The Edukators is a
GermanGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
-
AustriaAustria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.3 million people in Central Europe. It borders both Germany and the Czech Republic to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the west...
n
filmFilm encompasses individual motion pictures, the field of film as an art form, and the motion picture industry. Films are produced by recording images from the world with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects....
made by the Austrian director
Hans WeingartnerHans Weingartner is an Austrian author, director and producer of films. He attended the Austrian Association of Cinematography and earned a diploma as a camera assistant. Later, he did a postgraduate at the Academy of Media Arts KHM in Cologne, Germany...
and released in 2004. Nominated for the "
Golden Palm AwardThe Palme d'Or is the highest prize awarded to competing films at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the organising committee. From 1939 to 1954, the highest prize was the Grand Prix du Festival International du Film...
" in
2004 Cannes Film FestivalThe 2004 Cannes Film Festival started on May 12 and ran until May 23. The Palme d'Or went to the American film Fahrenheit 9/11 by Michael Moore.-Jury:* Quentin Tarantino, President * Emmanuelle Béart...
, it stars
Daniel Brühl Daniel César Martín Brühl González Domingo is a Spanish-born German actor. He is best known as Daniel Brühl.-Personal life:...
and
Julia JentschJulia Jentsch is a Silver Bear, two-time European Film Award, and Lola winning German actress.Jentsch was born to a family of lawyers in Berlin and began her acting education there at Hochschule Ernst Busch, a university for drama...
.
The story revolves around three
anti-capitalistAnti-capitalism describes a wide variety of movements, ideas, and attitudes which oppose capitalism. Anti-capitalists, in the strict sense of the word, are those who wish to completely replace capitalism with another system....
activists living in
BerlinBerlin is the capital city and one of sixteen states of Germany. With a population of 3.4 million within its city limits, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city and the eighth most populous urban area in the European Union...
city centre — Jule (
Julia JentschJulia Jentsch is a Silver Bear, two-time European Film Award, and Lola winning German actress.Jentsch was born to a family of lawyers in Berlin and began her acting education there at Hochschule Ernst Busch, a university for drama...
), her boyfriend Peter (
Stipe ErcegStipe Erceg is a German/Croatian actor. He is notable for playing the role of Peter in 2004 film The Edukators...
) and his best friend Jan (
Daniel Brühl Daniel César Martín Brühl González Domingo is a Spanish-born German actor. He is best known as Daniel Brühl.-Personal life:...
), along with a wealthy businessman named Hardenberg (
Burghart KlaußnerBurghart Klaußner is a German film actor. He has appeared in 50 films since 1983.-Selected filmography:* The Riddle of the Sands * Good Bye Lenin! * The Edukators * Requiem...
).
Jule is a waitress struggling to pay off the
€The euro is the official currency of 16 of the 27 Member States of the European Union . The states, known collectively as the Eurozone, are Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain...
100,000 debt she accumulated after crashing into Hardenberg's
S-ClassThe Mercedes-Benz S-Class is a series of the largest sedans produced by Mercedes-Benz, a division of Daimler AG. The S-Class, a product of nine lines of Mercedes-Benz models dating since the mid-1950s, has ranked as the world's best-selling luxury flagship sedan...
Mercedes-BenzMercedes-Benz is a German manufacturer of luxury automobiles, buses, coaches, and trucks. It is currently a division of the parent company, Daimler AG , after previously being owned by Daimler-Benz...
on a motorway.
The Edukators is a
GermanGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
-
AustriaAustria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.3 million people in Central Europe. It borders both Germany and the Czech Republic to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the west...
n
filmFilm encompasses individual motion pictures, the field of film as an art form, and the motion picture industry. Films are produced by recording images from the world with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects....
made by the Austrian director
Hans WeingartnerHans Weingartner is an Austrian author, director and producer of films. He attended the Austrian Association of Cinematography and earned a diploma as a camera assistant. Later, he did a postgraduate at the Academy of Media Arts KHM in Cologne, Germany...
and released in 2004. Nominated for the "
Golden Palm AwardThe Palme d'Or is the highest prize awarded to competing films at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the organising committee. From 1939 to 1954, the highest prize was the Grand Prix du Festival International du Film...
