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7:00 PM
Robert Schwentke: The Captain
Film Screening | Goethe-Kino (Cinema Screening)
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Goethe-Institut London, London
- Price £6, £3 Concessions and for Goethe-Institut language students & library members.
- Part of series: Goethe-Kino 2025
An ordinary soldier's transformation into a ruthless war criminal during the final days of World War II serves as a grim parable for humanity's potential for violence and susceptibility to power.
At the end of the Second World War, the social order in Germany is in ruins. The German Wehrmacht is in a state of disintegration and the number of deserters increases dramatically. Scattered soldiers are automatically shot as deserters. The 19-year-old private Willi Herold is also hunted mercilessly by drunken captains. But he escapes and makes a crucial discovery: an air force captain's uniform adorned with medals. Herold slips into the uniform and thus into a new role. Now he can give the orders, and soon other scattered soldiers follow him. The ‘Herold Combat Troop’ is formed and goes on a killing and robbing spree through the disintegrating Nazi Germany.
Director Robert Schwentke wanted to make a film about the ‘little people’ who kept the Nazi system alive. He found the right material in the true story of Willi Herold and deliberately told it from the perspective of the perpetrator in order to unsettle the audience and make them question the reliability of their own moral compass. Shot in black and white and set in barren, frosty landscapes, the film is not a naturalistic retelling of true events fixated on historical authenticity, but a dark parable about people's obedience to power, which the Nazi regime exploited in a particularly systematic way, and its cruel manifestations.
Germany, France, Poland 2017. With English subtitles.
Directed by Robert Schwentke. With Max Hubacher, Milan Peschel, Frederick Lau, Alexander Fehling, Bernd Hölscher, Waldemar Kobus, Wolfram Koch.
Please note that the film contains scenes of violence.
Please note that we do not show any advertising and that the programme starts on time.
About Robert Schwentke
Robert Schwentke was born in Stuttgart in 1968. After graduating from high school, he began to study philosophy and comparative literature studies in Tübingen. After four semesters – and his first 8mm films – he enrolled in the film class at Columbia College in New York, from which he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts. He continued his studies at the American Film Institute (AFI) in Los Angeles, which he completed with a Master of Fine Arts in 1997.
In order to finance his tuition, he started to write for film and television. Between 1998 and 2001, he wrote scripts for three Tatort episodes, of which the episode Bildersturm was nominated for a Grimme Award.
Schwentke made his feature film debut as a writer and director with the 2002 thriller Tattoo. The following year saw the release of his sophomore film Eierdiebe, a dark comedy about a young man diagnosed with testicular cancer, for which Schwentke drew from his own experiences with the illness.
Since Tattoo left a good impression with US producers during its American festival run, Schwentke was approached by Hollywood and eventually signed up to direct the thriller Flightplan starring Jodie Foster. The film was a box office success, and Schwentke went on to direct more films in the United States.
He then returned to Europe to directThe Captain (Der Hauptmann). The film premiered at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival, where it received rave reviews, and also screened at the San Sebastián International Film Festival, where cinematographer Florian Ballhaus received the Jury Award. At the 2018 German Film Awards, The Captain was nominated in five categories, including Best Feature Film, and ended up winning the award for Best Sound Design.
Following the success of this film, Schwentke returned to the U.S., where he directed the superhero film Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins, which was not released until the summer of 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2023, his film Seneca, a black comedy about the last days of the ancient philosopher Lucius Annaeus Seneca starring John Malkovich, premiered at the Berlin Film Festival. Schwentke considers this film a continuation of his exploration of forms of opportunism in totalitarian systems that he started with The Captain. (source: filmportal.de edited / Filmgalerie 451: Seneca)
At the end of the Second World War, the social order in Germany is in ruins. The German Wehrmacht is in a state of disintegration and the number of deserters increases dramatically. Scattered soldiers are automatically shot as deserters. The 19-year-old private Willi Herold is also hunted mercilessly by drunken captains. But he escapes and makes a crucial discovery: an air force captain's uniform adorned with medals. Herold slips into the uniform and thus into a new role. Now he can give the orders, and soon other scattered soldiers follow him. The ‘Herold Combat Troop’ is formed and goes on a killing and robbing spree through the disintegrating Nazi Germany.
Director Robert Schwentke wanted to make a film about the ‘little people’ who kept the Nazi system alive. He found the right material in the true story of Willi Herold and deliberately told it from the perspective of the perpetrator in order to unsettle the audience and make them question the reliability of their own moral compass. Shot in black and white and set in barren, frosty landscapes, the film is not a naturalistic retelling of true events fixated on historical authenticity, but a dark parable about people's obedience to power, which the Nazi regime exploited in a particularly systematic way, and its cruel manifestations.
Germany, France, Poland 2017. With English subtitles.
Directed by Robert Schwentke. With Max Hubacher, Milan Peschel, Frederick Lau, Alexander Fehling, Bernd Hölscher, Waldemar Kobus, Wolfram Koch.
Please note that the film contains scenes of violence.
Please note that we do not show any advertising and that the programme starts on time.
About Robert Schwentke
Robert Schwentke was born in Stuttgart in 1968. After graduating from high school, he began to study philosophy and comparative literature studies in Tübingen. After four semesters – and his first 8mm films – he enrolled in the film class at Columbia College in New York, from which he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts. He continued his studies at the American Film Institute (AFI) in Los Angeles, which he completed with a Master of Fine Arts in 1997.
In order to finance his tuition, he started to write for film and television. Between 1998 and 2001, he wrote scripts for three Tatort episodes, of which the episode Bildersturm was nominated for a Grimme Award.
Schwentke made his feature film debut as a writer and director with the 2002 thriller Tattoo. The following year saw the release of his sophomore film Eierdiebe, a dark comedy about a young man diagnosed with testicular cancer, for which Schwentke drew from his own experiences with the illness.
Since Tattoo left a good impression with US producers during its American festival run, Schwentke was approached by Hollywood and eventually signed up to direct the thriller Flightplan starring Jodie Foster. The film was a box office success, and Schwentke went on to direct more films in the United States.
He then returned to Europe to directThe Captain (Der Hauptmann). The film premiered at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival, where it received rave reviews, and also screened at the San Sebastián International Film Festival, where cinematographer Florian Ballhaus received the Jury Award. At the 2018 German Film Awards, The Captain was nominated in five categories, including Best Feature Film, and ended up winning the award for Best Sound Design.
Following the success of this film, Schwentke returned to the U.S., where he directed the superhero film Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins, which was not released until the summer of 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2023, his film Seneca, a black comedy about the last days of the ancient philosopher Lucius Annaeus Seneca starring John Malkovich, premiered at the Berlin Film Festival. Schwentke considers this film a continuation of his exploration of forms of opportunism in totalitarian systems that he started with The Captain. (source: filmportal.de edited / Filmgalerie 451: Seneca)
Location
Goethe-Institut London
50 Princes Gate
Exhibition Road
London SW7 2PH
United Kingdom
50 Princes Gate
Exhibition Road
London SW7 2PH
United Kingdom