Nov. 2013. . "Why Does Conflict Arise When Social Identity Is Threatened." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, n.d. Web. 18 Nov. 2013. . Die Welle. Dir. Dennis Gansel. Perf. Jurgen Vogel. Constantin Film, 2008. DVD. Read More