Films dealing with war are hardly pleasant, but can be important and powerful cinema. At the 2016 Sydney International Film Festival, Danish film Land Of Mine presents war themes from a less documented perspective.
Set during May 1945 immediately following WWII, the film sees a young group of German POWs handed over to Danish authorities and ordered to do a difficult task of removing millions of undetonated land mines from the beaches of the west coast of Europe.
Filmmaker Martin Zandvliet directs with great attention to detail, making an insightful and deeply sombre film with immense tension throughout (where a bomb can end a life at any moment) and confronting imagery effectively contrasted with the tranquil beauty of the coastline. It's intimate focus on this small group of boys (out of the unfortunate 2000-plus), gives audiences a very personal, sympathetic experience. It highlights the rarely seen heartbreaking plight of young, innocent Germans post-WWII and the crushing dehumanisation they experienced at the hands of the Dutch purely because they shared the same country as the Nazi regime.
The young cast is outstanding; each one providing layered, tortured performance with little dialogue. As does Roland Moller's Danish sergeant supervising the boys, who creates an incredibly conflicted, understated and ultimately affecting performance.
Land Of Mine is powerful, gut-wrenching and historically insightful cinema.
