The Wave

 

  This is a german film about fascism. Obviously it's a sensitive subject in Germany, and this film must be harder hitting over there. 

   The story starts with a teacher being tasked with teaching his class about autocracy. So he sets out to convince his sceptical students just how easily totalitarianism can take over a people by turning the classroom into a totalitarian state.

    He has the class wearing a distinct uniform. They snap to attention when answering a question. They march on the spot, to annoy the enemy - the anarchy class below. With alarming speed most of the class start to act as an elite. Dissenters are ostracised, percieved enemies are duffed up. The group - they call themselves the wave - have their own salute, and spraypaint their logo all over the town. It all gets horribly out of hand and, predictably, ends in tears.

    The point of this film is that it's a lot easier to set up a dictatorship than many people would like to believe. Tell a bunch of people that they are the elite, that they are right and enyone who disagrees should be destroyed, and you're going to get plenty who will go along with you. Dictatorships can be fun, if you're the ones doing the dictating.