The Edukators

A couple of years ago Daniel Bruhl made a striking impact in Good Bye Lenin! and he's similarly impressive in Hans Weingartner's uneven, vaguely long-winded but always interesting drama. The title characters are best friends Jan (Daniel Bruhl) and Peter (Stipe Erceg) and resolute anti-capitalists. Seeing injustice all around them, they decide to terrify rich Berlin residents by breaking into their houses, re-arranging their furniture - stealing nothing in the process - and leaving slogans lambasting their victims' accumulation of wealth. After Peter goes to Barcelona for the weekend, his girlfriend, Jule (Julia Jentsch) - herself crippled by debts resulting from a car crash - begins to get to know Jan a little better. Against his better judgment, Jan introduces Jule to their scheme, but the consequences of his actions have potentially disastrous results...

It would be unfair to divulge too much of what else occurs in The Edukators, for the film is largely dependant on a rather sizeable plot twist about halfway through. Even though he allows his actors great freedom, director and co-writer Hans Weingartner is never-the-less guilty of helming in their characters, and he's occasionally guilty of preaching to his audience, especially in the moral-heavy final third. At over two hours, the film feels a little sluggish, especially as relations between the anti-globalisation devotes (de) evolves along a predictable arch. But the performances are neat, and there's enough of an air of defiance about The Edukators to make it worth a trip to the flicks.