THE CAPTAIN

Director: Robert Schwentke

Germany, 118

Screenwriter: Robert Schwentke

Cast: Max Hubacher, Milan Peschel, Frederick Lau.

 

There has never been another film quite like The Captain: part mistaken identity farce, part investigation into the murderous nature of men, and part warning about the unquestioning slide towards fascism. Based on a true story, it is set in the waning weeks of World War II, as the Nazis are running for cover – including 19-year-old deserter Willi Herold (Max Hubacher). When he finds a Captain’s uniform and instinctively puts it on, it is all-too convincing to the soldiers in charge of a prison camp. And all-too-easy for most, except for a few resisters, to follow the Captain’s insane orders to execute anyone who, like himself, deserted the army.
“While we’re convinced that free will exists, Germans have learned from experience that identity is elastic, and most wills are too weak to escape the pull of prevailing norms.” – David Edelstein, New York Magazine/Vulture.