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The Edukators

Die fetten Jahre sind vorbei

  • Status: Released
  • 25-10-2004
  • Runtime: 127 min
  • Score: 7.157
  • Vote count: 340

Three activists cobble together a kidnapping plot after they encounter a businessman in his home.

Daniel Brühl

Jan

Julia Jentsch

Jule

Stipe Erceg

Peter

Burghart Klaußner

Justus Hardenberg

Peer Martiny

Villenbesitzer

Petra Zieser

Villenbesitzerin

Laura Schmidt

Tochter

Sebastian Butz

Sohn

Oliver Bröcker

Globalisierungsgegner

Hanns Zischler

Vermieter

Claudio Caiolo

Paolo

Bernhard Bettermann

Jules Chef

CinemaSerf

Though it does rather run out of steam at the end, this is quite a fun dramatisation following three radical twenty-somethings who want to teach the wealthy a lesson. "Jan" (Daniel Brühl) and "Jule" (Julia Jentsch) decide to break into the luxury home of "Herdenberg" (Burghart Klaußner) and have some fun. They rearrange his furniture, pinch his booze - even throw his expensive leather sofa into his swimming pool. They leave before he gets home, but quickly she discovers she has left her phone behind. They're not so lucky on their return visit to fetch it, and soon they find themselves with an unwilling hostage and on the run. They draft in the support of her boyfriend and fellow activist "Peter" (Stipe Erceg) and head to a remote cabin where the four, over a period of a few days, start to rethink their lives, loves and priorities. Thing is, what are they to do with their prisoner? It's an enjoyably lighthearted drama, this, with engaging performances from Brühl and from Jenstch whilst we watch Klaußner never quite sure if his character is a man, with a lively past of his own, who can be trusted. It is too long, and the second hour could do with some judicious use of the razor blade, but the writing delivers quite an understated yet potent message about what actually matters and at how politics change as we age and in many cases re-evaluate.