" in
2004 Cannes Film FestivalThe 2004 Cannes Film Festival started on May 12 and ran until May 23. The Palme d'Or went to the American film Fahrenheit 9/11 by Michael Moore.-Jury:* Quentin Tarantino, President * Emmanuelle Béart...
, it stars
Daniel Brühl Daniel César Martín Brühl González Domingo is a Spanish-born German actor. He is best known as Daniel Brühl.-Personal life:...
and
Julia JentschJulia Jentsch is a Silver Bear, two-time European Film Award, and Lola winning German actress.Jentsch was born to a family of lawyers in Berlin and began her acting education there at Hochschule Ernst Busch, a university for drama...
.
Plot summary
The story revolves around three
anti-capitalistAnti-capitalism describes a wide variety of movements, ideas, and attitudes which oppose capitalism. Anti-capitalists, in the strict sense of the word, are those who wish to completely replace capitalism with another system....
activists living in
BerlinBerlin is the capital city and one of sixteen states of Germany. With a population of 3.4 million within its city limits, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city and the eighth most populous urban area in the European Union...
city centre — Jule (
Julia JentschJulia Jentsch is a Silver Bear, two-time European Film Award, and Lola winning German actress.Jentsch was born to a family of lawyers in Berlin and began her acting education there at Hochschule Ernst Busch, a university for drama...
), her boyfriend Peter (
Stipe ErcegStipe Erceg is a German/Croatian actor. He is notable for playing the role of Peter in 2004 film The Edukators...
) and his best friend Jan (
Daniel Brühl Daniel César Martín Brühl González Domingo is a Spanish-born German actor. He is best known as Daniel Brühl.-Personal life:...
), along with a wealthy businessman named Hardenberg (
Burghart KlaußnerBurghart Klaußner is a German film actor. He has appeared in 50 films since 1983.-Selected filmography:* The Riddle of the Sands * Good Bye Lenin! * The Edukators * Requiem...
).
Jule is a waitress struggling to pay off the
€The euro is the official currency of 16 of the 27 Member States of the European Union . The states, known collectively as the Eurozone, are Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain...
100,000 debt she accumulated after crashing into Hardenberg's
S-ClassThe Mercedes-Benz S-Class is a series of the largest sedans produced by Mercedes-Benz, a division of Daimler AG. The S-Class, a product of nine lines of Mercedes-Benz models dating since the mid-1950s, has ranked as the world's best-selling luxury flagship sedan...
Mercedes-BenzMercedes-Benz is a German manufacturer of luxury automobiles, buses, coaches, and trucks. It is currently a division of the parent company, Daimler AG , after previously being owned by Daimler-Benz...
on a motorway. After she is evicted for paying her rent late, she moves in with Peter and Jan, who are often out all night. When Peter takes a trip to
BarcelonaBarcelona is the capital, most populous city of the Autonomous Community of Catalonia and the second largest city in Spain, with a population of 1,615,908 in 2008. It is the 11th-most populous municipality in the European Union and sixth-most populous urban area in the European Union after Paris,...
, Jan reveals that he and Peter spend their nights "educating" upper-class people by breaking into their houses, moving furniture around, and leaving notes with messages that say "Die fetten Jahre sind vorbei" (the days of plenty are over), or "Sie haben zu viel Geld" (you have too much money).
After learning this, Jule convinces the reluctant Jan to spontaneously break into Hardenberg's home in the affluent Berlin suburb of
ZehlendorfZehlendorf can refer to:*Zehlendorf, a district in Berlin, Germany*Zehlendorf near Oranienburg, a small village north of Berlin, part of Oranienburg....
, as he happens to be away on business. During the break-in, the two begin to kiss. Jan leaves Jule alone for a few minutes because he does not want to hurt his friendship with Peter. While wandering around, Jule accidentally sets off the house's floodlights after she goes outside and they leave in a hurry.
Peter returns the next day, but Jan and Jule do not tell him about their activities the night before. Jule soon realises that she is missing her
mobile phoneA mobile phone or mobile is a long-range, electronic device used for mobile telecommunications...
