The Captain

Name: The Captain
Genre: Drama, History, War
Released: July 27, 2018
Duration: 118 min
Rating: 67
Cast: Alexander Fehling, Bernd Hölscher, Eugénie Anselin, Frederick Lau, Hendrik Arnst

2018

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Generally favorable reviews based on 17 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 19 Ratings

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7.7

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7.7	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 19 Ratings

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Movie Details & Credits

Music Box Films | Release Date: July 27, 2018 | Not Rated

Starring: Alexander Fehling, Bernd Hölscher, Eugénie Anselin, Frederick Lau, Hendrik Arnst, Max Hubacher, Milan Peschel, Samuel Finzi, Waldemar Kobus, Wolfram Koch

Summary: Based on the arresting true story of the Executioner of Emsland, The Captain follows a German army deserter, Willi Herold (Max Hubacher), after he finds an abandoned Nazi captain’s uniform in the final weeks of World War II. Emboldened by the authority the uniform grants him, he amasses a band of stragglers who cede to his command despiteBased on the arresting true story of the Executioner of Emsland, The Captain follows a German army deserter, Willi Herold (Max Hubacher), after he finds an abandoned Nazi captain’s uniform in the final weeks of World War II. Emboldened by the authority the uniform grants him, he amasses a band of stragglers who cede to his command despite the suspicions of some. Citing direct orders from the Fuhrer himself, he soon takes command of a camp holding German soldiers accused of desertion and begins to dispense harsh justice. Increasingly intoxicated by the unquestioned authority, this enigmatic imposter soon discovers that many people will blindly follow the leader, whomever that happens to be.

Simultaneously a historical docudrama and sociological examination with undertones of the absurd, The Captain presents fascism as something of a game to be played by those most gullible and unscrupulous.… Expand

Director: Robert Schwentke

Genre(s): Drama, History, War

Rating: Not Rated

Runtime: 118 min

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Critic Reviews

100

Wendy Ide

Oct 2, 2018

The stark beauty of Florian Ballhaus’s black-and-white cinematography and painterly framing can’t conceal the ugliness that unfolds as the death toll mounts and Herold starts to believe his own grotesque creation. Read full review

Wendy Ide

Jun 25, 2018

It’s a powerful, profoundly uncomfortable watch. Read full review

Lisa Jo Sagolla

Aug 1, 2018

Schwentke’s delectable drama is ultimately a keen indictment of the stereotypical German affinity for efficiency and the sense of community born of bonding together in the hurting of others. Read full review

Peter Debruge

Jul 27, 2018

Few and far between are the movies...that actually implicate modern viewers in the evil, which is precisely what makes The Captain such a remarkable film. Not a great one, mind you — the movie starts out with a bang but swiftly falls into a kind of prolonged and distressingly outlandish tedium, and lodges there for the better part of its rather taxing running time — but a brave and uncompromising indictment of human nature, Teutonic or otherwise. Read full review

Peter Keough

Sep 5, 2018

The Captain pretends to be a serious movie about the banality of evil; sometimes, despite itself, it is. Read full review

Robert Abele

Aug 9, 2018

Schwentke’s grim history lesson carries an undeniable propulsiveness. But it’s ultimately too ugly a story to be truly resonant. Read full review

Chuck Bowen

Jul 25, 2018

In one fashion, Robert Schwentke proves to be too complicit with his protagonist, regarding evil and human banality as stimulation. Read full review

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