Les édukateurs

Die Fetten Jahre sind vorbei (The Edukators) is the first German film in competition at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival since Wim Wender's In weiter Ferne, so nah! (Faraway, So Close!) in 1993. The film's protagonists, Jan, Peter and Jule, dream of changing society. They form "The Edukators," a group that warns the rich and disturbs their material comfort with non-violent actions. In "the Edukators" Hans Weingartner raises the question: "What happened to the revolutionary generation of the sixties? Where are all the anarchists, hippies and idealists that wanted to change the world? I loved the movie, it is condemning and inspiring at the same time, depressing and uplifting and as a viewer you are forced to decide if you feel sympathy for the idealistic young people or the successful materialistic businessman. Or both?!

The first review I read of this movie criticized the camera work. I wonder why? For an indie production, this was a surprisingly high quality film and nowhere near as jerky as, say, Cloverfield. If you tend towards sea-sickness and have been avoiding watching this film for that reason then rest assured that there is no need to bring a sick bag to the viewing.

Having said that, I found the Edukators to be a well developed character drama that pulled the carpet out from under my feet just when it started to get too comfortable. The three central, activist characters have perfect amount of cynicism, idealism and vulnerability. Their views never came across as preachy, merely pragmatic. But then I'm left wing, so I guess I would say that - however, the 'other side of the story' gets a chance to be heard in the form of Mr. Hardenberg. As a child of a baby boomer I found him to be a familiar character, full of his generation's mournful sense of complicity in corruption. The only complaint i had is that the action drags a bit towards the end, but this is compensated for by the clever twist at the ending.

It's hard to find a story out there that actually contributes emotional depth to the 'capitalist vs. socialist' debate instead of focusing on rhetoric. That's why I am thankful to the makers of this film for contributing such a solid story to the mix. I would definitely recommend it to any activist friends who want to think beyond the next demo and/or leafletting session.

I have to issue a few words of warning first:

Don't see this movie after you have just enjoyed a really good Hollywood-production (as I did). Because if you do you may at first be put off a little bit by the quality of this digital productions that does not quite come up to 35mm-standards.

You will notice this for about 10 seconds.

Two hours later however you won't quite understand anymore what exactly it was you liked so much about this great Hollywood-movie that suddenly seems to be so shallow, so void of real issues and characters ...

This is a wonderful, wonderful gem of a movie that won't bore you even for a second and will keep you thinking for days and days.

I don't want to go into the plot here (see for yourself), just that: This is NOT a movie that can be summed up in one statement. It is a film about political activism, love, friendship, ideals in life and how we betray them, the generation if 1968 and what became of them, the dynamics of small groups and, and, and...

To wrap so much relevant issues into a gripping, highly entertaining and even funny story for me is a real miracle in scriptwriting. The dialogues are outstanding.

Of course the main reason this movie works so well is the fantastic cast. All four main characters are absolutely phenomenal and of course Danny Bruehl and Julia Jentsch show again that they are the best German actors of their generation.

This movie touches you emotionally, gives you food for thought and entertains immensely at the same time. For me it is the best movie I have seen this year.

This is what cinema should be like.

I'm sure there will be plenty of people that will accuse "The edukators" of being such a cheap anti-capitalism manifest, a "cool" product designed for rich boys who feel like making a revolution. Whatever, nowadays we need idealism more than ever, we need to believe in lost causes, we have to appeal to the dignity of the individual and to spit in the riches' faces. "The Edukators" is one way of doing all those things from the cinema screen by telling the story of three rebel young guys that won't stay and look without doing a thing while the big corporations destroy this world and turn us into working-hard zombies. They have an idea: to assault mansions, mess everything up, to make trouble just to scare the owners... not to steal, not to break things. It is all about disconcerting. Obviously their "game" will soon get out of hand, they'll get involved in a kidnapping, and they will bump into something that's more powerful than revolution or ideals: love. Two boys, one girl... that means TROUBLES.

As I said, we need more movies like this one that are so well made, and also tries to open people's eyes. (Unfortunatelly I'm sure that those who should get their eyes opened will never watch "The Edukators".

PS: It is worth to watch "The Edukators" even if it's just for the last minutes of the film, with Jeff Buckley singing Leonard Cohen's "Hallellujah" (that also proves the director's exquisite taste).

*My rate: 8/10

Don't let anyone tell you horror stories about the camera work, they probably never had an ounce of imagination anywhere in their bodies!

For those of us who are bored blind with standard Hollywood-ian movies, this kind of camera work is very refreshing. The constant motion puts us right into the characters' world and helps foster an instant connection with them. Not that one wouldn't connect with them without the fancy directing! On the contrary, Jan, Jule, and Peter will reawaken the idealist in anyone.

The movie is essentially about three friends with seemingly no particular direction in life other than petty political activism now and then. But Peter and Jan have found a very clever way of subverting the socio-economic system they so despise. Calling themselves "the Edukators", they break into the homes of the fabulously wealthy only to make some absurd adjustments to the arrangement of their furniture and leave a simple note behind: "You have too much money."

With this basic plot, The Edukators delves into that ill-defined human notion of morality, eventually blurring the line between the ethics of social politics and the ethics of personal relationships.

Don't let the plot scare you, you don't have to be an anarchist to enjoy this movie! It's well-written, beautifully shot, and flawlessly performed. Some of the drawbacks are that it gets a little long and preachy at the end (which happens fairly often to new directors), but let's not nitpick. I'm willing to gloss over the film's (rare) faults because, in the end, there is far too much to take home from this movie. It's a real shame that some would wish to dismiss it as some crackpot anarchist film.