Der Hauptmann (4½ Stars)

This is a war film that I think everyone should see. It's different from every other film I've seen about World War Two. It tells the true story of Willi Herold, a teenager who became one of Germany's most notorious war criminals. In the last two weeks before the German surrender he managed to kill more than 200 people, most of them German soldiers.

Willi Herold was a deserter, facing execution in North Germany. While fleeing he found an abandoned vehicle containing a captain's uniform. He put on the uniform and recruited men to serve him, most of them deserters who were glad that he didn't shoot them for treason. From there he went to a prison camp for deserters and executed almost all of the prisoners.

After the camp was destroyed in an air raid, he travelled to the nearest town, which had already hung up banners to welcome the British soldiers. He reacted by shooting the mayor and setting up a court in the town's largest hotel to execute those he considered guilty of treason.

This is a chilling film, shockingly showing how a young man could be so evil. Or was he really evil? He lived in a mixed up world where everyone did what he had to do to survive. He was a deserter who sought to redeem himself by punishing other deserters. What would a psychiatrist say about that? He was a fascinating man, and it's difficult not to feel sympathy for him. He was sentenced to death and beheaded at the age of 21.

The film is available on disc in English, called "The Captain".

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