1 / 8
MONEY
Did you know
Made its money back 4.3× over at the box office.
MoodPlayr · trivia#01
The Wave
"Their teacher became their leader. His students became his soldiers."
2008 1h 47m DE
👍
7.5
SOLID
★7.5TMDB · 3,714
DramaThriller
Synopsis
Spoiler shield
A school teacher discusses types of government with his class. His students find it too boring to repeatedly go over national socialism and believe that dictatorship cannot be established in modern Germany. He starts an experiment to show how easily the masses can become manipulated.
“Their teacher became their leader. His students became his soldiers.”
Where to watch · US
Cast
Jürgen Vogel
Rainer Wenger
Frederick Lau
Tim
Max Riemelt
Marco
Jennifer Ulrich
Karo
Christiane Paul
Anke Wenger
Elyas M'Barek
Sinan
Cristina do Rego
Lisa
Jacob Matschenz
Dennis
Credits
Behind the camera
- Director
- Dennis Gansel
- Writers
- Peter Thorwarth, Dennis Gansel, Johnny Dawkins
- Languages
- German
- Countries
- Germany
Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.
Did you know?
Fun facts 🍿
2 / 8
ERA
Did you know
Released 18 years ago.
MoodPlayr · trivia#02
3 / 8
DIRECTOR
Did you know
Directed by Dennis Gansel, shot by Torsten Breuer. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
MoodPlayr · trivia#03
4 / 8
DIRECTOR
Did you know
Original score by Heiko Maile. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
MoodPlayr · trivia#04
5 / 8
DIRECTOR
Did you know
Editor Ueli Christen shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
MoodPlayr · trivia#05
6 / 8
CAST
Did you know
Jürgen Vogel and Frederick Lau and Max Riemelt carry the top of the cast.
MoodPlayr · trivia#06
7 / 8
ERA
Did you know
Marketing tagline: "Their teacher became their leader. His students became his soldiers.".
MoodPlayr · trivia#07
8 / 8
WILD
Did you know
IMDB entry: tt1063669 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
MoodPlayr · trivia#08
Cinephile deep dive
The take
Dennis Gansel directs. Torsten Breuer behind the camera. Heiko Maile scores. Ueli Christen cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in Germany. Dialogue in German.
Trivia
Things worth knowing
- 1Made its money back 4.3× over at the box office.
- 2Released 18 years ago.
- 3Directed by Dennis Gansel, shot by Torsten Breuer. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
- 4Original score by Heiko Maile. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
- 5Editor Ueli Christen shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
- 6Jürgen Vogel and Frederick Lau and Max Riemelt carry the top of the cast.
- 7Marketing tagline: "Their teacher became their leader. His students became his soldiers.".
- 8IMDB entry: tt1063669 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
- 9Classified under 22 themes, including "high school", "experiment", "dictator", "gymnasium".
- 10Released under 12 different titles around the world.
The technical file
- Cinematography
- Torsten Breuer
- Original score
- Heiko Maile
- Editing
- Ueli Christen
- Production design
- Knut Loewe
- Costume design
- Ivana Milos
- Sound
- Alexander Saal
- Stunt coordinator
- Rainer Werner
- Runtime
- 107 min · 1h 47m
- Aspect ratio (typical)
- 1.37:1 (Academy)
- Status
- Released
- Budget
- $7,500,000
- Box office
- $32,350,637
- Return
- 431% of budget
- Original language
- DE
- IMDB
- The Wave (2008)
Also by
Dennis Gansel
Stills · wallpapers
Selected frames
Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.
Trailers & featurettes
Watch the pieces
Production companies
Who made it
Rat Pack Filmproduktion
DE
- B.
B.A. Produktion
DE
Constantin Film
DE
Celluloid Dreams
FR
Key crew
- ProducerChristian Becker
- EditorUeli Christen
- Executive ProducerNina Maag
- Costume DesignIvana Milos
- Production ManagerUlrike Fauth
- Co-ProducerMartin Moszkowicz
- Production DesignKnut Loewe
- Co-ProducerAntonio Exacoustos
- Co-ProducerDavid Groenewold
- CastingFranziska Aigner
- ContinuityJan Birka
- Sound DesignerAlexander Saal
- Still PhotographerConny Klein
- ADR SupervisorTomas Bastian
- Post Production SupervisorDierk Beck von Rohland
- First Assistant DirectorHendrik Holler
- Stunt CoordinatorRainer Werner
- Foley RecordistPhilipp Sellier
- ADR EditorTomas Bastian
- Foley ArtistJörn Poetzl
- Second Unit DirectorHendrik Holler
- Dialogue EditorTomas Bastian
- Title DesignerDarius Ghanai
- Original Film WriterJohnny Dawkins
Themes & keywords
What it's about, really
- high school
- experiment
- dictator
- gymnasium
- trainer
- classroom
- fascism
- national socialism
- violence in schools
- training
- education
- squatter
- anarchist
- homepage
- high school teacher
- shocking
- philosophical
- water polo
- autocracy
- dramatic
- commanding
- complicated
Release history · US
When it landed
- Theatrical2008-03-18
Also known as
International titles
- A OndaBR
- Эксперимент 2: ВолнаRU
- The WaveUS
- 恶魔教室CN
- La olaES
- Náš vůdceCZ
- Nas vudceCZ
- The Wave ウェイヴJP
- Το ΚύμαGR
- La VagueFR
- FalaPL
- 디 벨레KR
