CANNES -- "The Edukators" is that rare beast, a terrific movie that boasts intelligent wit, expert storytelling, delightful characters and grown-up dialogue plus suspense and a wicked surprise ending. The first German-language film In Competition at the festival in 11 years is a crowd-pleaser guaranteed to earn international attention.
Director and co-screenwriter Hans Weingartner's ambition is high as he grafts all the elements of a thriller onto what is a fascinating discussion of the need for kids to rebel. Rebellion is difficult for today's young people when what used to be subversive is on sale at the local department store and there's the feeling that everything has been done before.
Friends Jan (Daniel Bruhl) and Peter (Stipe Erceg) have their own answer. Using a membership list from the city's yacht club and armed with Peter's knowledge of alarm systems, they break into expensive mansions in the middle of the night. But they don't steal anything. They stack furniture, put objets d'art in the toilet and stick the stereo in the fridge. And they leave a note "Your days of plenty are numbered," signed "The Edukators". "We only want to scare them", Jan says.
These are youngsters who take their politics seriously, campaigning against Asian sweatshops that make high-priced name-brand sneakers and desperate for ways to make their mark on a heedlessly capitalist world.
Peter's girlfriend, Jule (Julia Jentsch), is brought into their nighttime adventures when Peter is away on holiday and he asks Jan to help Jule clean up the apartment she has been evicted from. Jule is €94,000 in debt because she wrote off a Mercedes as an uninsured car, and the owner, a man named Hardenberg, sued her.
Jan and Jule share a growing attraction to each other, and when he shows her how he cases the mansions, they discover they're near the street where the Mercedes owner lives, and they break in. Caught up in the adrenalin rush of their escapade, however, they're caught unawares when Hardenberg (Burghart Klaubner) shows up.
They call Peter to help and the three decide to kidnap the man and take him to Jule's uncle's empty cabin in the mountains. All of this is depicted with great flair and invention and played with pleasing naturalness and charm by the trio of young actors.
Once they are in the mountains, Weingartner and co-writer Katharina Held make their boldest step and carry it off with superb aplomb. As the triangle becomes more testing and the situation more criminal, Hardenberg turns out to be not quite the capitalist pig he appears. Well, he is, but he wasn't always, at least so he claims. He was a member of the SDS in 1968, he says, living in a commune with his wife and four others, with demonstrations, long hair, free love and the whole damned thing. Here, Klaubner matches the youngsters with his assured performance.
Sustaining the logic of the plot brilliantly, the film contrives to play the boys against each other and the girl, and the rich man against the rest in scenes that are highly entertaining and satisfying.
"Edukators" has the fresh breath of originality that makes going to the movies a pleasure.
THE EDUKATORS
A Y3 Film (Germany) co-production with Co-op99 (Austria) in collaboration with Sudwestrundfunk (SWR).
Credits:
Director: Hans Weingartner
Screenplay: Katharina Held, Hans Weingartner
Producers: Hans Weingartner, Antonin Svoboda
Cinematography: Matthias Schellenberg, Daniela Knapp
Production design: Christian M. Goldbeck
Editing: Dirk Oetelshoven, Andreas Wodraschke
Sound: Stefan Soltau
Costumes and makeup: Silvia Pernegger
Music: Andreas Wodraschke
Cast:
Jan: Daniel Bruhl
Jule: Julia Jentsch
Peter: Stipe Erceg
Hardenberg: Burghart Klaubner
No MPAA rating
Running time -- 126 minutes...
Director and co-screenwriter Hans Weingartner's ambition is high as he grafts all the elements of a thriller onto what is a fascinating discussion of the need for kids to rebel. Rebellion is difficult for today's young people when what used to be subversive is on sale at the local department store and there's the feeling that everything has been done before.
Friends Jan (Daniel Bruhl) and Peter (Stipe Erceg) have their own answer. Using a membership list from the city's yacht club and armed with Peter's knowledge of alarm systems, they break into expensive mansions in the middle of the night. But they don't steal anything. They stack furniture, put objets d'art in the toilet and stick the stereo in the fridge. And they leave a note "Your days of plenty are numbered," signed "The Edukators". "We only want to scare them", Jan says.
These are youngsters who take their politics seriously, campaigning against Asian sweatshops that make high-priced name-brand sneakers and desperate for ways to make their mark on a heedlessly capitalist world.
