The Captain/Der Hauptmann (2017) - The human attraction to doing evil at display in great war movie

♥♥♥♥♥

 

Critical praise accompanies the ominous still that makes up this stark poster for Robert Schwentke's The Captain

Willi is a deserter from the Nazi war machine towards the end of World War II, when he happens upon a German officer's uniform and decides to assume an enticing - and mad - new identity as a deserter-punishing commander. 

 

The Captain is written and directed by great German filmmaker Robert Schwentke (Heaven! (1993)). It is based on the true story of German war criminal Willi Herold. The English title is a literal translation of the original German title.

It is a strangely compelling and deeply loathsome and hard-to-digest film. It does not feature children but is otherwise at par with past hard depictions of the Holocaust in its degree of unpleasantness. - Not because there are assaults of a particularly barbaric nature in The Captain, but more so because the film successfully portrays the mass psychosis among the Nazis, which made their morally vacant death trip possible.

Max Hubacher (Sleep/Schlaf (2020)) is frighteningly good as the attractive, Fascist, blood-thirsty title character, and you almost feel ill from the honest depiction here of an army devoid of heroes. With good effects, production values and strong camera work (by Florian Ballhaus (Allegiant (2016))) and an industrially droning score (by Martin Todsharow (Enfant Terrible (2020))), which accurately compliments the themes of dehumanization, violent atrocities and psychosis. SPOILER The final scene polemically points out how radicalization and contempt for life and can thrive in any age, (although, I think, the point is made without the scene being particularly successful.)

The Captain is a grim, grim film.

 

Related posts:

Robert Schwentke: Top 10: Best German movies

RED (2010) - Schwentke's utterly hollow comic book adaptation  

Flightplan (2005) - Foster rules in well-shot, uneven plane thriller 

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: Reportedly 5.8 mil. €, approximately 6.32 mil. $

Box office: At least 1.1 mil. $ (central market missing)

= Uncertain (known markets leave a return of just 0.15 times the cost, - box office disaster status, - so the film is surely a hefty flop of some kind)

[The Captain premiered 7 September (Toronto International Film Festival) and runs 118 minutes. Shooting took place in Germany and Poland. The film opened #63 to a 7k $ first weekend in 1 theater in North America, where it it peaked at #57 and in 10 theaters, grossing 109k $ (9.9 % of the total gross). The biggest markets were Australia with 597k $ (54.3 %) and Netherlands with 112k $ (10.2 %). But the film's Box Office Mojo site is, mysteriously, missing the film's home market (Germany), which should be its biggest. The German ticket sales are also not to be found elsewhere. Missing are also the film's Polish and French gross numbers (both Poland and France were co-producing countries) and its approximately 47k $ gross in Denmark. The reason for the omissions are unknown but they obfuscate the box office facts to the point where an accurate theatrical ranking is impossible. The film won 1/5 German Film award nominations and a European Film award, among other honors. Schwentke returned with Snake Eyes (2021). Hubacher returned in Lasst die Alten Sterben (2017). The Captain is certified fresh at 83 % with a 7.60/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Captain?

Elvira Madigan (1967) - Widerberg's picturesque period romance lacks insight but has picturesque and lyrical power

♥♥♥

This elegant, slightly literary poster for Bo Widerberg's Elvira Madigan highlights one of its picturesque scenes

A beautiful Danish line dancer falls in love with a deserted Swedish officer, but the two are soon found.

Elvira Madigan is written and directed by Bo Widerberg (Man on the Roof/Mannen på Taket (1976), based on the real-life 19th century legend of Hedvig Jensen (stage name Elvira Madigan) and Sixten Sparre.
The film has some enormously picturesque scenes in the Danish landscapes, which have a still-life idyllic quality to them, (cinematography by Jörgen Persson (A Song for Martin/En Sång för Martin (2001)), and together with the Mozart and Vivaldi music, a - for cinema - rare lyrical force is felt. 
Elvira Madigan portrays a delicate infatuation, SPOILER one with a fatal end which I feel like Widerberg himself may have also grappled with understanding. In any case the film has too much silence and distance to its two lovers, SPOILER and thus their tragic decision of mutual suicide never becomes really comprehensible for us. - Why, for instance, don't they simply choose to flee South, into Germany?

Watch a 3 minute scene from the film here

Cost: Unknown
Box office: 2.1 mil. $ (North America only)
= Uncertainty - but considered a big hit
[Elvira Madigan was released 24 April (Sweden) and runs 91 minutes. Widerberg cast 17 year-old Pia Degermark (The Looking Glass War (1970)) as the title character after having seen her photo in a newspaper. Shooting took place in Sweden, including Stockholm, and in Northern Jutland, Denmark. The film hit a nerve in its time with its sensual, romantic tale of young rebels and was a big hit. Unfortunately records of its grosses in markets outside of North America are not available. The film won Degermark the Best Actress Award in Cannes; it was nominated for two Golden Globes and two BAFTAs and won two National Board of Review awards. Widerberg returned with tennis documentary The White Match/Den Vita Sporten (1968) and strike drama Adalen 31/Ådalen 31 (1969). Degermark returned in A Brief Season/Una Breve Stagione (1969), but her movie career fizzed out fast. 2,180 IMDb users have given Elvira Madigan a 7.5/10 average rating.]

What do you think of Elvira Madigan?