You can now stream Der Hauptmann on your Amazon Prime subscription. The German war film transforms a true story into a nightmarish maelstrom of blind obedience to power and extreme abysses.
If you only think of (romantic) comedies or history lessons for school classes when you think of German films, you should definitely take a look at Der Hauptmann. Robert Schwentke’s film about a particularly dark chapter of the Second World War also sounds like dull school material at first.
But behind the film, which you can now stream on Amazon Prime with a subscription, lies one of the most impressive and uncomfortable German films of the last 10 years.
The Captain is a disturbing war grotesque from Germany
The plot of the film takes place in 1945 shortly before the end of the Second World War. Here, the young corporal Willi Herold (Max Hubacher) gets hold of a captain’s uniform. In order not to be unmasked and executed as a deserter, he assumes a false identity and, together with a small squad of other soldiers, merges ever more disturbingly with his new role.
With a mix of blind obedience to power, extreme excesses of violence and fascist mechanisms, Der Hauptmann becomes more and more of an unpleasant viewing experience. Director Robert Schwentke, who previously made slick Hollywood blockbusters like R.E.D. – Older, Harder, Better, R.I.P.D. – Rest in Peace Department and Die Bestimmung – Insurgent, could not have taken a more extreme direction with this work.
Using stylistic devices of surreal theatre and sheer war grotesque, he combines psychological aspects such as the disintegration of the human soul in times of National Socialism with explicitly depicted details and horrific innuendo.