Peter's girlfriend, Jule (Julia Jentsch), is brought into their nighttime adventures when Peter is away on holiday and he asks Jan to help Jule clean up the apartment she has been evicted from. Jule is €94,000 in debt because she wrote off a Mercedes as an uninsured car, and the owner, a man named Hardenberg, sued her.
Jan and Jule share a growing attraction to each other, and when he shows her how he cases the mansions, they discover they're near the street where the Mercedes owner lives, and they break in. Caught up in the adrenalin rush of their escapade, however, they're caught unawares when Hardenberg (Burghart Klaubner) shows up.
They call Peter to help and the three decide to kidnap the man and take him to Jule's uncle's empty cabin in the mountains. All of this is depicted with great flair and invention and played with pleasing naturalness and charm by the trio of young actors.
Once they are in the mountains, Weingartner and co-writer Katharina Held make their boldest step and carry it off with superb aplomb. As the triangle becomes more testing and the situation more criminal, Hardenberg turns out to be not quite the capitalist pig he appears. Well, he is, but he wasn't always, at least so he claims. He was a member of the SDS in 1968, he says, living in a commune with his wife and four others, with demonstrations, long hair, free love and the whole damned thing. Here, Klaubner matches the youngsters with his assured performance.
Sustaining the logic of the plot brilliantly, the film contrives to play the boys against each other and the girl, and the rich man against the rest in scenes that are highly entertaining and satisfying.
"Edukators" has the fresh breath of originality that makes going to the movies a pleasure.
THE EDUKATORS
A Y3 Film (Germany) co-production with Co-op99 (Austria) in collaboration with Sudwestrundfunk (SWR).
Credits:
Director: Hans Weingartner
Screenplay: Katharina Held, Hans Weingartner
Producers: Hans Weingartner, Antonin Svoboda
Cinematography: Matthias Schellenberg, Daniela Knapp
Production design: Christian M. Goldbeck
Editing: Dirk Oetelshoven, Andreas Wodraschke
Sound: Stefan Soltau
Costumes and makeup: Silvia Pernegger
Music: Andreas Wodraschke
Cast:
Jan: Daniel Bruhl
Jule: Julia Jentsch
Peter: Stipe Erceg
Hardenberg: Burghart Klaubner
No MPAA rating
Running time -- 126 minutes...
CANNES -- "The Edukators" is that rare beast, a terrific movie that boasts intelligent wit, expert storytelling, delightful characters and grown-up dialogue plus suspense and a wicked surprise ending. The first German-language film In Competition at the festival in 11 years is a crowd-pleaser guaranteed to earn international attention.
Director and co-screenwriter Hans Weingartner's ambition is high as he grafts all the elements of a thriller onto what is a fascinating discussion of the need for kids to rebel. Rebellion is difficult for today's young people when what used to be subversive is on sale at the local department store and there's the feeling that everything has been done before.
Friends Jan (Daniel Bruhl) and Peter (Stipe Erceg) have their own answer. Using a membership list from the city's yacht club and armed with Peter's knowledge of alarm systems, they break into expensive mansions in the middle of the night. But they don't steal anything. They stack furniture, put objets d'art in the toilet and stick the stereo in the fridge. And they leave a note "Your days of plenty are numbered," signed "The Edukators". "We only want to scare them", Jan says.
These are youngsters who take their politics seriously, campaigning against Asian sweatshops that make high-priced name-brand sneakers and desperate for ways to make their mark on a heedlessly capitalist world.
Peter's girlfriend, Jule (Julia Jentsch), is brought into their nighttime adventures when Peter is away on holiday and he asks Jan to help Jule clean up the apartment she has been evicted from. Jule is €94,000 in debt because she wrote off a Mercedes as an uninsured car, and the owner, a man named Hardenberg, sued her.
Jan and Jule share a growing attraction to each other, and when he shows her how he cases the mansions, they discover they're near the street where the Mercedes owner lives, and they break in. Caught up in the adrenalin rush of their escapade, however, they're caught unawares when Hardenberg (Burghart Klaubner) shows up.
They call Peter to help and the three decide to kidnap the man and take him to Jule's uncle's empty cabin in the mountains. All of this is depicted with great flair and invention and played with pleasing naturalness and charm by the trio of young actors.
Once they are in the mountains, Weingartner and co-writer Katharina Held make their boldest step and carry it off with superb aplomb. As the triangle becomes more testing and the situation more criminal, Hardenberg turns out to be not quite the capitalist pig he appears. Well, he is, but he wasn't always, at least so he claims. He was a member of the SDS in 1968, he says, living in a commune with his wife and four others, with demonstrations, long hair, free love and the whole damned thing. Here, Klaubner matches the youngsters with his assured performance.
