The Wave Representations Close-Up (“Saturday” Sequence)

An analysis of the final sequence of The Wave (Dennis Gansel, 2008).

The Saturday sequence takes place from 01:28:39 until the end of the film. It begins with Wenger and Tim looking into the hall, preparing themselves. A few of the students then lock everybody in the hall as Wenger begins his speech about how everyone is against ‘The Wave’ and how they need to stand up and fight. Marco stands up to stop Wenger which results in a gang of students dragging Marco to the front. Wenger stops them and talks about how dangerous significant control is, putting an end to the movement. Tim disagrees with this idea so runs in front of Wenger and holds out his gun. He then shoots Bomber to show how serious he is. Wenger manages to calm him down but Tim suddenly turns the gun around and shoots himself through the mouth, committing suicide. The film ends with Wenger being escorted out of the school and into a police car as we see the public and students reaction to him.

Cinematography

The sequence begins with a zoom in of Wenger’s face to show his power. It then becomes a two shot of him and Tim, foreshadowing the climax of the film. In addition, only their faces are illuminated, reiterating their importance.

There is then a shift of focus to the students as they are walking into the hall, flowed by shots of each door being locked. This emphasises how trapped they are in the movement, and the control that Wenger has over them. This control is continued with Wenger being centrally framed throughout the sequence.

There is a crab to the right to show all the students as they clap. It shows how they are united and brainwashed by Wenger. There is then power dynamic is also showed through the difference in shot types; there are very dynamic shots of Wenger which contrasts to the still shots of the students.

There is then a focus on Marco, with a closeup to then a wide shot to show the reaction from students of him standing up against Wenger. It highlights how he is now an anomaly. There are also handheld shots when the students are dragging Marco up to seem chaotic and aggressive. The focus remains on Marco and Wenger with them both being centrally framed.

There is a low angle shot of Wenger and a closeup as he talks about the consequences of their actions. This shows how he still has power and is teaching them what is right and wrong. Throughout this segment we see individual reaction shots of Tim, hinting towards his manic response to the end of the movement.

There are wide shots of all the students leaving the hall which contrasts to the zoom in on Tim showing how he has now become the individual. These shots are also very shaky to reflect his mental state.

The shots of Wenger and Tim are now at both their eye levels to show the balance in power. This is followed by an over the shoulder shot from Tim’s perspective, to see down the barrel of the gun. This immerses the audience and heightens the tension. It then swaps to an over the shoulder shot of Wenger looking at Tim. This allows the audience to see both points of view and understand the severity of the situation.

The last part of the sequence is filmed differently to the beginning to emphasise the effect of fascism. There is a shot of the stretcher and the coffin next to each other. This represents how this type of power causes both harm and death. There is also another shot on the eye level of Karo and Marco as they are comforting their friend, highlighting the pain caused by Wenger.

The sequence ends with a closeup of Wenger’s face as he is breaking the fourth wall, which turns into a freeze frame. This is done to connect with the audience and end the film with an impactful shot.

Editing

There are cuts between Marco and Wenger with only occasional shots of the students as Marco is standing up against the movement. It then changes to become one continuous shot when the students are attacking Marco to further immerse the audience.

There is mostly cutting between Tim and Wenger, with a few reaction shots to show the fear that the students are feeling. There is then a shot from the students perspective as we see Tim fall to the ground after shooting himself. This amplifies their fear and the audience feels connected to the students.

The beginning of the film mirrors the end with all the students looking at him. He looks like them with his white shirt as he gets into his car to go. It is also in slow motion to exaggerate this and allow the audience to see the student’s reactions. The audience can clearly see how scared and disgusted they are. It then goes back to a normal speed as Karo hugs Marco. This show how the film is back to normal, just like the start of the film.

Sound

Wenger speech begins with only the sound of his voice, showing the control he has over the hall and the students. However they begin to clap, getting louder throughout his speech. He also begins to shouts and use chaotic hand gestures. Wenger builds him up to a frenzy which represents how weak his control really is over himself, his students and ‘The Wave’. It reflects his character and how much he relies on support and power.

The shouting continues as they tackle Marco to the ground, with increasingly frantic camera movement. This chaotic nature shows how Wenger’s control is slowing slipping away from him.

Wenger then starts to whisper his speech about how bad the movement is. The silence is immersive, as there is a focus on his words. This contrasts to when one of the students speaks as many others whisper over him.

There is an immediate increase in volume when Tim reveals his gun, especially with gasps from the other students to highlight how shocked they are and how naive they were to think there would be no consequences of fascism. There is also audio punctuation with the gun shot to increase tension and exaggerate the climax of the film. However, the scene is mostly silence so that the audience can hear the pain in Tim’s voice. Wenger’s breathing then gets louder to resemble a transition for a prolepsis.

The sequence ends with manipulative non diegetic sounds that are not in the rest of the film. This highlights the shocking ending.

Mis-en-scene

The sequence opens almost purely in shadows; we can only see the faces of Wenger and Tim. This reinforces their importance particularly with the cut to the hall full of students which is bright and open.

The majority of the students have brown hair and all look very similar. On the other hand, Marco who vocally disagrees, has blonde hair and blue eyes which is the fascists ideals. He is the most aryan looking out of the entire hall yet they all turn on him. This shows how unpredictable the students have become. Karo is also wearing a pink shirt (which we see at the end of the sequence). The pink is reflective of her gender and her individuality. Furthermore, Tim wore a white t-shirt under his shirt with his collar done up. The other students are dressed more relaxed in comparison which makes Tim appear even more devoted to the movement than the rest. The police are also all wearing black and the headteacher is wearing a black cardigan. This highlights the difference in the way that Wenger wants to be perceived as he is in the exact same outfit as the teenagers.

Age

Wenger frequently has more control than the students as he stands on the stage, physically above them. He also reads their essays, reminding them of his authority as a teacher.