If you're an anti-globalisation campaigner, is it possible to come up with a novel way of expressing your discontent with the capitalist status quo? The self-styled Edukators of Austrian writer/director Hans Weingarnter's refreshing new feature think they have. The trio of young European radicals (Good Bye Lenin's Daniel Brühl, Julia Jentsch, and Stipe Erceg) break into wealthy peoples' houses, not to steal possessions but to rearrange the furniture and daub their protest slogans.
The Edukators doesn't fit snugly into a single genre. It's simultaneously a study of contemporary political activism, a hostage drama (the group inadvertently end up kidnapping a businessman), a Jules et Jim-style love-triangle, and a tribute to the bonds of friendship. Weingarnter takes his time to build his story, with the briskly edited first half in Berlin drawing on the tension induced by the trio's daring night-time raids. But interestingly the film then adopts a much more leisurely tempo, heading to a remote chalet in the idyllic Austrian mountains, where the twentysomethings discover the powerful irony that their captive was himself a student activist in the late 60s.
"VERY LIKEABLE PERFORMANCES"
Shot on hand-held digital video, The Edukators has a welcome sense of immediacy. The attractive cast also deliver very likeable performances, which convey the pleasure their idealistic characters derive from their militancy without ignoring the contradictions within their naive world-views. What's more, the slightly over-extended running time is compensated for by an enjoyably optimistic final twist that's stirringly accompanied by Jeff Buckley's rendition of Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah.
In German with English subtitles.
The Edukators (2005)
