7.6 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
In the last moments of World War II, a young German soldier fighting for survival finds a Nazi captain's uniform. Impersonating an officer, the man quickly takes on the monstrous identity of the perpetrators he is trying to escape from.
Starring: Max Hubacher, Milan Peschel, Frederick Lau, Bernd Hölscher, Waldemar KobusWar | 100% |
History | 64% |
Foreign | 32% |
Drama | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
German: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
German: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (48kHz, 24-bit)
BDInfo
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (locked)
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 5.0 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 2.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Kind of astonishingly, The Captain doesn’t offer its brief credit title card until almost a half hour into the film, after a cartwheeling series of events that sees real life German soldier Willi Herold (Max Hubacher), who may or may not have been in the process of deserting as the film begins, stumble across an abandoned military vehicle that kind of felicitously has a suitcase filled with the clothes (including the uniform) of a German Army Captain. Herold dons the clothes and the resultant (assumed) “identity”, instantly matriculating into a position of command in the waning days of World War II, when the German front line was already in chaos and various rural communities further back had largely descended into mob rule. The Captain is a viscerally disturbing film, but it might have had more impact if just a bit more context had been given up front about Herold and his background. Instead the film catapults the viewer headlong into the “impersonation” angle, perhaps hinting at some mental instability on the part of Herold simply because of that very pretense, but never attempting to really dig beneath the surface in any meaningful way. It’s an absolutely astounding story in any case, one brought unsettlingly to life by director Robert Schwentke, in a perhaps unexpected addition to a filmography that has included such disparate fare as Flightplan, The Time Traveler's Wife, RED, R.I.P.D., Insurgent and Allegiant.
The Captain is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Music Box Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.39:1. The IMDb doesn't really offer any substantial technical data, but a CV for noted cinematographer Florian Ballhaus suggests the Arri Alexa XT was used for this shoot, and I'm assuming things were finished at a 2K DI. With the exception of one really odd and disjunctive shot (see screenshot 2), this is a lustrous black and white offering that features really solid contrast, beautifully deep black levels and impeccably modulated gray scale. The film takes place in an almost too wintry setting (historical photos I've seen of Berlin at least in April 1945 don't paint such a snow laden picture), but even if it's not completely historically accurate, the trees shorn of all "greenery" and a desolate, muddy ground really provide some remarkable imagery here that makes the film play almost in a Bergman-esque fashion at time (several framings reminded me outright of The Seventh Seal, whether or not that was intentional). Detail levels are uniformly excellent throughout the presentation. There's occasional very slight murkiness in some of the darker moments, but detail levels remain remarkably intact even in less than fulsome lighting conditions.
The Captain features a really interesting DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix in the original German, with optional English subtitles (a German DTS- HD Master Audio 2.0 mix is also included). Kind of like with regard to another film taking place in the waning days of World War II that I recently reviewed, 1945, this film features a kind of weirdly hallucinogenic score and sound design, one that offers huge washes of LFE panning through the soundstage that create an instant feeling of dread, even if they're divorced from any actual imagery. The glut of outdoor material also provides ample opportunity for well placed ambient environmental effects. Dialogue and the occasional eruption of gunfire and/or explosions are all rendered with excellent fidelity and wide dynamic range.
- Max Hubacher, (1080p; 11:42)
- Milan Peschel (1080p; 5:08)
- Frederick Lau (1080p; 3:31)
- Frieder Schlaich (1080p; 6:33)
- Storyboard to Film Comparison (1080p; 3:57)
- Shooting the Escape (1080p; 8:14)
- Making the Hiding Place (1080p; 5:00)
- Shooting the Hiding Place (1080p; 9:23)
- "The Escape" Final Scene (1080p; 3:08)
Richard Schwentke discusses how "Brechtian" his one color interruption in the film is, but I personally think the allusion to "what happened after the war" would have been better placed as a coda to the film itself. Schwentke makes a couple of other kind of curious stylistic choices, including placing the title card at around the 24 minute mark (where it's equally "Brechtian"), and offering a post-film credits sequence that sees the cast driving through a modern urban environment. Schwentke seems to think all of these choices support the film, but I'm personally not that sure. What I am sure of is this is an absolutely riveting story, even if Schwentke's treatment of it tends to lag a bit in the energy department as it goes on. Performances are uniformly fascinating, and the film's look and sound are also extremely unique. Technical merits are great, and with caveats noted, The Captain comes Recommended.
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