The Edukators (2004)

Jan (Daniel Brühl, Ladies in Lavender) and Peter are the best friends behind the radical and mysterious group The Edukators, united by their passion to change the world, in "The funniest, most original movie I’ve seen all year." (David Edwards, The Daily Mirror). When the rich go on vacation, The Edukators break into their homes. They don’t steal, but simply rearrange everything, leaving the message "Your days of plenty are numbered." When Peter’s girlfriend Jule (Julia Jentsch, winner, Best Young Actress, 2005 Bavarian Film Awards) moves in, she joins them in their subversive activities. But when a rich businessman catches them in the act, they rashly decide to kidnap him. Faced with the values of the generation in power, they will see what kind of revolutionaries they are, if their friendship can survive, and discover if they truly work in the interest of the greater good, or just in their own self-interest. Passions rage and loyalties shatter in director Hans Weingartner’s exciting film that’s "Fresh, biting, gripping, tender, and tense." (The Telegraph On Sunday

German Thriller, Good Acting

Daniel Bruhl gives a solid performance in this German film about 3 young political activists who oppose big business and government greed and corruption. Their covert break-in's of the homes of the uber-wealthy suddenly changes, during a moment of impulsive passion, from malicious hijinks to a much more serious dilemma. No spoilers here, sorry.

Each of the 4 leading characters contributes to the intrigue and the dramatic development of a break-in gone wrong. Based on this film, I'd like to see more of German director Hans Weingartner's work. Excellent soundtrack too. Well worth adding to your collection. October 22, 2008

A little uneven

This movie is definitely interesting. It seems a little out of synch with the times. It's a little tough to buy the revolutionary enthusiasm the characters have, but then maybe that's the point. I consider the movie to be a little uneven because it seems to change its focus and bite throughout. The first part is about how two friends break into houses to rearrange furniture but not steal. It also covers the desperation of the girlfriend of one of them who is working to pay off a debt due to an uninsured auto accident. This part comes to a climax when the other friend and the girl have bonded but get caught in the house of the man she owes money to. The tempo then switches to a kidnapping scenario in which they take the guy a mountain retreat and spend a lot of time talking, even finding out the rich guy was once a revolutionary himself. Finally in the end, just when it seems like everyone has changed their ways, everything goes back to the way it was. The last image is a note found by the police in their apartment saying "Some men never change." I would recommend this movie as something different and interesting, but I don't think it's a masterpiece. October 4, 2008

compelling characters

Peter (Stipe Erceg) and Jan (Daniel Brühl) are friends with a mission: they break into the homes of the ridiculously wealthy, not to steal, but to rearrange the furniture and leave a message saying "your days of plenty are numbered," (die fetten Jahre sind vorbei) signed "The Edukators."

Peter's girlfriend Jule (Julia Jentsch) has her own reasons for being angry with the ridiculously wealthy: she's perpetually broke, slowly paying a man named Hardenberg (Burghart Klaußner) the cost of a high-end Mercedes from an accident when she didn't have insurance. At her low-wage job, it'll be years before she pays it off.

When Peter's out of town, she and Jan spend time together, getting closer, and Jan tells her about The Edukators. Jule convinces Jan that her nemesis is the perfect subject for the scheme. However, while they're rearranging his house, Hardenberg returns home, catches them, and recognizes Jule.

Panicking, they take him hostage, and then call Peter to come rescue them, and they all end up in a secluded cabin in the mountains while they think about their options.

I wasn't sure I was going to like this movie that seemed to promise to be a sociopolitical drama, but after the first 20 minutes or so, I was hooked. It did make me think--a lot--about social problems, but it was the characters that grabbed me.

The young trio were very realistically frustrated, both with the injustices they saw and with their inability to effect change. And yet, they're just playing at being revolutionaries--their big statements are a cross between a prank and performance art. The romantic triangle was also very well done, and played into their motivations--specifically, the different relationships between Jan and Jule and Peter and Jule, and between Jan and Peter were distinct and the events in the film changed those relationships.

Hardenberg was even more thought-provoking, as he reveals his history as a 60s radical himself, and his journey into becoming one of the ultra-rich.

Probably not coincidentally, it was also around the 20-minute mark that I started ignoring the subtitles and just listening to the dialogue in German. There's a huge difference for me in being able to understand a movie when it's originally in German as opposed to being dubbed. Lots more syllables in German than in English, so the actors in dubbed movies talk really fast--not so good for the less-than-fluent. June 26, 2008

Anti-establishment movie

Two friends who have known each other from childhood get their kicks by getting inside rich people's home while they are on vacation and re-arranging their furniture. They do not take any of the items from the house, but leave a note to its habitants that "Your days of plenty are numbered". These two young men have a problem with the social order, exploitation of the people in the third world countries and lack of concern for the environment. For these two friends, giving out pamphlets is just not enough. That is until one day when one of the friends leaves for Barcelona as his girlfriend is moving out of her apartment from which she has been evicted. Young woman's life and future are ruined because she owes 100,000 euro debt to a rich man whose Mercedes she has damaged during car accident while she had no insurance and registration. Her aggression and pain are silent but one can tell that she is close to the tipping point. I was disappointed with the ending of the film, but I did like the idea thta is the core of this movie: anti-establishment, loyalties, youth vs. middle age... June 16, 2008

schlechte schreckliche stinken

I threw it in the trash where it belongs. This is a lousy film. February 26, 2008

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