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Several World War II stories are not told in the books, being forgotten over time. Inspired by true events, the film Under Sandet (original title) or Land of Mine (in English) addresses one of these reports, which occurred in Denmark after the war. Fearing that a possible Allied invasion would take place from the Danish coast, Nazi Germany filled the entire length of Denmark's west coast with over 1.5 million mines. With the German surrender and the end of the war in May 1945, more than 2,000 German prisoners of war were sent to disarm those landmines. The story focuses on a small group of young Germans who have the hard and dangerous task of clearing 45,000 mines from a danish beach to gain freedom.

The film, written and directed by Martin Zandvliet, is an excellent motion picture, managing to bring to the screen a work with a new approach, although all the other war films ever made before. With an original script, the director succeeds to convey the bitterness brought by five years of Nazi occupation in Denmark. He also portrays the exploitation of children dragged into war. One of the great successes of Zandvliet's direction and script is to show the war cycles: the winners, the danes, start to adopt the brutal practices of the losers, the Germans. It was precisely for situations like this that the Second World War broke out. France and other winning countries of World War required repairs and imposed absurd sanctions to Germany.

The photography, by Camilla Hjelm, is to behold. And here, again, we have to highlight the director's work. The use of long shot captures the beautiful danish landscape, while more intimate moments allow us to monitor the interactions among those soldiers. Maintaining an intense pace, the tranquility and vastness of the beach are contrasted, at all times, with the danger that awaits them "under the sand", expression that names the film. The soundtrack is catchy and at times heartbreaking, fitting in the drama narrated in the film.

One of the elements that makes Land of Mine a memorable experience is the excellent performance of Roland Møller, playing the role of Sergeant Carl Rasmussen, protagonist of the story. Responsible to oversee the group of German soldiers, Carl struggle to separate his military duties from the hatred he feels for the old enemy. The actor delivered a complex character, moody, bitter and angry, but at the same time which has not lost humanity that exists within him. The rest of the cast was also well chosen and psychologically developed, in which the actors who play the soldiers have different personalities.

With a philosophical discussion about military conflicts as well as being very intense and beautiful, Under Sandet gives us a real view of the complexities of the Second World War and human behavior.

Originally posted in: https://vikingbyheart.blogspot.com.br

"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.

"Those of you who count the mines, make sure my card is updated. This task is as important as defusing mines." Sgt. Carl Rasmussen (Roland Moller)

In 1945, Denmark needed to defuse the over 2 million landmines left on their western beaches by the Nazis. A Danish sergeant is responsible for 14 German POWs, youngsters all, to find the 45 K on one beach, after which the boys can go home.

That precision mentioned in the opening quote lies at the heart of the film's considerable suspense because one unaccounted for mine can take multiple lives. And so, the sergeant has to corral teenage workers, motivate them with fear, and keep at bay his growing affection for them.

Therein lies the real suspense: Will he learn to love and protect them or will he be brutal as he was in the opening scene? For a story somewhat like Hurt Locker, Land of Mine is a minimalist work of complexity, unadorned with the usual tropes of thrillers but full of the humanity to make it rise above just another WW II sentimental reflection.

Besides the tension built into the always impending explosions is the question of whether or not the Danes will act like Nazis suppressing the lads and hurrying them on to death. The moments of warmth between the sergeant and the boys are few but revelatory enough for us to hope their innocence and bravery will win him over.

Land of Mine will usher you into a war zone you've not seen handled so well in cinema, except possibly Jean Renoir's Grand Illusion in the '30's. The drama, replete with many dramatic elements and even Chekov's gun, will make you wince at the possibly grotesque fate of faultless boys and their conflicted sergeant.

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.

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