Sustaining the logic of the plot brilliantly, the film contrives to play the boys against each other and the girl, and the rich man against the rest in scenes that are highly entertaining and satisfying.
"Edukators" has the fresh breath of originality that makes going to the movies a pleasure.
THE EDUKATORS
A Y3 Film (Germany) co-production with Co-op99 (Austria) in collaboration with Sudwestrundfunk (SWR).
Credits:
Director: Hans Weingartner
Screenplay: Katharina Held, Hans Weingartner
Producers: Hans Weingartner, Antonin Svoboda
Cinematography: Matthias Schellenberg, Daniela Knapp
Production design: Christian M. Goldbeck
Editing: Dirk Oetelshoven, Andreas Wodraschke
Sound: Stefan Soltau
Costumes and makeup: Silvia Pernegger
Music: Andreas Wodraschke
Cast:
Jan: Daniel Bruhl
Jule: Julia Jentsch
Peter: Stipe Erceg
Hardenberg: Burghart Klaubner
No MPAA rating
Running time -- 126 minutes...
Director and co-screenwriter Hans Weingartner's ambition is high as he grafts all the elements of a thriller onto what is a fascinating discussion of the need for kids to rebel. Rebellion is difficult for today's young people when what used to be subversive is on sale at the local department store and there's the feeling that everything has been done before.
Friends Jan (Daniel Bruhl) and Peter (Stipe Erceg) have their own answer. Using a membership list from the city's yacht club and armed with Peter's knowledge of alarm systems, they break into expensive mansions in the middle of the night. But they don't steal anything. They stack furniture, put objets d'art in the toilet and stick the stereo in the fridge. And they leave a note "Your days of plenty are numbered," signed "The Edukators". "We only want to scare them", Jan says.
These are youngsters who take their politics seriously, campaigning against Asian sweatshops that make high-priced name-brand sneakers and desperate for ways to make their mark on a heedlessly capitalist world.
Peter's girlfriend, Jule (Julia Jentsch), is brought into their nighttime adventures when Peter is away on holiday and he asks Jan to help Jule clean up the apartment she has been evicted from. Jule is €94,000 in debt because she wrote off a Mercedes as an uninsured car, and the owner, a man named Hardenberg, sued her.
Jan and Jule share a growing attraction to each other, and when he shows her how he cases the mansions, they discover they're near the street where the Mercedes owner lives, and they break in. Caught up in the adrenalin rush of their escapade, however, they're caught unawares when Hardenberg (Burghart Klaubner) shows up.
They call Peter to help and the three decide to kidnap the man and take him to Jule's uncle's empty cabin in the mountains. All of this is depicted with great flair and invention and played with pleasing naturalness and charm by the trio of young actors.
Once they are in the mountains, Weingartner and co-writer Katharina Held make their boldest step and carry it off with superb aplomb. As the triangle becomes more testing and the situation more criminal, Hardenberg turns out to be not quite the capitalist pig he appears. Well, he is, but he wasn't always, at least so he claims. He was a member of the SDS in 1968, he says, living in a commune with his wife and four others, with demonstrations, long hair, free love and the whole damned thing. Here, Klaubner matches the youngsters with his assured performance.
Sustaining the logic of the plot brilliantly, the film contrives to play the boys against each other and the girl, and the rich man against the rest in scenes that are highly entertaining and satisfying.
"Edukators" has the fresh breath of originality that makes going to the movies a pleasure.
THE EDUKATORS
A Y3 Film (Germany) co-production with Co-op99 (Austria) in collaboration with Sudwestrundfunk (SWR).
Credits:
Director: Hans Weingartner
Screenplay: Katharina Held, Hans Weingartner
Producers: Hans Weingartner, Antonin Svoboda
Cinematography: Matthias Schellenberg, Daniela Knapp
Production design: Christian M. Goldbeck
Editing: Dirk Oetelshoven, Andreas Wodraschke
Sound: Stefan Soltau
Costumes and makeup: Silvia Pernegger
Music: Andreas Wodraschke
Cast:
Jan: Daniel Bruhl
Jule: Julia Jentsch
Peter: Stipe Erceg
Hardenberg: Burghart Klaubner
No MPAA rating
Running time -- 126 minutes...
- 5/18/2004
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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