Magnificent! A wonderful performance to go along with a wonderful storyline… “The Edukators” is a film that is worth including in your cinema DVD collection!
Images courtesy of © 2004 Y3 Film Hans Weingartner Filmproduction Coop 99 Filmproduktion. All Rights Reserved.
TITLE: The Edukators
DURATION: 130 minutes
DVD INFORMATION: Color, 1:85:1 Anamorphic Widescreen, German 5.1 Dolby Digital, Subtitles: English
RATED: R (For Language and a Scene of Sexuality and Some Drug Use)
COMPANY: MGM/Sony Pictures Home Video
Released Dated: 2004
Directed by Hans Weingartner
Written by Katharina Held/Hans Weingartner
Producer: Antonin Svoboda, Hans Weingartner
Line Producer: Karsten Aurich
Music by Andreas Wodraschke
Cinematography by Daniel Knapp, Matthias Schellenberg
Edited by Dirk Oetelshoven, Andreas Wodraschke
Casting by Silke Koch, Suse Marquardt
Production Design by Christian M. Goldbeck
Costume Design by Silvia Pernegger
Starring:
Daniel Bruhl as Jan
Julia Jentsch as Jule
Stipe Erceg as Peter
Burghart Klaußner as Hardenberg
Jan (Daniel Bruhk, Ladies in Lavender, Good Bye Lenin!) 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.”
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, Downfall, winner, Best Young Actress, 2005 Bavarian Film Awards) moves in,s he 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.
In 2004, the German-Austrian film “Die fetten Jahre sind vorbei” (aka “The Edukators”) directed by Austrian director Hans Weingartner was well-received by the critics. Nominated for the Palme d’Or at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival, the film was supposedly headed for an American remake by “The Machinist” director Brad Anderson.
US remake or not, the original version of “The Edukators” is a fantastic film featuring an awesome performance from Daniel Bruhl (“Inglorious Basterds”, “The Bourne Ultimatum”), Julia Jentsch (“The Crown Prince”, “Downfall”), Stupe Erceg (“Phantom Rush”, “Warriors of Chaos”) and Burghart Klaußner (“The White Ribbon”, “Tatort”).
The film revolves around two buddies: Jan (played by Daniel Bruhl) and Peter (played by Stipe Erceg). Peter is dating Jule (played by Julia Jentsch), who is behind on payments and is in incredible debt and is being forced to move out of her home.
But what Jule doesn’t know is that her boyfriend and his buddy Jan are revolutionaries who try to show their distaste of corporate culture by breaking into the homes of the rich but instead of stealing items, they reorganize everything inside the home and leave a letter which says “The Days of Plenty Are Over” signed by The Edukators.
When Peter goes to Barcelona for a brief time, Jan tries to help Jule repaint her home, in order for her to move out. Jule has always thought of Jan as an angry young man but as the two talk and hang out, they notice that they have a lot in common. Jan finds out that the reason Jule is in major debt is that she got into an accident and hit an executive’s Mercedes and now she must pay close to 100,000 Euro in repair fees. Jan finds the whole situation of executives and the rich so sickening and also seeing how Jule is suffering because of it.
But feeling good with his time with Jule, Jan reveals his and Peter’s secret of how they break into rich people’s homes and what they do. Now curious, Jule asks Jan if they can break into the home of the rich man she has been making payments to. And the fact that he is not home, she can be a member of The Edukators. Jan feels that this is probably not a good idea but when Jule asserts herself by jumping over the gate and going near the home, Jan decides to go through with it and help her.
All seems to go well and in true Edukators fashion, they reorganize the whole home and successfully break-in. The two have so much fun that they even share a kiss together and share a romantic moment. But after Jule triggers an anti-theft light, the two know they must leave quickly. As they are successful in leaving, the two feel they pulled off the perfect break-in… so, they thought. It appears that Jule has accidentally left her cell phone at the home.
As they need to go back to the home, Peter arrives back and is unaware that Jan and Jules have broken into a home together.
As the two try to retrieve the cell phone and eliminate any fingerprints from the home, unbeknownst to both Jan and Jule, the owner of the home, named Hardenberg (played by Burghard Klaußner) has arrived home. And to make things worse, Hardenberg recognizes Jule. Jan quickly knocks him out but as both panic, they contact Peter and tell him what happens.
So, the three decided to kidnap Hardenberg and take him out to the countryside, away from civilization and decide what options they have. Meanwhile, Peter is not aware that his buddy and his girlfriend have fallen in love and that the rich man they kidnapped, may have more in common with them than they would have ever imagined.
VIDEO:
“The Edukators” is presented in 1:85:1 Anamorphic Widescreen.  Shot digitally, there were times of jerkiness in certain shots but considering this DVD release was in 2004, the film has its share of edge enhancement (there is no doubt that this film would look beautiful on Blu-ray) but for the most part, for a DVD release, the film looks fine. The outdoor shots especially at the countryside look beautiful!
AUDIO & SUBTITLES:
“The Edukators” is presented in German 5.1 Dolby Digital. The film is dialogue driven and most of the sound is through the center and front-channels. There is music utilized throughout the film, including Jeff Buckley’s “Hallelujah” which tends to get a bit overplayed at times. But overall, dialogue is clear and understandable as with the music.
Subtitles are in English.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
“The Edukators” comes with no special features. This is unfortunate because viewers from other countries have seen an alternate ending and that ending is not included on this DVD.
“The Edukators” is an exhilarating, unique and wonderful film. Director Hans Weingartner and fellow co-writer Katharina Held were able to create a film but also take an ideology of today’s generation and their disenchantment of the rich and show us a unique way of them protesting through the break-in of these homes, reorganizing the belongings but leaving a message which would cause fear for those people.
But when the break-in goes wrong, we see this really interesting perspective as the rich man they have kidnapped, Hardenberg, reveals that in the late ’60s, like them, he was involved in the SDS (the Socialist German Student Union- note: The SDS who opposed the Vietnam War and Germany’s involvement in the war, as well as how former Nazi’s had influential positions in the country). Of course, the trio is curious how a man who once had a strong ideology had become an executive and the opposite of what he once was.
The storytelling is magnificent as we see how Jules has been affect by hitting a rich man’s car (she had no insurance) and thus, paying for the repair for the car which would take many years of her young life which is unfair. We also see the conflict within the trio as Jan starts to fall in love with Jules and Jules seeing that Jan is more of a better man for her than Peter is.
But what I enjoyed about the film is a modern look at political idealism from today’s perspective and from the past and how one would go about in making a statement.
It’s a gripping story with beautiful cinematography and how the film ends was quite brilliant in my opinion. I absolutely loved it!
As mentioned, some viewers in different countries, watched a different ending than what was presented on this MGM/Sony DVD. It’s a shame that this ending was not included as an alternate ending because it would give the viewer and interesting perspective towards how things would end up with the trio. But nevertheless, with that alternate ending on YouTube, I’m glad that the ending that I watched, was included on this DVD.
“The Edukators” is a magnificent film albeit a barebones DVD release. One would hope that it is revisited on Blu-ray in the near future and if there is an American remake, personally, I just hope they do it justice because personally, I can not picture this film being recreated in a Hollywood manner.
Overall, if you ever have a chance to watch this film, please do so! You won’t regret it.