Repeated used of overhead shots gives a God’s eye view of the tusseling scrum of humanity below a cringing low camera emphasises the sordid ugliness of the terrified men who jump to appease the Captain’s demands.Įven more striking is the score – more like an industrial accident than music, but it’s chillingly effective. This is a film which doesn’t pull its punches, both thematically and stylistically. Kipinski (Frederick Lau) meanwhile manifests every savage impulse, he’s a rampaging Id armed with an assault rifle. Furrowed and sorrowful, he bears witness to the atrocities. One, Freytag (Milan Peschel) is the conscience that Herold tries to ignore. Of his rag tag band of men, two suspect that The Captain is, like them, a deserter trying to bluster his way out of a tight spot. Emboldened by the opportunistic soldiers who attach themselves to him, he embarks on a precarious game of brinksmanship, brutally raising the stakes every time it looks like he might be discovered. But if clothes maketh the man, in this case they make him a monster. The uniform brings him status and power, both of which he discovers a taste for. The cowed, kicked dog demeanour vanishes, in its place a clipped, casual cruelty. When he stumbles upon an officer’s uniform in an abandoned truck, he puts it on. One of them, Willi Herold (Max Hubacher), his face scabbed with crusted mud, narrowly escapes being shot by German officers in a jeep, then witnesses a fellow stray get pitchforked to death over the theft of some eggs. Deserters are pillaging and stealing in order to survive. It’s two weeks before the end of the war, and the Third Reich is unravelling. Although this is by no means a picture which will be limited just to the festival circuit, its theatrical prospects may be restricted by the marketing challenges posed by the unflinchingly tough subject matter. Whether this will translate to audience interest is another matter. Shot in crisp, cruel black and white, and punctuated with grotesque Hieronymus Bosch-style scenes of depravity, The Captain is a German WWII story which arguably has contemporary and universal resonance. It’s a powerful, profoundly uncomfortable watch. It looks at the implosion of violence from soldiers honed and hardened by war once the order of combat starts to break down. The Captain takes the real-life story of a 21 year-old conscripted private at the very end of World War II who, having deserted his unit, stole a captain’s uniform and adopted the role of very persecutors from whom he was fleeing. 118 minsįor his first German-language feature since 2003, director Robert Schwentke ( RED, Insurgent, Allegiant) uses the device of a uniform to explore what’s underneath, and finds darkness in the hearts of men. Simultaneously a historical docudrama and sociological examination with undertones of the absurd, The Captain presents fascism as something of a game to be played by those most gullible and unscrupulous.Dir.

Increasingly intoxicated by the unquestioned authority, this enigmatic imposter soon discovers that many people will blindly follow the leader, whomever that happens to be.

Citing direct orders from the Fuhrer himself, he soon takes command of a camp holding German soldiers accused of desertion and begins to dispense harsh justice. Emboldened by the authority the uniform grants him, he amasses a band of stragglers who cede to his command despite the suspicions of some. Emboldened by the authority the uniform grants him, he amasses a band of stragglers who cede to his command despite Based on the arresting true story of the Executioner of Emsland, The Captain follows a German army deserter, Willi Herold (Max Hubacher), after he finds an abandoned Nazi captain’s uniform in the final weeks of World War II. Summary: Based on the arresting true story of the Executioner of Emsland, The Captain follows a German army deserter, Willi Herold (Max Hubacher), after he finds an abandoned Nazi captain’s uniform in the final weeks of World War II.

The captain 2017