HSS Film Screening: The Edukators (2004)

Co-Production Austria/Germany - Golden Palm Award Cannes - Dir.: Hans Weingartner, with Daniel Brühl (Good Bye Lenin), Julia Jentsch (Downfall). When the rich go on vacation, three young people, calling themselves the Edukators, break into their homes. They don't steal, but simply rearrange everything leaving a message "die fetten Jahre sind vorbei" [The days of plenty are over - Your days of plenty are numbered or "Sie haben zuviel Geld" "You have too much money"]. You figure that this probably is not going to end well... particularly when they get caught by a rich business man in his Zehlendorf mansion and decide to kidnap him. Faced with the values of the generation in power, they will see what kind of revolutionaries they are. Can their friendship survive; are they committed to the work in the interest of the greater good or just in their own self-interest? A Hollywood remake is apparently planned - Jake Gyllenhall is considered to star in the Daniel Brühl role, an American city instead of Berlin. The soundtrack consists of tracks by bands such as Depeche Mode, Placebo, Nada Surf, Franz Ferdinand, Phoenix, Simian and One Inch Punch amongst others, as well as many tracks by German bands, e.g., The Notwist, Tocotronic and Slut.