http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3841424/?ref_=nv_sr_1

In the wake of the Second World War, the Danish authorities force thousands of German prisoners of war to defuse the millions of mines buried on Danish beaches.

IMDb: 7.9

The very short synopsis is not just too brief but also unnecessary overdramatic. In fact this ain’t an action thriller or a war movie, it’s more of a quiet meditation about the state of the human mind. So far so boring. No, not really.

But let’s start from the beginning and let me tell you the story, a thing I usually don’t do. It’s 1945 shortly after the war ended. We see a small group of very young german boys, Hitler’s last reserves, now POWs of the Danish authorities. Their task is to clear an area of beach from German landmines. It’s a tedious and very dangerous work, supervised by their warden, a Danish sergeant, their only wish is to finally go home to  their mommas.

Of course there is a lot of mutual mistrust between the parties but over the course of the work, the former enemies learn to work together and trust each other a bit more. The whole movie lives from its cold atmosphere, little gestures and a human warmth you wouldn’t expect in such a setting. It shows when the sergeant tries to get some bigger food rations for his prisoners and when he acts on their behalf against his bosses. It’s a small indy movie, not a Hollywood blockbuster drama but very competently made and acted.

The Danish/German cast did very well, I guess we’ll hear more about the young actors in coming years. No, not in Hollywood, but in Germany, silly. 😉

CONCLUSION: Hubby and me truly enoyed this refreshing attempt to show a story about human behaviour under extreme circumstances. The pretty high IMDb rating of 7.9 is justified.

The badly needed subtitles are a shambles. Why is it always the guys who can hardly speak English trying to do it. I guess in this case it was a Danish subtitler who struggled with both, the German and the English language. Let’s hope he got at least the Danish parts right.