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lrumery
IMDb member since May 2003
Reviews
Der Hauptmann von Köpenick (1956)
A great film with a great screenplay
10 May 2003 - 16 out of 18 users found this review helpful.
This is a great movie. Set in about 1910 in Prussia, a middle-aged shoemaker who has been in prison is in a catch-22 situation - he wants to leave to get work in Hungary, but can't get a passport. He can't get work because he doesn't have papers and can't get papers because he doesn't have work. The theme is really how the Germans of that time were so willing to follow senseless rules and figures of authority. The shoemaker buys a captain's uniform, commandeers a small troop of men, and tries to solve his problem by impersonating a captain. The actor playing Willem Voigt is wonderful - human and touching. Only problem is that the film is available on DVD but only from Germany, so I think it's not workable in our DVD machines.
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