When the German occupation of Denmark ended in 1945, two million German land mines had to be cleared from the Danish west coast. Some 2,000 German soldiers, many of them teenagers, were forced to defuse and remove the mines. In the epilogue of the German-Danish film, Land of Mine, we learn that half of these German soldiers died and many more were severely injured and disabled.
Land of Mine opens with a hardened Danish army sergeant, Carl Rasmussen, shouting at German soldiers as they depart occupied Denmark on foot. Rasmussen spots one German carrying a folded Danish flag. He rips away the flag and beats the man mercilessly.
Sgt. Rasmussen is on his way to a remote beach posting where he will lead about 20 young German prisoners assigned to clear thousands of mines. To Sgt. Rasmussen, these Germans are the monsters who occupied his country, committing unspeakable atrocities against his countrymen, so he treats them accordingly. The soldiers look young at the outset, but as the film progresses they appear even younger as they cry for their mothers, play with beetles and dream about girls. As he sees the youth and humanity of these soldiers, Sgt Rasmussen's decency emerges in fits and starts.
We also meet young Danish Lt. Ebbe, whose bearing and sadistic attitude toward the prisoners conveys an unmistakably Nazi sensibility. If we aren't careful, we can become the monsters we defeat.
The message in this film is obvious, but still compellingly rendered. This film is difficult to watch as the German boys are killed and maimed in horrific explosions, but the tension during the mine-clearing scenes will keep you on the edge of your seat.
Land of Mine was nominated for a Best Foreign Language Film Oscar, and it was deserving of the nomination. It would have been better if more ambiguity had been introduced in the form of evidence that some of these young German soldiers had themselves committed atrocities before their surrender. We’re left to assume that possibility, but making it explicit would lend an air of greater authenticity to Sgt. Rasmussen’s struggle to recover and maintain his sense of decency.
X-o-meter rating: 90/100
German and Danish with English subtitles. Graphic violence.
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