Unter dem Sand

There's a weird double edge sword going on here. Though I can't blame the Danish for being so cruel to the Germans so soon after the war ended, it's difficult in this PC world of 2017 to see this happening.

Denmark forces German soldiers to clean up their mess (A series of beaches infected with their land mines) before they can go home. Making this task even crueler is the soldiers doing it don't look old enough to smoke a cigarette.

It was a very honest look at the aftermath of war. The Danish military were treating the German's worse than dogs, though Germany deserved it for the part they played in WWII. Land of Mine is a focus on humanity as one Danish Commanding officer must find this with a group of German boys he commands like they were slaves

Land of Mine was at times hard to look at, especially when these kids were getting blown up. A little too real on how land mines work. One minute you're there, the next minute you're gone. Sometimes you saw the explosion coming, and then they surprise you with one you didn't. It strangely added to the drama.

Land of Mine was an interesting look on what it takes to turn the other cheek and forgive the enemy.

http://cinemagardens.com

"Land of Mine" (2015 release from Denmark; original title: Under sandet, ('Under the Sand'); 100 min.) brings the story of a group of German POWs in Denmark. As the movie opens, we are reminded it is "Denmark, May 1945", right after the end of WW II. We get to know Danish Sgt. Rasmussen, who--after violently lashing out against German soldiers leaving the country--is assigned to de-mine an area on Denmark's western coast. Apparently the Nazis anticipated a possible invasion there, incorrectly as we all know. Rasmussen gets the help of about a dozen German soldiers who are ordered to actually do the work. When the soldiers arrive, it turns out most of them are just boys. As the Germans are trained on how to de-mine, one of them accidentally detonates a mine and dies. At this point we are a good 10 min. into the movie, but to tell you more of the plot would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.

Couple of comments: this is a high-profile (more on that later) and expensive (for European standards) production that brings to the big screen a post WWI episode not well known by the public at large (in the movie's end titles, we learn that more than 2,000 German soldiers were involved in this enormous mining clearance project). The movie's underlying tension (namely, at any time one of those landmines may detonate when making a minor error) rarely lets up, keeping us at the edge of our seat. On top of that, there are several outright brutal scenes involving Sgt. Rasmussen's attitude towards the boy soldiers (it somehow reminded me of the first half hour of Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket). All that said, while one certainly may have empathy for the boy soldiers as a group, I found it difficult to have the same emotional investment for the individual boys, as frankly they all seemed interchangeable to me within the movie's context. But in the end, this is an eye-opening movie on many levels. Danish actor Roland Møller in the role of Sgt. Rasmussen is nothing short of extraordinary.

"Land of Mine" received immediate critical acclaim upon its release in 2015 and in fact was nominated for the 2016 Best Foreign Language Movie Oscar, yes, LAST year's Oscars. I have no idea why this movie is just now opening up in US theaters, but better late than never I suppose. The Saturday matinée screening where I saw this at in Ft. Myers was attended very nicely, much to my surprise. If you are interested in a slice of WW II history that you may not be familiar with, I urge you to check this out, be it in theater, or later on Amazon Instant Video on eventually on DVD/Blu-ray. "Land of Mine" is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

This movie certainly deserved its Oscar nomination.

Rarely do movie stick with me for days. 'Land of mine' did.

It's not an action-movie, like 'Dunkirk' or other movies set in and around World War 2. It's an important character study about humanity, desperation, resentment, anger, prejudice and hate that I think everyone need to see, even if they have no interest in World War 2. There are no good or bad guys here. Just people that try to deal with difficult situations commanded by other people above them.

They should make more movies like this.

A Danish war-drama that was inspired by the historical account, but all the characters were fictional. Remember this title for another six month, because I am confident this film will make a journey to the west coast of the USA to compete at the 89th Academy Awards in the coming February. I have seen many foreign films, but I'm not this much positive for any others. If this film fails to make, then that would be a great disappointment despite having no idea of what are the other four films. So this is just for now, my stance may change later.

Anyway, the film was heartbreakingly amazing. The WWII stories I had seen those told from the perspectives of the Australian, Japanese, Korean, Russian to African and European to the American western sea, Hawaii. And this is a Danish story, sets in just after the end of the war where prisoners of the war were used to clean up the mess. In the opening the teen German POWs were trained to defuse the land mine explosives and then later the unit was handed over to the Danish sergeant Carl Rasmussen where they are all going to work in one of the west coast landmines that was used to defend the Scandinavia by the Nazi. That is the story told how it all ends in the remaining parts.

