In matters of war, no nation is free of guilt. Regardless of whether they are produced by victorious or vanquished countries, the better war films set out facts, acknowledge wrongdoing, express regret, and seek atonement. Many of them put guilt and culpability onto the widescreen so that current and future generations may learn from the past. This is the psychological space in which we find the extraordinary Danish-German war film Land of Mine (2016).

It is 1945 and the war is over, but the beautiful Danish coastline has two million deadly mines left buried in the sand by the Nazi occupation. Danish Sergeant Carl Rasmussen (Roland Møller) is assigned a squad of fourteen German prisoners of war who must clear a beach that contains 45,000 active mines. The Sergeant's treatment of the teenage boys is initially brutal: they live and work in terrible conditions, are practically starved and constantly reminded that everyone in Denmark hates them and nobody cares if they live or die. Their task is to crawl along the beach by hand, poking a stick in the sand to locate mines, then defuse them before they explode. Inevitably, many failed. With echoes of Stockholm syndrome, both captor and captives find glimpses of humanity in each other that leads to Rasmussen being suspected by his tormenting superiors of going soft on the Germans. He must walk the fine line between military obedience, personal hatred of Nazis, and his growing compassion and realisation that these are just boys who were conscripted into battle. His characterisation and its transition from hatred to acceptance frames the narrative of this high-tension drama.

Stunningly realistic cinematography with minute attention to detail amplifies the horror of this story. The acting is remarkable from a mostly unknown cast and Rasmussen's performance captures the very essence of moral conflict. The mine-clearing proceeds inch-by-agonising-inch, and the film's plot line inches forward at a similar pace. With camera at sand-level, we see close-up images of teenage warriors with beads of terror trickling down their faces as their sand-covered fingers slowly un-screw a detonator from a mine, knowing that an explosion will tear their body to pieces. These are some of the most heart-pulse racing moments you can experience through film. This is not entertainment nor is it for faint-hearted viewers; several scenes are horrific.

Most war films glorify battle or corner us into cheering one side or the other. This film presents an exquisite conundrum: was it morally acceptable for the Danish military to force German POWs to remove the deadly mines that the Nazi army left behind, knowing that most will die or be maimed? Or should this deadly work have been carried out by Danish soldiers? Was the inhumane treatment of teenage soldiers justifiable, regardless of the brutality of the Nazi occupation of Denmark? In the light of such questions, is this film one of justification or a confessional that seeks atonement? Land of Mine shines a bright light on what has hitherto been a dark secret of Danish history. It is a powerful and important story.

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 (Under Sadet) 2015

This Danish film is set just after the end of the Second World War. It tells the tale of a little-known bit of post war history. The Danish army garbs up several thousand German prisoners of war and puts them to work clearing mines.

The story follows a tough Danish Sergeant, Roland Moller, who is put in charge of a small detachment of young pow's. The Germans are all young lads of about 16-17 who had been drafted into the army late in the war.

The young men are put through a quick course on dismantling the various types of mines. They are then sent off to various parts of the Danish West coast. The German's had planted close to two million mines on the coast.

Moller puts the Germans lads to work clearing a nearby section of the beach. At night he locks the boys in a barn. The first several days the Germans are not supplied with any food. This of course affects their ability to defuse their quota of mines. One of the lads blows off both his arms off because of fatigue.

Moller might hate the Germans, but this is just murder. He hits a Danish Army base and steals some rations for the Germans. The Germans take all the abuse heaped on them by the Danes and the visiting British officers. Moller starts to rock the boat with his higher ups about this treatment. This just gets Moller in crap with the chain of command.

Several more of the lads are killed and more prisoners are brought in to take their place. Moller reverts back to form when his dog is killed running in a section that was cleared. He has the boys walk over every square foot of the section to make sure no others were missed.

Moller again softens when he returns from a trip to his base. He finds the Germans risking their lives to rescue a local child who had wandered onto an uncleared section. Moller promises the boys that they can all go back home after their section of beach is cleared. After the section is cleared, there is only 4 out of 14 lads left alive. Moller loads the survivors on a truck and wishes them good luck back in Germany.

He then finds out that his swine of a commanding officer, has assigned the 4 kids to work on another section of beach. This results in a heated discussion with the officer. The man tells Moller that as far as he is concerned, the more dead Germans, the better.

Moller, knowing it could cost him his stripes, hunts down the 4 boys at their new posting .Using faked papers he takes custody of the boys and drives them to within 100 yards of the border. He then tells them to hotfoot it for home.

The use of prisoners to do dangerous work was of course against the rules of the Geneva Convention. About half of the 2000 POW's used in clearing the mines were killed or wounded.

As a military history buff, I was surprised I had never heard about this chapter of World War Two.

This powerful film is well worth a watch for those interested in the era. The acting, direction and cinematography are all first rate.