Le Capitaine de Köpenick

Based on a true story, this Oscar-nominated movie concerns itself with Heinz Ruhmann, an ex-con who wants to get back to work but finds himself frustrated with the German Empire's bureaucracy that makes him fall into the cracks. Finally, in an effort to get a passport, he finds an old uniform at a second-hand dealer's shop, buys it, wears it, and orders soldiers to follow him to a town, where he orders everyone about with obedience to military orders drilled into seemingly every German.

Helmut Käutner's version of the oft-told tale has its moments of satire, but really, it's more a character study of Heinz Ruhmann, his sad frustration at dealing with the insanity of a perfect system, that decrees that you can't get a job without a lodging permit, you can't get a lodging permit without a job, and you can't get a passport to get out without.... well, whatever it is, it can't be done. The movie is shot through with humanity, from Edith Hancke's sick lodger, to Willy Kleinau as Ruhmann's brother-in-law, who takes care of his family, and bears up under the lack of concern that the German government treats him with, with an almost pious belief in the order of things.

It's not that the system is a bad one. It's that no system works.

In 1940 one of Germany's finest directors and its most popular actor combined to make a delightful piece entitled 'Clothes make the man' and teamed up again sixteen years later with this adaptation of Carl Zuckmayer's satire on the dangers of militarism which had been previously filmed twice by Richard Oswald. Although the milieus are totally different, both films have a not dissimilar theme, dealing as they do with how one's social standing and how one is viewed are determined by the way one is costumed.

Both films are essentially vehicles for the immensely talented and much-loved Heinz Ruehmann whose persona encourages the viewer's sympathies. Although greatly admired by Hitler and co., he had cleverly managed to appear neutral whilst his influence enabled his ravishing wife Hertha Feiler to star in films despite her grandmother being Jewish. Both he and director Helmut Kautner somehow succeeded in remaining apolitical.

This latter film takes a satirical swipe at both the military mentality and the Prussian cult of the uniform whilst the visual juxtapostions of the military elite and the hoi polloi are well realised. Quite a few buffoons on display of course with a particularly fine performance by Martin Held whilst Hannelore Schroth as his wife does her best in a thankless role. It is not without its serious moments and Ruehmann's plea as the hapless Wilhelm Voigt for humanity over rules touches the heart.

It is a faithful adaptation with excellent production values and would have delighted Ruehmann devotees whose presence guaranteed a healthy box office but for this viewer at any rate the director seems, unusually for him, to have played it safe on this occasion and not taken any chances which results in the film somehow lacking the requisite bite.

What it does in no uncertain terms is to call to mind Peter Ustinov's observation: "The Army is the final repository of the fool."

This is a great movie. Set in about 1910 in Prussia, a middle-aged shoemaker who has been in prison is in a catch-22 situation - he wants to leave to get work in Hungary, but can't get a passport. He can't get work because he doesn't have papers and can't get papers because he doesn't have work. The theme is really how the Germans of that time were so willing to follow senseless rules and figures of authority. The shoemaker buys a captain's uniform, commandeers a small troop of men, and tries to solve his problem by impersonating a captain. The actor playing Willem Voigt is wonderful - human and touching. Only problem is that the film is available on DVD but only from Germany, so I think it's not workable in our DVD machines.

The year 1956 marked the high point of the West German film industry. More than 800 million visitors were welcomed in West German cinemas. 264 million tickets (source: InsideKino) were purchased for German-language films alone. German cinema has not experienced such a successful year since. The film of the year was THE CAPTAIN OF KÖPENICK with Heinz RÜHMANN (1902 - 1994) in the title role. Helmut KÄUTNER's film was nominated for the GOLDEN LION at the Venice Film Festival. The following year there was even an ACADEMY AWARD nomination. In West Germany, 14,445,000 visitors saw the film in cinemas, which corresponds to a box office of the equivalent of EUR 8,667,000. A gigantic success!

The play by Carl ZUCKMAYER (premiere: March 5, 1931) struck a chord with the audience in its tragic exaggeration of German deference to authority and enthusiasm for the military. GERMAN FILM AWARD winner Heinz RÜHMANN (he received his second film award in 1961 for THE BLACK SHEEP) played one of the roles of his acting life as cobbler Wilhelm Voigt. As a small man who comes into conflict with the law, takes possession of a uniform and quickly occupies the town hall in Köpenick, RÜHMANN played his way back into the hearts of the German-speaking audience after his involvement in the Nazi cinema.

Other roles that shine include GERMAN FILM AWARD winner Martin HELD (awarded in 1955 for CANARIS), Hannelore SCHROTH, GERMAN FILM AWARD prize winner Walter GILLER (awarded in 1960 for ROSEN FÜR DEN STAATSANWALT / ROSEN FOR THE STATUS ATTORNEY and in 1962 for ZWEI UNTER MILLIONEN / TWO UNDER A MILLION), Maria SEBALDT and Siegfried LOWITZ.

The wonderful Berlin actress Edith HANCKE (1928 - 2015) has a particularly tragic appearance in one of her first film roles as Lieschen, a girl suffering from tuberculosis who is comforted by Schuster Voigt.

Of course, filming could not take place in Köpenick, which was part of East Berlin at the time of filming. Instead, motifs were found in and around Hamburg.

An immortal classic of the West German film industry! Definitely worth seeing!

If stage is included, this play has been the first real caper movie with a smart and sympathetic robber and and a weak but unbeatable seeming system, which is able to give him no options in his normal life, than to beat the system with it's own weapons. The real case of Wilhelm Voigt is as legend in and around Berlin. Zuckmayer's play is one of the best of it's time. I've seen it on stage several times in several towns and countries, but Rühmann is not to defeat. No one else did the job that good, than he did, seeming to be a tall guy, when he was just a small one, being impressing, when he didn't even knew how to handle his own life, giving the money back to prove the faults of the system or just to get a passport. If you like caper movies, just check out, what brains of them might have seen before...