The Wave. Activities.

I. BEFORE WATCHING THE FILM.

The story that tells the film is a warning. It raises the following
question: Can a fascist regime work today?
Die Welle shows how quickly fascist structure can be established.

Basic vocabulary: search the following terms in the dictionary:

Autocracy, charisma (charismatic leader),

II. QUESTIONS RELATING TO THE FILM.

(To keep in mind while watching the movie)

Rock 'n' Roll High School (RAMONES)
Well I don't care about history
Rock, rock, rock 'n' roll high school
'cause that's not where I wanna be
Rock, rock, rock 'n' roll high school
…
I hate the teachers and the principal
Don't wanna be taught to be no fool
…
Fun fun rock 'n' roll high school
Fun fun, oh baby

1. The plot of the film is set in the present in a fictional place in

Germany. What effect do the stage and time chosen have to the
viewer?
2. Consider the main characters of the film: Karo, Marco, Tim, Dennis,
Kevin, Sinan, Lisa, Bomber, Rainer Wenger. What changes do they
experience throughout the film?
3. There are sequences that stay in the memory because they are connected
to a feeling of fear or concern. What are memories? How do the camera,
light, and music work in them? What effects do they seek to produce?
4. What resources do the students use to make the die Welle
propaganda?
5. What effects does die Welle have on the trials of “The visit of
the old lady” and the water polo game? By the way, research the
author and the subject of the work that represents the students.
6. Do you find the end of the film conclusive and acceptable? Justify
your opinion.
6. Write a sentence, a question, or an idea about the film that has
inspired you.

I. PRACTICAL EXERCISES. FOR AFTER SEEING THE FILM.

A. Discussion about the film

1. Why hadn’t anyone realize none of the Tim’s murderous

impulses?
2. In what moment did the invisible line traded Rainer?
3. Does discipline mean the same as unit (community) to
dictatorship?
4. Does a school uniform represent the beginning of the autocratic
forms?
5. What made die Welle so attractive?
6. How much violence do we accept day to day?
7. When did it become a community, a dangerous group?
8. Who, apart from Time and Rainer Wagner, have lost more?
9. Dennis said: not everything about die Welle was bad. What did
he mean?
10. Do men get carried away by the autocratic ways more than
women?
11. Are men easily seduced than women in politics?
12. For Mona, any means is good to stop die Welle. Do you agree?
And in other cases, do you find it valid?

B. Activities in pairs or groups: Each student will choose to participate

in at least one of the following:

1. About leadership. (Maximum 4 participants) Draw a head on

big paper. The head will represent a charismatic character of the
present (music, actor, politician, etc), it will answer the following
questions:

a) What is a leader?
b) How does a leader act, and specifically how has he chosen
the group? (physical presence, ability in impose, etc… )
c) What does it transmit? (Authority, respect, confidence,….)
d) Do I feel attracted to this figure? Why? Why not?
e) How far will this leader be accepted?
1. The interrogation. (dramatization in pairs). A student
represents a policeman who is interviewing Rainer Wegner. The
other will represent the teacher who will try to justify the
experiment and try to clarify his tragic end. Prepare the
questions previously.

The rest of the students will sit behind an imaginary mirror as

witnesses to the scene. They will listen to the questions and at the
end, measure the questions and answers.
⁃ What understanding of the accused does the police show?
⁃ Does the professor respond honestly?
⁃ What relationship of power is established between interrogator and
the interrogated person?

1. Journalistic report for press, radio, or TV. (In pairs or

individually) You feel like a journalist and prepare a report on the
events related to die Welle. You can start from the first scene fof
the film – Reiner in his car on the way to school – and the last,
Reiner conducted by the police for interrogation.

1. I, Wenger. Individual drafting. Put yourself in the place of

the professor, try to think how she designed her
experiment.
⁃ ¿What pedagogical objectives would be pursued?
⁃ ¿What would be the needs and emotions of the students?
⁃ ¿What role models would be intended to reject?

1.
Adaptation of Die Welle. Filmhefte. Materialen für den
Unterrichten. Autoren   Regine   Wenger   und   Ulrich   Steller.  Impressum.  Herausgeber:   Vera
Conrad, Schmellerstraße 26, 80337 München