This was like another 'Kajaki', but not actually a war film. Using of the prisoners as the labourers is a violation, according to the Geneva rule. That's the point of the film, focused to reveal the inhume act. But it was not anything like 'The Railway Man' 'Unbroken' or the 'The Bridge on the River Kwai'. Watching a film about the brave soldiers inspires us and bring patriotism, but in this those teen kid screaming whenever something goes wrong really brings heartache. So not everybody feels comfortable with it, especially the family audience. But there were lots of edgy moments and you would never know what events follows.

"If they are old enough to go to war, they are old enough to clean up."

It was shot is the real location, and I think that part contributed to depicting the actual atmosphere where most of the POWs lost their arms and legs and some exploded into many pieces in the air. It was a simple narration, but the visuals talked itself more than anything else. All the actors were outstanding, especially those 4-5 German teens and of course the Danish sergeant Carl. I think the Carl's influence had more impact, after seeing the opening scene where he went outrage and beat up those German soldiers returning home.

There are a couple of small twists, but there are some scenes which are not easy to get over. Even though we know those were just fake, but that does not work once you totally into the story deeply. This is a different kind of emotional film, something you rarely experience. The director who is also the writer must be appreciated for handling it perfectly. Especially keeping the screenplay uncomplicated and between the two nations, where in the real event involves the British officials. I have never seen his other films, but this one will define him forth and the people are going to recognise him. So I hope he'll keep up doing such level films in the future.

I have never seen such film, I mean seen some where the kids were tortured, but this was very unique and totally a different perspective for that takes place in the backdrop of the WWII. Especially the Germans perspective is the very rare kind. So I'm kind of thinking if Germany picks 'Look Who's Back' for the Oscars, the contest between these two would bring two different moods. At this point I don't remember any Danish film I have seen so far in my life other than this one which I feel is the best Danish film ever. I mean, come on, who would do such film where your own nation, if not the whole nation, the one who represent was shown in the negative shade over the Nazi Germans. This is definitely one of the best films of the year. Highly recommended.

8/10

Nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the upcoming Academy Awards, Land of Mine (also known as Under sandet) is a disturbing, disquieting & devastating cinema that's inspired from the immoral & inhuman act that the Danish authorities perpetrated against German POWs, majority of whom were teenagers, following the end of the Second World War in Europe.

Set in post-World War II Denmark, the story of Land of Mine follows a Danish Sergeant who is assigned the duty to defuse & remove over 2 million mines that were buried by the Germans along the coast during the war. Receiving a batch of teenage Germans POWs to carry out the operation, the Sergeant's initial hostility towards them begins to undergo an unexpected change.

Written & directed by Martin Zandvliet, the film opens with a crucial sequence that establishes the seething hatred that the Sergeant has against Germans and takes it up from there. Every segment featuring the young boys trying to defuse the mines with their bare hands despite being obviously ill-equipped to carry out the dangerous task is nail-biting as hell and even more hard-hitting when they fail at it.

Zandvliet's direction exhibits terrific restraint from start to finish and even more admirable is how he handles the characters & their arcs. Without choosing a side, he puts believable people on screen and keeps all their human attributes in tact, whether they are Danish or Germans. And while the hostile nature of the former against the latter is understandable, what the Danish authorities force them to do is equally inexcusable.

Shot at historically authentic locations, the entire picture is splendidly photographed and the era of Denmark recovering from the war is wonderfully captured by its desaturated & earthy colour tones. Camera-work is hand-held, static & expertly controlled for the most part and allows the scenes to play out at their desired pace but the longer it lingers on the defusing process, the more suspenseful it becomes and majority of the time, ends on a heartbreaking note.

Editing is skilfully carried out, for every single minute of its 1½ hour narrative is accounted for & is relevant to the plot. Every sequence on the beach is compelling & handled with patience and every explosion or casualty reverberates with the audience & the impact of it is deeply felt. The film does feel longer than its runtime but it is relentlessly gripping till the end. And further enhancing its grim aura is the poignant score that always surfaces on time.

Coming to the performances, Land of Mine features an incredibly committed cast in Roland Møller, Louis Hofmann & others, with Hofmann impressing the most. Møller is in as the Sergeant overseeing the mine clearing operation and expresses his character's inner conflict brilliantly while Hofmann plays one of the young boys performing the fatal, endless task of defusing millions of buried mines with stunning balance, and the scenes between the two are its main highlight.

On an overall scale, Land of Mine not only ranks amongst the best films of its year but is one of the finest films to come out from Cinema of Denmark. Incessantly human, powerfully moving & making a strong statement about what makes us human & why it's even more important to stay as one in times of bitter conflict, this Danish masterpiece is an extremely riveting example of its genre that treads a difficult path & is utterly discomforting at times yet manages to fully redeem itself in the end. An essential viewing by all means, this Danish masterpiece comes very highly recommended.