In The Edukators, Hans Weigartner clearly has a bone to pick – but is it all in vain? The film itself stands as a pop-arthouse manifesto right down to its attractive leads and misfit-caper crux of little people in-over-their-head. Here, the prospect of Jan, Peter and Jule (our insurgent threesome) botching a home invasion-cum-activist statement-cum-all mighty grudge on some rich dude in a big fat house was bound to strike a chord with an audience consisting notably of Wellington’s so-called anarchists, Cuba Street freaks, the bypass-my-ass brigade and other recognisable artists, beats and socio-politically concerned potheads. Preaching to the converted, indeed.

Needless to say, the film was a hit with the kids. Idealism is an intoxicating thing, but what worries me about The Edukators isn’t that it might inspire some of us to get off our couch-potatoed ass, but that what it’s advertising is flawed like the rest of this shit-for-brains world. Handing out flyers to consumers about the evils of sweatshops is one thing; convincing them to take action is another. Moreover, it’s impossible to stay pure even if you catch the No Logo bug – Jan, Peter and Jule may choose not to wear Nikes, but they still crave tobacco laced with Philip & Morris nicotine, dress like Abercrombie & Fitch commercials, and drive a car fuelled by the petroleum of Mobil or Shell. Capitalism: there’s no escaping it, and Mr. Hardenburg knows it (the corporate executive kidnapped for more selfish motives than any). A former 60’s radical himself, he’s the film’s voice of reason, and up against a volley of 3rd world statistics and angry monologues, he speaks for the majority – the 90% of the world that doesn’t give a shit, and probably never will.

If what was subversive back then can be bought in a store now, then that’s all Weigartner’s film really is: Adbusters with moving pictures. It’s also a dangerous piece of work in the sense that it accessorises the last remaining alternative for revolutionaries: that terrorism, regardless of the cause, is the only option. For the radicals in The Edukators, banners, protests and bad installation art just doesn’t cut it anymore. Instead, they vandalise, take a hostage and threaten to kill. Of course in the movies, everything works out fine – something of a testament to the film’s function as a thriller with attitude. But if Weigartner’s goal is to entertain and educate through the pitch of anti-capitalism, he missed the boat by several years; David Fincher’s Fight Club an arguably more effective diatribe against corporations and consumerism, simply because it smuggled it all into a mainstream package of high gloss, tech aesthetics and Brad Pitt. The Edukators will probably end up at Rialto, and watched by people like me who don’t need to be told that greed is bad, but will get a kick out of it anyway. The rest will continue to roll through the turnstiles at that multiplex on Courtney Place, showering themselves with product placements and subliminal merchandising. Such is life.—TW