The Edukators (2004)

Expected more

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

"Die fetten Jahre sind vorbei" or "The Edukators" is a German 2-hour film from over 10 years ago written and directed by Hans Weingartner. The core cast here includes Daniel Brühl and Julia Jentsch (2 of Germany's biggest stars back then, Brühl still today) plus Stipe Erceg and Burghart Klaussner, who won a German Film Award for his supporting performance here. The movie itself also finished in second place behind " Alles auf Zucker!". It is somewhat a mix of "Funny Games" and "The Dreamers", so basically a kidnapping film that is not a thriller though and not about who lives and who dies, but about the protagonists' approach to life and society. And as much as this may apply to the young trio, for me, it was all about Klaussner's character here, a man at the age of 50 who sees himself in the idea of his captors before life took him into a completely different connection, one that went basically against everything that he believed in as a young man, the ideals of his youth.Another crucial aspect is the harmony in this film. Yes there are struggles when Erceg realizes the other two are in love, but at the end he can not only accept it because love is all that matters, but it also won't severely damage his friendship, especially to Brühl's character. And still, even if this film can not be called a thriller at any point, it is still a fairly tense watch. The scenes during which they break into the houses are pretty thrilling to watch and the moment we see Klaußner's character appear and catch them in the act is one of the best of the entire film. Also the scenes in the countryside with the characters' interactions were captivating to watch.Finally, you cannot really do anything wrong with the inclusion of "Hallelujah", even if the version used in here does not come from the master himself, Leonard Cohen. This was a truly nice way to end the film. I must say as strong as the direction here is, the heart and soul of the film is (except Klaussner's performance) the script. The comments about life happening and slowly turning you into somebody else in order to be able to care for a family for example was something that really stays in the mind. The film runs a couple minutes longer than 2 hours, so pretty long, but I must say it never dragged at all and I personally always like it when the cast of a film is very small, very essential and all the main characters are elaborated on properly. The only negative note I can think of is that the only one from the trio who still gives convincing performances in my opinion is Klaussner, which is really sad as the 3 young actors certainly looked very promising here. Brühl occasionally has a pretty solid performance like "Rush", but as a whole he basically always plays the same character. Back to this film here, though, I highly recommend watching it. Interesting political messages and a wonderful character study. Don't miss out.

This film could be roughly divided into 2 halves: 1st, with 3 main characters, is more dynamic, 2nd, with 4 main characters, is more static; the 1st means more action, the 2nd - more reasoning. Both are skilfully created and accomplished, but the 3 young people among themselves seemed more interesting and realistic to me than 3 young vs 1 older; the latter's reactions were sometimes not so feasible. Luckily, the ending has several twists, so you "forget" that/if you started to scent a trivial round-up.Anyway, all performances were good and distinct, perhaps Daniel Brühl's character was more versatile, with more presence on screen (or he is just more famous internationally?).Thus, a recommended film about reality vs. idealism, empathy vs. conformism, and other topics giving food for thought. And I began to yearn for their hippie Volkswagen bus again... :)

Germany, Jan (Daniel Brühl) and Peter (Stipe Erceg) are best friends and also the secret activists known as the "Edukators". They break into homes of the rich and instead of robbing them they rearrange the furniture to make a statement that the owners have too much money and to scare them into knowing someone has been in their house. Whilst Peter is vacating in Spain, his girlfriend Jule (Julia Jentsch) and Jan have to paint her apartment before handing the keys back to the landlord, during this paint session Jan and Jule swap confidence stories and Jule becomes part of the Edukators. The first target is the home of Hardenberg (Burghart Klaußner), the man that Jule has been involved in a car accident with. Things do not go according to plan, and as Peter returns he finds his girl in the Edukators, an education raid out of control and a friendship badly strained.Firstly the camera work and acting here is first rate, particularly from the boys of the piece, the photography is fabulous with the Tirol location sublime in its gorgeous texture. The first half of the picture is also highly impressive, scenarios and fleshing of motives are molded together to create an uneasy and interesting picture. Sadly the second half of the film plays out as some sort of socialist, political viewpoint that blurs the lines of ethical friendships!. I hope you get my point, The Edukators loses its focus and drifts of to a crusade to make its point, the edginess disappears and in its place is art-house leanings cloaked in a supposed deep political machination, whilst the end appears to reward many on this site, i personally feel it cops out and should have been far far more braver.Sorry, but i'm just not buying into this being close to a Euro classic 5/10

German movie-making is at its best. In the last 8-10 years a new generation of super-talented writer-directors and actors have emerged from the Harz mountains and Bavaria and took the world by storm. It all began with Tom Tykwer and his infamous Run, Lola, Run which showed the way for many a prodigal self-made movie-maker and put Germany back onto the map of world cinema. What is more, their peculiar take on timeless questions of existence and social awareness opened up a whole new perspective in audiovisual arts. They aspire to bring the viewer closer to understanding the nature of things by sticking to human scales, cutting down on special effects and avoiding false-sounding, pretentious dialogues and proclamations. One could say they are down to earth, although visual fantasy does shine through a good couple of times. Hans Weingarten's Edukators however, is balancing on the edge of full-blown idealism and the realm of common sense, and finds the perfect solution to let ourselves be seduced by the sensible and sensitive combination of the two.Jan, Peter and Jule are young souls worn out by the controversies of modern-day life. They try to play the role of the catalyst in a society which is only driven by money and economic interests: they break and enter rich people's homes to make them feel uncomfortable with all their excessive valuables. But one day - amid rather unwanted circumstances - comes the inevitable question the three have to ask themselves: Is what they do not as selfish as rich folks' habits to collect antique furniture or vintage cars?Edukators is an exciting piece, dealing with the exact same existential problems most of us have to deal with. Although shot with digital technique it remains enjoyable to watch. The filming locations were picked with an utterly good sense - not many times do you get to see the wonderful glacier lakes hidden in the Austrian Alps -, while cinematography is pure and unpretentious. It is all capped by the warm emotions the three young adults bring to the screen, and a captivating soundtrack. Superb.If you thought German films were an acquired taste, go see this one. Great feel-good movie for a quit night. It will not disappoint.