In the days following the surrender of Germany in May 1945, a group of young German prisoners of war is handed over to the Danish authorities and subsequently sent to the West Coast, where they are ordered to remove the more than two million mines that the Germans had placed in the sand along the coast. With their bare hands, crawling around in the sand, the boys are forced to perform the dangerous work under the leadership of a Danish sergeant.
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Harmless, innocent Germans caught in the midst of this bad bad war. Lost, misunderstood and mistreated. Poor things. What a touching story to tell. Technical masterpiece with brilliant actor play I must admit, but a clear attempt to clean wash Germans. The same Germans repeatedly responsible for world conflicts, who exterminated by burning and starving to death children much younger than these hobbledehoys by the thousands. This nation deserves no consolation, nor any kind of compassion. Similarly a picture suggesting that Denmark actually did something during 2nd World War. They've practically surrendered their country to Germans with not one gun shot. Poles defended each inch of their country with their blood, and with no support from any of European countries watching from the distance. Later they've continued to fight Germans supporting other countries all over Europe, even as far as Africa. For which effort btw. Great Britain and USA gave them out to Russians communists on a silver platter. It seems to me that Danes got themselves a pretty good deal. Not many other countries that didn't lift a finger to stop Germans got themselves leftovers from their army to clean up. It's just a funny little story of children playing war far from the real horrors in Europe.
I found this by complete accident on youtube, and was enthralled by the first scene, enough to continue and watch the entire 2 hours.Apparently, when WW2 ended, a small-ish number of German Prisoners Of War were kept by Denmark for the sole job of removing landmines, mostly as a punishment for their previous occupation of their land. The job involved laying on your belly and tapping the ground with a spike, to find a mine, and then manually disarming it. Not an easy job, and in fact about half of those put to it, either died or suffered grevious wounds.On top of all that, most of these POWs were teenagers, mostly last- minute conscripts from the Hitler Youth, forced into the war as a last ditch effort to try to win against the allies.Land of Mine is a 2015 film (of which i completely ignored the existence until just now) entirely in German, although subtitles are available, detailing the fate of one group of said children, and of their Danish instructor/warden, as they learn the dangerous job of hand-disarming live explosives, all the while trying to figure out why they are there. Now, Land of Mine is a masterfully well made film; the acting is excellent, the production is likewise top notch, and the soundtrack particularly moving; but ..It's long. It's dark. It's more than a bit depressing. This is not an easy film to watch. It will force you to ponder the horrors of war, without ever giving you a rest, a hero to admire, a victory to share. Here, war is about loss, not victory.I am not sure i can recommend this film. But if you have a friend or two who think war is cool because you shoot bad guys, then show them this film, it will change their mind.my vote will be only 7/10. it's good, but it's hard.
'LAND OF MINE': Four and a Half Stars (Out of Five) A Danish-German war film (based on actual events) about teenage German prisoners of war, that were forced to clear mines from postwar Denmark (shortly after the end of World War II). The film has received nearly unanimous rave reviews from critics, and it's won (or been nominated for) multiple prestigious awards; including a 2017 Academy Award nomination for Best Foreign Language Film. The movie was written and directed by Martin Zandvliet, and it stars Roland Moller. I agree with all of it's critical acclaim, it's an amazing film!Historians estimate that following the end of World War II (in Europe), 2,000 captured German soldiers were forced to remove mines, with their bare hands, from former warzones. Many of these prisoners of war were teenagers, and they were also extremely inexperienced. It's also estimated that nearly half of them were killed, or severely wounded, by the mines. This film tells the story of a small group of those teenage German prisoners, in Denmark. It focuses on their relationship with their commanding Danish sergeant (Moller), who at first hates the boys and then grows sympathetic towards them.The movie is extremely emotional and involving. Only the least empathetic viewer could not feel something for these boys, that were forced to go through this unbelievably horrendous experience. The relationship they have with their enemy sergeant is also extremely touching and powerful. By focusing on a part of World War II history that's rarely covered (in films at least), the movie also seems original and surprisingly educational. It's a very moving story about forgiveness, in the harshest of circumstances, as well. I think it's a masterpiece that everyone should see. I'd almost give it a perfect rating, but I'm slightly hesitant to for some reason.Watch our movie review show 'MOVIE TALK' at: https://youtu.be/hAV3iy1JkJ8
"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.