, so Jule and Jan go off later that night to look for it in the house. Just after she finds it, Hardenberg walks in the door and he begins to struggle with Jule after recognising her. Jan, who hears the struggle, comes downstairs and knocks Hardenberg out with a
torchA flashlight is a portable electric spotlight that emits light from a small incandescent lightbulb or from one or more light-emitting diodes...
. Not knowing what to do, the pair call Peter who shows up to help them.
The three cannot decide what to do with Hardenberg, so they decide to take him to a remote and rarely-used cabin in the Tyrolean Austrian
AlpsThe Alps are one of the great mountain range systems of Europe, stretching from Austria and Slovenia in the east; through Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany; to France in the west....
, near
JenbachJenbach is a municipality in the Schwaz district of Tyrol, Austria. Its railway station is unique in that it is the only station in Austria which is used by trains of three different gauges. The main line is Standard gauge...
, overlooking
AchenseeThe Achensee is a lake north of Jenbach in Tyrol, Austria. It is the largest lake within the federal state, and has a maximal depth of 133 metres. Together with the Achental valley it parts the Karwendel mountain range in the west from the Brandenberg Alps in the east.Water quality is near drinking...
, that belongs to Jule's uncle. While trying to decide how to deal with their hostage, they learn that Hardenberg was once a radical himself in the 1960s. He had been a leader of the
Socialist German Student UnionDer Sozialistische Deutsche Studentenbund was founded 1946 in Hamburg, Germany, as the college organisation of the SPD...
and was once good friends with
Rudi DutschkeRudi Dutschke born Alfred Willi Rudi Dutschke was the most prominent spokesperson of the German student movement of the 1960s. He advocated 'a long march through the institutions' of power to create radical change from within government and society by becoming an integral part of the machinery...
, before eventually marrying, getting a good job and abandoning his ideals.
As the story progresses, political ideologies, but more so the characters' relationships, become the deep issues. Peter and Jan have a temporary falling out over Jan's now blooming romance with Jule, while Hardenberg seems to regain some sense of his former self.
In the end, the three decide to take Hardenberg back to his house and let him go. As the three get ready to leave, Hardenberg hands Jule a letter, clearing all her debt and telling them that they need not worry about the police. The film ends with Peter, Jan and Jule sleeping in bed whilst a group of
SpezialeinsatzkommandoSpezialeinsatzkommandos are the special response units of the German state police forces. German SEKs are full-time units whose members do not perform any other duties, and are essentially the equivalent of American SWAT Teams...
police amass outside the flat that Jule, Peter and Jan had been sharing, and knock on the door. Jule then wakes up when she hears a knock on the door. The police force their way into the flat which they find nearly completely empty. The film then cuts to Jule, who turns down a hotel maid offering to clean their room, presumably in a hotel in Barcelona. Back in the apartment in Berlin, the police find a note that reads "Manche Menschen ändern sich nie" (some people never change).
Another German version shows the three Edukators taking Hardenberg's boat into the Mediterranean to destroy the signal towers on an island that supply most of the television to Western Europe.
Reception
The film was generally well-received by critics and has a 68% approval rate amongst Rotten Tomatoes critics.
The
New York Times called it a "A slyly effective thriller and of a deft comedy of romantic confusion. Whatever its shortcomings as a consideration of globalization and its discontents, The Edukators succeeds brilliantly in telling the story of a man who falls in love with his best buddy's girlfriend and doesn't know what to do about it."
The
Los Angeles TimesThe Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California since 1881. It is distributed throughout the Western United States. It is the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in the United States and the fourth-most widely distributed newspaper in the United States...
concluded that it was "A sweet, funny and gripping romantic adventure, it's about the limitations of political activism in this day and age, and what happens when your girlfriend and your best friend fall in love."
Britain's,
The IndependentThe Independent is a British newspaper published by Tony O'Reilly's Independent News & Media. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily newspapers. The daily edition was named National...
also favoured the film "Hans Weingartner's digitally-shot The Edukators wonders whether the old political idealism can be revived, but its gentle, trendily pallid vision of youthful ferment is strictly non-threatening - the Revolution with a Jamie Cullum haircut."
