Fuglene over sundet

"Across the Waters" (2016 release from Denmark; 93 min.) brings the story of the Itkin family. As the movie opens with "Inspired by True Events", we are told it is "Autumn 1943" and we get to know Arne Itkin, a jazz player, and his wife Miriam and their 6 yr. old son Jacob. It is not long before the word comes that the Nazis are about to come around in Copenhagen to round out the Jews. A mad scramble ensue, and the Itkin family is desperately looking for a way to get to Sweden. At this point we are 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 movie is written and directed by Nicolo Donato, whose grandparents were among the Jews that escaped Denmark for Sweden. This movie, "inspired" by these events, by all means should be a riveting viewing experience, with such sting underlying material. Alas, it is not. The movie is torpedoed by a weak script and acting performances. The script is riddled by cliches left and right. The performers given wooden acting performances, and you can just feel the director screaming "and ... ACTION!" before we move on to a new scene. On top of all that, most of the movie is shot with hand-held cameras (and hence plenty of shaking footage), and with generous use of extreme close-ups, inducing me to have a headache by the end of the movie. It's a darn shame, to be honest. I would've loved to see a Steven Spielberg taking on this material...

I recently saw this at the 2018 Jewish & Israeli Film Festival here in Cincinnati. The Sunday matinee screening where I saw this at was absolutely packed to the rafters. "Across the Waters" brings an important chapter of Jewish life in Denmark during WWII, so it's with a heavy heart that I cannot give this a better rating...

I had pretty high hopes for "Across the Waters." I've seen several of the actors in other roles (Danica Curcic in "Chestnut Man," Jakob Cedergren in "The Guilty," Nicolas Bro in "The Bridge"), and they were all excellent. But for whatever reason, it just didn't all come together in this movie. Another reviewer called it a wasted opportunity, and I agree. All of the above mentioned actors did well, and so did most of the rest of the cast. But the movie was just...I don't know...hollow?

The true stories that inspired this film are amazing, and the courage of those involved is inspiring, but I felt neither amazed nor inspired. I felt like I was just getting to know the characters and relate to them, and then boom - the movie was over. I was left wanting more - not because what I'd experienced was so good, but because it seemed incomplete.

It wasn't bad, and maybe my mediocre score reflects my too-high expectations going in. But I probably wouldn't watch it again.

Was looking forward to this. The heroic rescue of the Danish Jews is an important story that deserves to be told and rememered.

Unfortunately the script is weak, the unsteady camera is annoying and the sound is amateurish - it's impossible to hear what the actors are whispering.

I'd call this movie a massive failure. Too bad.

Powerful story, a bit low key but I think a refreshing change in look and approach to this material. I loved the sound track. Danes make nice fIlm and TV (Borgen for example) if you ask me. This was aspect was a new bit of history for me, I appreciated the telling of Danish Jews and their plight.

After not even 20 minutes I was about to give up... you can't hear what they're saying and if you turn up the volume, you can't be in the room because of the loud music.

Despite being taken from the horrors of World War II, the story and plot is poorly written and executed.