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. This is a film which doesn’t pull its punches, both thematically and stylistically. 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. The Captain is a horrifying tale of one man’s ability to deceive and control, as prey becomes predator in achieving brief but toxic notoriety.Dir. Here local people and Nazi officers understand the end of War is nye but equally seek the security it offered as a young sociopath runs free of any control. Shot in black and white, the cinematography of Florian Ballhaus reflects the lawless wild-west of a war-torn country descending into madness. Here Willi’s Captain Herold is an emperor in new clothes who laps up the power his outfit offers with devilish glee. But, within the horror of twisted morality, power and corruption, The Captain truly hits its mark as it shines a light on the depths to which humans will sink in retaining control and freedom. Here the vice-like grip of Hitler’s Third Reich is gradually fading, only to be replaced by lynch mobs and cold-hearted generals. The story that unfolds is stark, relentless and horrific as the muddy fields and lawless towns of Germany slowly descend into madness. However, if clothes truly make the man, Willi’s personality is also about to shift as he adopts the title, Captain Herold. Realising the potential these clothes offer, Willi quickly discards his torn army clothes for the pristine officer’s outfit that fits reasonably well despite the trousers being slightly too long. As Willi searches the vehicle for nourishment, he finds a neatly packed suitcase containing a German captain’s uniform, shirt, underclothes and boots. But as he walks across the desolate and cold landscape, an abandoned car sparks his interest. Having escaped the soldiers hunting him, Willi seeks the safety of bombed-out buildings while looting local farms for eggs, chicken and bread. This is the true-life story of young Willi Herold. So starts writer/director Robert Schwentke’s journey into the horrors surrounding the end of the war in Germany and the opportunistic freedom it provided one young man. The young man running is Willi Herold, a German private desperately trying to evade death, and the forest is about to offer him the cover he needs to escape. As he looks behind him, the hum of a vehicle engine and shriek of trumpets hunt him down, hot bullets flying over his head as his comrades eagerly attempt to end his life by any means possible. Suddenly a young man comes into view, running for his life in ragged clothes, his face smeared with blood and dirt. Despite it being April, the landscape is still gripped by winter, the trees bare, and the ground muddy and wet. The year is 1945, and the end of the Second World War in Europe is just months away as the German war machine slowly collapses into chaos. The Captain is available to stream or buy on all major platforms, including Amazon Prime Video, from 4th September.
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