Der Seewolf

Admittedly, this film is well done. It narrates the story of a ship under the leadership of Rolf Larssen, a violent, mentally-ill man. When a ship wreckage of another ship happens, the survivors are taken aboard, and the unholy cruise begins. Harmstorf, a bad actor, who in his career was allowed only to play scumbacks, muggers and robbers, does not play Larsson, he is Larson. Once in a while, his furious attacks of mental pain are so real and scary, that the movie gets a realistic touch that goes far beyond imagination. But, it also plays to the gallery by showing a seaman crawling around after his legs having been bitten off by a shark, with all other seamen standing around, cheering and laughing. Although such scene of graphic violence are rare, the movie is not for children. Harmstorf, who committed suicide after a long and drawn-out suffering of Alzheimer, sets down a figure that is so real that we can deduce from that his real nature : a lone, psychopathic man, prone to violence.