In The News
A statue stolen from
Bernard MadoffBernard Lawrence "Bernie" Madoff is an American convict, who was a financier, and Chairman of the NASDAQ stock exchange...
was returned with a note that read 'Bernie the Swindler, Lesson: Return stolen property to rightful owners' and was signed by 'The Educators'. This is an obvious reference to the film, although in the film they never actually stole from the houses they broke into.
Remake
There has been talk of a Hollywood remake of this film, in English instead of German and set in the United States rather than Berlin. Daniel Brühl has mentioned that his choice for the role of Jan would be
Jake GyllenhaalJacob Benjamin "Jake" Gyllenhaal is an American actor. The son of director Stephen Gyllenhaal and screenwriter Naomi Foner, Gyllenhaal began acting at age ten...
.
Quotes
"Happy, you think they're happy? Look around, get out of that company car and walk on the street! Anyone look happy? Or more like scared animals? Look into their living rooms, all glued to the TV listening to chic zombies speaking of happiness long gone. Drive around town you'll see all the filth, the overcrowding the masses in department stores up and down like robots on escalators. Nobody knows anybody! They think happiness is an inch away but it's unreachable because you stole it. That's how it is. You know perfectly well. But I have news for you, executive: The system is overheated. We're just the forerunners, your days are almost over. Swim in your shit technology, but others are full of rage. The rage of children living in slums watching American action films. That's one part, let see, Mental illness is rising. Serial killers, shattered souls, senseless violence...You can't sedate them with game shows and shopping. The antidepressants wont work forever either. The people have had enough of your shit system." -Jan
Soundtrack
The soundtrack for the film was a compilation edited on
Mute RecordsMute Records was an independent record label based in the UK, founded in 1978 by Daniel Miller. In 2002 the label was sold to EMI.-Background:...
and consisted of tracks by bands as
Depeche ModeDepeche Mode are an English electronic band who formed in 1980, in Basildon, Essex. The group's original line-up consisted of Dave Gahan , Martin Gore , Andrew Fletcher and Vince Clarke...
,
PlaceboA placebo is a sham medical intervention. In one common placebo procedure, a patient is given an inert sugar pill, told that it may improve his/her condition, but not told that it is in fact inert...
,
Nada SurfNada Surf is an American alternative rock band. Formed in 1992, the New York band consists of Matthew Caws , Ira Elliot and Daniel Lorca...
,
Franz FerdinandFranz Ferdinand are a Scottish rock band that formed in Glasgow, Scotland, in 2002. The band is composed of Alex Kapranos , Bob Hardy , Nick McCarthy and Paul Thomson .The band first experienced chart success when their second single "Take Me Out" reached #3 in the...
,
PhonenixPhoenix is a French alternative rock band started during their childhood by Thomas Mars, Deck D'Arcy, Christian Mazzalai and Laurent Brancowitz in the suburb of Versailles, in the same culture that produced late-'90s bands such as Air and Daft Punk....
,
SimianSimian were an English electronic rock band, formed in Manchester in 2000.-Personnel:*Simon William Lord *James Ellis Ford ,*Alex MacNaghten *James Anthony Shaw .-Main releases:...
and
One Inch PunchOne Inch Punch was a grunge/hip hop band from Los Angeles fronted by Justin Warfield, now part of the darkwave music duo She Wants Revenge.-Biography:The band was formed in the late 1990s and found some success in the UK...
amongst others, as well as many tracks by German bands as
The NotwistThe Notwist are a German indie rock band. Formed in 1989, the band moved through several musical incarnations despite maintaining a relatively stable lineup...
,
TocotronicTocotronic is a German rock band founded in 1993 . Similar to Blumfeld or Die Sterne they are considered a part of the Hamburger Schule movement...
and
SlutSlut is a German indie rock band from Ingolstadt, Bavaria, which sings in English.-History:The band was founded in 1995 by Christian Neuburger , Matthias Neuburger , Rainer Schaller and Gerd Rosenacker...
.
It also featured towards the end of the film a version of Hallelujah, in the way of
Jeff Buckley'sJeffrey Scott Buckley , raised as Scotty Moorhead, was an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. He was the son of Tim Buckley, also a musician...
cover, but it was not included on the soundtrack album.
External links