151
Film · 2015
Land of Mine
Under sandetIn May 1945 following the liberation of Denmark, a bitter Danish sergeant is tasked with overseeing a squad of teenage German prisoners of war forced to defuse landmines along the West Coast with their bare hands. As the perilous labor claims lives, the commander's initial hatred gradually gives way to an agonized sense of empathy and moral responsibility.
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The sand dunes of Denmark's Skallingen peninsula (finally declared mine-free in 2012) are a huge canvas for cinematographer Camilla Hjelm Knudsen, the director’s wife, who evokes a desert-like vastness reminiscent of a David Lean landscape for boys forced into a labour of futility.
David D'Arcy on Screen Daily Zandvliet's script and direction avoid milking an innately loaded situation for excess melodrama or pathos, sticking to a discreet economy of approach that accumulates considerable power. 'Land of Mine' is essentially apolitical, showing that at a long war's end, both sides are simply embittered and exhausted. The German boys are sacrificial lambs very far from the criminal decision making of their Nazi superiors...
Dennis Harvey on Variety One of the film’s chief assets is the performance of (Roland) Moller, who takes us along on a credible emotional journey as Rasmussen gradually and almost grudgingly comes to recognize the vulnerability of his young charges. His moral awakening is handled subtly, without the slightest hint of sentimentality.
Stephen Farber on The Hollywood Reporter
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