A War (2015)

 

                        “A War” is a Danish war movie.  In Danish it is titled “Krigen”.  It was directed by Tobias Lindhoum (“April 9^th”).  It was nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film at the Academy Awards.  It lost to “Son of Saul”, so there’s no shame there.  Some actual Danish soldiers who served in Afghanistan are in the cast.

                        The movie opens with a patrol in Helmund province in Afghanistan.  An IED kills a soldier.  His commander, Claus Pedersen (Pilou Asbaek), can do nothing to save the man as the movie intercuts to him at headquarters.  War can be very frustrating.  And the home front can be frustrating.  The movie covers Claus’ wife Maria (Tuva Novotny) as she raises three young children without her husband.  It ain’t easy.  One of them is acting out at school.   Back in Afghanistan, Claus decides to lead every patrol himself.  He is a great leader and empathetic towards his men and the civilians they encounter.   He makes a terrible decision regarding a family asking for refuge and this starts dominoes falling.  When he leads a patrol to the family’s village, he decides to overlook the rules of engagement in order to avoid casualties like the soldier killed by the IED.  The incident results in him being accused of a war crime and sent back to Denmark for trial.  His lawyer tells him he will have to lie and even then the evidence against him is damning.  He has to decide between telling a lie and losing his family or telling the truth and losing his honor.

                        I was surprised at how good this movie is.  You would not expect a movie about Danish soldiers in Afghanistan to be one of the best movies about that conflict.  Hell, how many Americans even know that Denmark had troops in Afghanistan?  Americans need to broaden their horizons by watching more foreign war movies.  It doesn’t have to be American-made to be entertaining.  There have been movies that have dealt with war crimes in Iraq or Afghanistan, like “Battle for Haditha” and “The Mark of Cain”.   None are as good as this.  The acting is top notch.  This is the fourth time Asbaek has worked with Lindhoum.  As Claus, Asbaek is perfect as the man torn between his duty to protect his men and the rules of war.  He is also torn between his job as a soldier and his job as a husband and father.  Tuva Novotny turns in a strong performance as his wife.  The movie balances the stress of combat with the stress of raising a family by yourself.  The scenes from the home front and the combat zone have a different pace to them.  The movie is not a typical small unit film.  There is no dysfunction in the unit and Claus is a bit too perfect, but that probably reflects most Danish officers.  Although a Danish film, it could easily pass for an American movie and it does give Americans an accurate depiction of the confusing nature of the war in Afghanistan.  The war crime could easily have happened to an American unit.  Our rules of engagement are similar.  The central question is one that American soldiers face, too.  Should the rules of engagement be overlooked in order to save soldiers’ lives?  That question hangs over the trial, even though the official answer is no.  The trial is the climax to this basic question of modern wars.  This type of trial would never have occurred in WWII and probably not in Vietnam. 

                        The movie is thought provoking.  It has a “what would I have done?” vibe to it.  It does not take sides in the war.  It does not answer that central question.  It is up to you to decide if Claus did the right thing and whether you would have done the same.  Just remember for some veterans who have returned from Iraq and Afghanistan, the question that plagues them is “what should I have done?”

GRADE  =  A