Les soldats de l'ombre

I am very impressed, and pleasantly surprised. I do not know any of the other work of the director, but I will have to consider anything else I see his name attached to. My opinion of what we Danes manage to put together in the medium of film is hardly a secret... I tend to find myself underwhelmed. Before tonight, I only really considered two such recent features truly great(the more notable of those, in my view, being Murk), and, well... as cliché as it is, that number is now three. The plot is magnificent, and the twists so marvelous and unexpected. There is maybe one thread that I found unsatisfying, perhaps especially because of how much attention was paid to it, but that's it. The acting is excellent... the one bad performance was had by a kid, and it didn't need to be better than it was. Lindhardt and Mikkelsen haven't a single weak moment between them, and Mygind... thumbs up. The cinematography is spectacular, though I did find the, all in all relatively few, zooms a bit distracting, save for one or two(these may be a Scandinavian thing, something similar appeared in Show Me Love). The editing is effective... the action(do note that this is not a straight-on piece within that genre) works, the drama likewise, and the only real criticism I can come with in this area is that there are a handful of places where things could be clearer. The writing there is infinitely little to complain about, and a long line of positives about, including the psychology, the complexity, the characters(the consistency of which is almost entirely flawless, and the only real problem within that is really how at least one major character disappears from the movie) and the incredibly accurate depiction of the time, the environment, the types of people. This is remarkably engaging. There is a little sexuality, and some language, as well as a measure of violence, but I wouldn't call any of it gratuitous. You do need a basic knowledge about the period, the place and the people, before watching this, but hey, nowhere near as much is required as for Der Untergang/Downfall. I don't know if this is entirely historically accurate, but little, heck, hardly any, is Hollywoodized, and it's undeniably entertaining and strong. I recommend this to any fan of drama, and anyone who wants a visual representation of the situation this revolves around. 8/10

Based on a true story, this twisting tale of two second world war folk heroes of the Danish resistance unfolds with noir-ish intrigue. Atmospherically photographed on a fat budget, the film looks stunning but retains a gritty period realism.

The performances are universally strong and there is a real chemistry between the two central characters; Mads Mikkelsens' quirky Citronen, a twitching, sweaty bundle of amphetamine-fuelled nervous energy and his sole ally, the flame-haired, but relatively cool-headed Flammen (Thure Lindhardt).

This is a war film - but the war we experience here has a dreamlike, claustrophobic quality. This is a world of lies, paranoia and spiralling violence which threatens to erode our heroes moral certainty and destroy their sanity.

A buddy movie with echoes of "Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid" (without the jokes); "Bonnie & Clyde" (but with swastikas). There's even a little "Naked Lunch" thrown into the mix.

The first film I've seen by director Madsen has left me intrigued, impressed and hungry for more. Recommended 8.5/10

It's almost impossible to get involved in a movie while flying over the North Pole in an Airbus. The personal screen is small, the ambient noise of the jet engines great, and the viewer's disorientation complete. Flame & Citron, a Danish subtitled movie, had no difficulty grabbing me anyway. It begins with one of the heroes vomiting in the street as a result of watching victorious Nazi troops rolling into the capital city of his small European nation. Almost immediately, we are swept up into the heroes' terror as they perform grotesque cold-blooded murders in the name of national insurgency. Brilliant performances by Thure Lindhardt and Mads Mikkelsen involve us in the personal crises of honest citizens who are forced by war into the roles of brutal hit-men. As the action proceeds, their predicament becomes only worse as they doubt the validity of their orders, and ultimately, the integrity of the order-givers. The 'third reel' of the film is an ongoing crisis, and the outcome is not pretty. The only survivors are the sociopaths who sold out in their various charming ways. The story depicts the multi-layered nature of an occupied society, and the different commitments of its members --- to their country, to their offshore bank balances, and to their own skins. Even Flame & Citron, selfless insurgent heroes, are compromised, no one comes out of the Third Reich smelling of roses. Congratulations to writer Lars Andersen and to writer/director Ole Christian Madsen on producing a grown-up war movie that has nothing to do with the Pentagon or its suck-hole clients in Hollywood.

Another good movie, occasionally but steadily coming from Denmark, Flammen & Citronen (Flame and Citron, 2008), not necessarily belonging to the genre, but still shot in a good old film-noir style ("black-and-white" detective or other crime stories, a film genre with its hey-days back in 1940's and 1950's, nevertheless kept alive over the years, having its newer "offsprings" often related to as neo-noir, with the latest solid follower of the style, Shanghai (2010), American product directed by another filmmaker from Danish Scandinavian neighbourhood, Mikael Håfström from Sweden), based on the historically true story (with all the necessary fictional cinematic alternations) about the title hit-man and his driver, two among, apparently, very few but still existent resistance fighters in Nazi occupied Denmark, targeting at first only Danish collaborators, subsequently ordered to liquidate Germans, and, eventually, hit-man's girlfriend, getting themselves (and spectators along) ultimately confused in who their friends and foes are...

This film about the Danish resistance reminded me an awful lot of Jean-Pierre Melville's brilliant film "L'armée des Ombres" (Army of Shadows), as both were true stories about the resistance to Nazi occupation and were great because they were well acted and without a lot of frills. Good, crisp direction, exceptional tension and excellence throughout--that's how I'd describe both films.

The title of the film comes from nicknames given to two famous resistance fighters who specialized in assassinations--mostly of Danish collaborators but also, occasionally, Nazis. What made this all so interesting is that after a while, it really became uncertain whether the two were actually now killing the good guys instead of the bad. Who was an informer and who really deserved to die was tough for the audience to figure out--and it was also quite difficult for Flame and Citron. I liked this vague aspect of the film--as war isn't always 100% cut and dry.

Overall, I have no negative comments about the film. It was exceptionally well made but unfortunately practically none of my fellow Americans will ever see the film, as sadly, most feel that it's too much trouble reading subtitles and would rather see a remake of "Friday 13th part 178"!! As for me, it just confirmed that the Danes have made some exciting films--such as "The Celebration" and "Babette's Feast"--and the Danish-Swedish co-production "Evil".