The Wave (1981 film)
- Bruce Davison: Ben Ross
- Lori Lethin: Laurie
- John Putch: David
- Johnny Doran: Robert
- Pasha Grey: Amy
- Wesley Ann Pfenning: Mrs. Ross
- Marc Copage Eric
- Robert DeLapp: Brad
The shaft is an American television film from a screenplay by Johnny Dawkins, directed by Alex Grasshoff. It is based on a short story of the history teacher Ron Jones, about his experiment The Third Wave. The film is a so-called "one- hour drama" that comes with a net playing time of 42 minutes and commercial breaks to a length of one hour. 2008, a remake was released as a German movie.
Submission
The teacher Ron Jones in 1972 published a short story titled " The Third Wave - Take as Directed " in which he reported on his experiment of 1967. ( In German published in: Ron Jones Stories Volumes I -IV, Vol I. ) Johnny Dawkins it created the screenplay for the television film.
Action
In a series of lessons of the history teacher Mr. Ross in which it comes to Nazism, in particular to the concentration camp in which deeply affected class, the question opens up, why the German people want to know anything about these atrocities and did nothing in particular, however,. The teacher can not answer this, but he has developed an idea for a project for the next hour.
Henceforth, all students must sit upright, be absolutely disciplined and get up before they take the floor. Mr. Ross makes his students understand that does not count the individual but the community. The students make the new style of teaching a lot of fun, even " born again" and the group of other outsider Robert feels he belongs.
In the next lesson the character is introduced "wave", a white flag with a blue wave mark in a circle. Mr. Ross characterizes the tags power through discipline, strength through community, strength through action. He also distributed certificates to his students, with some even become watchdogs that will ensure that the rather strict rules of the teacher are followed. Blind follows almost the entire class these requirements, but the student Laurie come so slowly doubt. Since it fails to sway the opinion of her boyfriend David, she published in the student newspaper articles that are designed to put the shaft in a bad light.
The watchdog David and a few other watchdogs try then, Laurie dissuade to write more articles. Laurie David is over very rough, and just before he almost hit her, he realizes that she might yet be right. Together they visit Mr. Ross and ask him to stop the project. He relents, but he wants to end it in his own way.
The next day, the teacher announces that there will be a meeting in the auditorium on the future of the shaft, to which only members are allowed. He claims that the shaft was not only a great internal project, but a nation-wide. Perhaps the wave will spread everywhere. David would like to protest, but he is asked to sit down. Then Laurie collects, called Mr. Ross as a liar and wants to bring her classmates to not to believe him. The teacher can both lead by minders from the classroom.
Shortly before the meeting schedule and Laurie David, to go to the meeting and thereby prevent all listeners from believing Mr. Ross, however, the building is well guarded. However you manage it, and they mingle with the crowd.
Mr. Ross announces the national leader of the shaft will talk about the television to the students. But after only noise is seen on two TV sets, students are restless. A student asks where the leader was, and Mr. Ross shows a detail of a Hitler speech walk on the canvas. Then he explained to the students, they would have been all good Nazis so blind as they are followed his instructions. This would answer the original question in the classroom occurred. Shocked students what happened to them recognize. The hall empties, and Laurie and David are relieved that the teacher has completed the shaft. Only Robert, whose purpose in life, the "wave" was left back desperately looking for support and comfort on Mr. Ross.
The book of the film by Morton Rhue
The story was mainly known through the book to the movie by Morton Rhue. Rhue largely adopted the dramaturgical structure of the screenplay by Dawkins, but a newly added scenes and characters, because the script was too short for an entire novel as the basis for a 42 - minute film. Contrary to popular belief, so the novel is based on the film and not vice versa.