The Edukators (2004)

Director

• Hans Weingartner

Starring

• Daniel Brühl
• Julia Jentsch
• Stipe Erceg
• Burghart Klaussner
• Peer Martiny

Last On

02:00-04:05 Sun 27th May 2012 125m
Channel 4

Synopsis

Borrowing the immediate, intimate style that characterised the political output of the New German Cinema of the 1970s, director Hans Weingartner here highlights some telling contrasts between the revolutionary fervour of 1960s youth and the more emotive radicalism of the modern antiglobalisation movement. Daniel Brühl (of Good Bye Lenin! fame) and Stipe Erceg star as flatmates and mischievous activists "The Edukators", who break into luxury homes to daub sinister slogans and rearrange the occupants' possessions. However, Weingartner allows a romantic triangle between the two friends and Erceg's girlfriend (Julia Jentsch) to intrude upon the debate about ideology and action that ensues when they kidnap duplicitous businessman Burghart Klaussner and imprison him in a mountain hideaway while they plan their endgame. Brühl and Klaussner impress with their performances, but the plotting and dialogue lack the precision to make this a more significant experience.