The Captain - l'usurpateur

An interesting movie for 2 main reasons: 1) it shows the fragilities of the Nazi Germany towards the end of the war, with many German soldiers deserting the army (something nobody talks about) and 2) it shows the depths of the human ego and the decadence of character when power is given arbitrarily

Der Hauptmann was a fascinating watch. Watching, the young paratrooper Wili Herold get in over his head and essentially begin BSing his way to the top was as an entertaining watch for me as it was disturbing.

Though the film is incredible in its presentation and acting, it still has its flaws. Upon finishing the film packed full of war crimes and human disparity, I left it feeling like I had taken nothing from it after its shocking scenes. The Captain has essentially no moral or messages to showcase beyond just telling a story of a power-hungry monster and the overtones of Nazi cruelty. It didn't feel like there was any methodology to the madness. If thats what people are looking for when watching this movie then by all means. However for me, I feel like there are plenty more substantial films that do what The Captain sets out to and better, with some greater substance.

To me, it reminds Medieval stories about an accident changing everything. The man, the world as the best self definition. A film about fear. Its roots, its fruits, the absolute power covering all and the fragility of illegim position as source of cruel gestures and long chain of improvisations. The best point of film - the superb performance of Milan Peschel as Freytag. The simplicity of profound good man front to the high cruelty, knowing the truth, preserving respect, in the shell of a deep shock behind the gestures of young Herold. All is reflected by the great art of Peschel. The war becomes only pretext for the instincts of a falling world. The beautiful cinematography, the memories about similarities with films by Fellini or B>ergman, the veil of ash around each scene, the last words on screen about a private and his illusion of power , the predictable end of a story who is more real than reality .

It's beautifully lit and shot movie. Greatly edited. Boldly directed. Yet somehow empty. Brings to my mind great "Ravenous" by Katherine Bigelow - the same, bit weird, grotesque, satirical tone of the story, the same kind of director's interest in evil within any of us. But - from staging and casting, trough costumes, props, locations, acting, cinematography, to editing, and the role of music and color - "The Captain" is much much much better, more consistent and more determined in terms of aesthetics than Bigelow's vision. And, in the same time, much much much more misleading in terms of its identity. You really can't tell WHAT kind of movie this is exactly - a bit thriller, a bit war cinema, a bit western, a bit drama, a bit dark comedy, a bit fairy-tale, a bit noir, even a bit horror and poetry.... It's refreshing to see WWII topic being treated with such a nonchalant attitude (Tarantino does not count - he is just a separate ligue of his own, and his aims with "Glorious Bestards" are just completely different in my opinion), but on the other hand "The Captain" seems bit immature, bit comic-like, bit 'form-over-substance' kind of thing. But... on the other hand again - the grotesque immaturity of depiction corresponds with grotesque immaturity of the very young main character who's real-life doings were the core of the story. On the other hand though... end credits add another layer of interpretation to the mix. And so on, and so on.

Very thought provoking movie - if you like to think about cinema's language and purpose, or the reasons behind every evil (or even about a role of ego in those two areas respectively). Not so much if you want to explore REAL dilemmas and REAL tragedies of WWII - here, those are SURREAL rather.

Summing up - definitely worth watching, as a somehow different approach to an already very well covered subject.

This title is not like any other typical WWII film. There are no epic battles to witness and no glory for the viewer to hope for. Instead, the film takes a dark humanistic approach to explore the dynamics of power and authority. The quote "Power attracts the worst and worst, it corrupts the best" comes to mind when watching events unfold through many dialogue intensive scenes of the film. Others may see the movie dragging because of all the dialogue but for me, it's a chance to explore in depth the characters and their realistic reaction/behavior in the story. Although certain points of the plot can seem over dramatize which reminds me that the notion of this being based on a true story should be taken with a grain of salt. But overall, it feels authentic for the most part and it's refreshing.