Das Feuerschiff (2008)

Johann Freytag, a longtime captain of a lightship, opens the story as narrator and unmistakably as a voice from beyond the grave. In doing so, he reveals the ending in advance. Freytag picks up his son Fred from a clinic, where Fred had been recovering from injuries sustained in a car accident while driving under the influence of alcohol. In a flashback, the scene shifts to an ambush on an armored cash transport, during which a shootout breaks out. Freytag drives with his son to the coast and introduces him to Inga, his fiancée, at the coastal radio station where she works. He then takes Fred aboard the lightship to stand the final watch before the vessel is decommissioned. Freytag wants his son to see with his own eyes what his father does. An old fisherman sits smoking a pipe on the quay: Siegfried Lenz, the author of the story on which the film is based, making a cameo appearance. Lenz is greeted warmly, and his name is mentioned in a play on words. The launch ferries them to the lightship “Borkumriff,” anchored offshore. Freytag introduces Fred to the crew: Rethorn, his first officer; the seaman Ole; Soltow, the engineer; Gombert, the radio operator; Zumpe, the boatswain; and Trittel, the ship’s cook. A crow named Rita soon appears. She will play a further part in the story, and the seaman Ole has a special bond with her. An unresolved conflict simmers between Johann Freytag and his son: Freytag resents Fred’s alcohol-related accident. Fred, for his part, believes his father failed during an attack on his ship in which a crew member was killed. Freytag and Fred spot a disabled motorboat whose crew is signaling for help with a flare. The three men are taken aboard and introduce themselves as Dr. Caspary and the brothers Edgar and Eugen Kühl, claiming that their engine had failed during what they describe as a fishing trip. When Freytag tells the men that he will repair their engine but intends to get them off the lightship again soon, Caspary forbids him to call the water police for help. Boatswain Zumpe, who sets about repairing the disabled boat, discovers a submachine gun on board. At the same time, the men of the “Borkumriff” learn from the ship’s television about the ambush on the cash transport, in which two people were killed. They realize whom they have taken aboard: Caspary and his accomplices are on the run and initially intend to escape in their repaired boat. The crew soon begins leaning toward overpowering the gangsters. Freytag sternly warns them against it, because Caspary’s men are armed. Fred tries to alert an approaching search-and-rescue ship, but the gangsters stop him, and the ship turns away. Caspary, evidently the ringleader, is an educated man who is calm and civilized in manner, unlike his hot-tempered and unpredictable accomplices, but he is calculatingly cold-blooded. He makes it quite clear to Freytag that he will tolerate no resistance. The first incident occurs when Eugen, one of the gangsters, taunts the seaman Ole as he feeds the crow. When an argument breaks out, Eugen shoots the crow. The radio operator, Gombert, witnesses this and tries to kill Eugen, but Freytag stops him at the last moment. The crew is now extremely agitated. Tensions mount between Captain Freytag and his crew, who continue working on plans to eliminate the gangsters by force. In a fit of hatred, Fred accuses his father of having acted cowardly many years earlier when trying to prevent an attack on his ship, and of having let a crew member die. Freytag is caught between all sides and desperately tries to remain true to his principles: fulfilling his duty, taking responsibility for public safety, and avoiding violence. The morning after the first watch, Freytag discovers that Caspary’s boat has been cut loose and is gone. The situation escalates. Seaman Gombert knocks Caspary unconscious and locks him in a tool room, but his accomplices free him. When Zumpe tries to stab one of the gangsters with a marlinspike, he is shot dead—the first fatality. Fred again believes his father is to blame. Unmoved by Zumpe’s death, Caspary warns Freytag once more against allowing the situation to escalate further and points to his accomplices’ readiness to use violence. Freytag does in fact manage to conceal the situation from the crew of a supply ship that comes alongside. Caspary now decides to force Freytag to weigh anchor so he can use the lightship to escape. But Freytag firmly refuses, again coming into conflict with his crew and risking the loss of their trust. Meanwhile, in the galley, the cook stabs the gangster Eugen and throws him overboard—the second fatality. Caspary and Eddie are now prepared to do anything; they take Freytag’s son hostage and tie him to a mast. Freytag nevertheless manages to send a coded message to the coastal radio station, which his fiancée recognizes as a distress call. She alerts the water police. Rethorn, the first officer, now agrees—against Freytag’s wishes—to release the anchor chain. This leads to tragedy. At Freytag’s request, Fred is freed. Rethorn begins weighing anchor to get the ship underway. Freytag tries to stop him, but gangster Edgar shoots him. Freytag still manages to reverse the anchor operation, then collapses. Fred stabs Edgar, and the crew overpowers Caspary. As he is dying, Freytag asks his son whether the ship is moving; Fred says no. Fred and his father reconcile in the face of death. Johann Freytag speaks once more as a voice from beyond the grave, justifies his actions, and declares the era of lightships over.