[yasr_overall_rating]
In the last moments of World War II, a young German soldier fighting for survival finds a Nazi captain’s uniform. Impersonating an officer, the man quickly takes on the monstrous identity of the perpetrators he is trying to escape from.
Countless, dare I say maybe too many WWII pictures have been produced year after year. I used to obsess over the subject in high school, although lately, I find myself drawn to less explored international conflicts. “The Captain” feels brand new yet instantly classic, shot in glorious black and white. It subverts the sanctimonious, at times, jingoistic Hollywood narrative. Recent films like “Dunkirk” took the War’s canvas and repainted it in a partially non-linear narrative but refreshingly focused purely on the survival in war. “The Captain” is somewhere between “Dunkirk’s” thrilling spectacle and Terrence Malick’s “The Thin Red Line.” “The Thin Red Line” ditched the heroism for a contemplative film capturing the torment and cruelty of war. “The Captain” is based on the unbelievable true story of the Executioner of Emsland. It’s scary, at times darkly amusing, but most importantly, it’s insightful of the human condition.
The film breathlessly begins with Willi Herold (Max Hubacher) an infantry Nazi soldier covered in mud running for his life. He’s being pursued by an army truck full of fellow German soldiers, some shooting at him, while one of them is obnoxiously taunting him with a blaring trumpet. Willi finds a dark, filthy hole in the thick of the forest to hide, later remerging when it’s quiet. The film’s setting takes place in the final two weeks before Germany’s surrender, and it is dire straits for the once powerful army. German Soldiers are deserting, and looting, spread out like a desperate disbanded group of raiders. Willi meets a fellow similarly aged young private and the two take refuge in a barn to steal eggs. Things don’t go to plan and Willi is once again alone, and running for his life. The next day he finds a luxurious broken down automobile with a dead German Captain inside. Being a survivor, he cunningly dons the deceased superior’s uniform for warmth, and an advantageous chance to make it through the final days of the war. To keep the unbelievable scenario grounded, Willi is rehearsing his new stolen identity whilst recanting the abuse he suffered at the hands of his superiors. After encountering a “subordinate” soldier, he’s chauffeured to an inn and rendezvous with a German platoon. They are heading to a concentration camp that is housed by prisoners consisting of German AWOL soldiers. The new Captain states he’s on a top-secret mission directly from Hitler. After a life of being powerless, he’s prematurely put in charge of the camp, and corruption and cyclical abuse manifest.
Being a stark film, it never shies away, keeping some depravity in full focus with a cinematic cushion of superb cinematography. The director, Robert Schwentke, previously directed big action films like “Red.” This time around he sheds the gloss for an Ingmar Bergman-type atmosphere with an unflinching modern eye. While the subject matter is at times difficult, the pace and camerawork keep the experience from feeling helpless. The film is galvanizing and frigid when it needs to be. Lead actor Max Hubacher delivers a lived in, truly believable performance.
Oppression has always been a tool by the powerful ruling classes to control and scapegoat the unfortunate minority. From the ancient days, Nero blamed the great fire of Rome on the Christians, to King Leopold II absolutely decimating the Congo with consequences that still continue to this day. The well-known fact is Nazis persecuted Jews, queer people, and communists, in “The Captain” there is another tragic piece of the story. The characters are well written, there are sympathetic soldiers and prisoners, but more importantly, there are vile, despicable men. I appreciated it being a German production to give a different WWII narrative on an otherwise overused familiar territory. Willi is forced, but at the same, implicit, and willing in his role to attain power. It’s such a clichéd paradoxical action, trying to control the power he is so desperate to escape. ”The Captain” doesn’t try to solve the oppressive system but shows how easily one can succumb to the toxic tide of its machinations. No one can thrive under an iron rule. The late brilliant James Baldwin said, “People who treat other people as less than human must not be surprised when the bread they have cast on the waters comes floating back to them, poisoned.”
Opens at the Quad in N.Y. July 27th and at the Nuart in L.A. August 10th
