Land of Mine (2015)

 

                “Land of Mine” is a Danish film (“Under Sadet”). It was written and directed by Martin Zandvliet. It was based on the aftermath of WWII in Denmark. The Germans had left millions of mines on Danish beaches to discourage an Allied invasion. After the war, the Danish government used German prisoners to discover and disarm the mines. Some of the prisoners were just teenagers. Of the 2,000 prisoners used, 149 were killed in the five months of work. The movie was filmed on some of the beaches. At one point, a live mine was uncovered during actor training. That took actor boot camp a little too far.

               The movie opens in May, 1945. Five years of German occupation has finally ended. A group of young German prisoners are put to work locating mines. They are overseen by a Danish Sgt. Rasmussen (Roland Moller). He is not the coddling type. Practice diffusing a mine in a bunker begins the winnowing process and now we have eleven. Clearly the movie is going to be a “who will survive?” movie. As though they aren’t already in danger, some of the boys talk about their future. Can you say “dead meat”? The work involves crawling on their bellies on the beach using probes to find the mines. When they are not tempting fate, they are being mistreated by Rasmussen and being ill-fed. Gradually, Rasmussen warms to his charges, but just as he gives up his villain shirt, his evil boss shows up. Capt. Jensen (Mikkel Folsgaard) does not plan on keeping the promise that once they finish one last beach, they can go home.

               The cast is fine, but the characters lack development. We never find out why Rasmussen is so belligerent. Of the Germans, only Sebastian (Louis Hofmann) stands out. In fact, it is hard to tell the boys apart. Jensen is a cartoonish villain. Rasmussen is more interesting and is given a roller-coaster arc. He goes from contempt to tolerance to anger to empathy. The other characters are mainly there to die. And the deaths are pretty predictable. Don’t talk about the future! Not surprising, since this is a movie, 71% of the boys die. Contrast that to the 7% who actually died in the mine disposal.

               The movie uses the mine discovery to create realistic suspense. Although you know some will be killed and it is sometimes forshadowed, you don’t know when the explosions will occur. While the time on the beach is edge of your seat, the time spent in the barracks is tame. There is no dysfunction in the squad partly because the unit is homogeneous.

               The main strength of the film is it brings a little known event to light. It is admirable that Denmark nominated a film for the Academy Awards which does not reflect well on the Danes. In fact, what happened to the German prisoners was a war crime. The Geneva Convention expressly prohibits the use of prisoners to do dangerous jobs. To make Denmark look even worse, none of the characters in the movie deserved their fate. They are not Nazis, they are just boys. Some of the deaths are heart-breaking. It’s a pretty bleak film.

               I have seen “Land of Mine” on several lists of the best war movies. It is entertaining, but overrated. I do recommend it mainly for the history lesson. Now let’s see if we get an American movie about treatment of German prisoners.

GRADE  =  B

Quo Vadis, Aida? (2020)

            “Quo Vadis, Aida?” (“Where Are You Going, Aida?”) is a Bosnian film written, produced, and directed by Jasmila Zbanio. It is a true story about the Srebrenica Massacre which occurred during the Bosnian War. Over 8,000 Bosniak men and boys were killed in act of genocide by Serbian troops.

            Aida (Jasna Duricic) is a schoolteacher who works as a translator for the UN. The Serbian army is on the march in the region of Srebrenica. NATO tells the Bosnians to remain in their homes in the city because they will be safe! Soon, tanks move in and the civilians are rounded up. Many are killed, the rest are sent to a refugee camp run by the UN. Aida is in the camp, but her husband and sons are on the outside. She manages to get them in, but then the war criminal Serbian General Mladic arrives and offers to bus the refugees to another city. Don’t get on that bus!

            “Quo Vadis, Aida?” assumes the audience has basic knowledge of the massacre. That was a big assumption when it comes to American viewers. You don’t have to be well-versed on the Bosnian War to understand that the movie deals with a vicious conflict between ethnic and religious groups. When you throw in the well-meaning but toothlessly naïve United Nations, you get a massacre. You won’t trust the UN and NATO to safeguard you if you are ever in a refugee situation. However, the movie does a good job indicting those two organizations, but it does not do a good job demonizing the Serbians who committed the first legally recognized genocide since WWII. There are plenty of Holocaust movies that bring that genocide to viewers. “Quo Vadis, Aida?” botches its opportunity to enrage viewers. It is not nearly as harsh as movies like “Son of Saul”. It does not hit hard enough. Mladic is serving a life sentence as a war criminal. The movie does not make him a villain. All it depicts him as is a liar. Duricic is outstanding as Aida, but the character is not much of a heroine. She is not tormented that she aided the massacre. And the ending of the movie dilutes the impact of her experience.

            Movies about genocide should leave you drained. You should question humanity. They should not end with kids performing for parents. They should not soften war criminals. “Quo Vadis, Aida?” The movie needed to be “Why, Aida?”

 

GRADE  =  C

The Book Thief (2013)

            “The Book Thief” is based on the critically acclaimed best-seller by Marcus Zusak. The movie was directed by Brian Percival. The original score was by John Williams. He was nominated for a Oscar, a Golden Globe, and a BAFTA. He won a Grammy for Best Instrumental Album. The movie was a big hit. 

            Liesel (Sophie Nelisse) is a young German girl who is being raised by the Hubermanns. Rosa (Emily Watson) is an ass, but Hans (Geoffrey Rush) is doting. Liesel loves reading ever since she acquired The Gravedigger’s Handbook. She and her best friend Rudy are typical elementary school students in Nazi Germany. They are in the Hitler Youth, but participation in a book burning causes her to rethink her patriotism. She finds a kindred spirit in the Burgomeister’s wife. She invites Liesel to borrow books from her husband’s library. Hence the title. When the Hubermanns hide a Jewish boy named Max, she teaches him to read. The war has a deep impact on main characters lives. Have some tissues handy.

            “The Book Thief” is a war movie, but not really a Holocaust movie. The only Jewish character is Max. Liesel is a very appealing young lady and her love of reading hopefully inspires more young girls and boys to read more. I haven’t read the book, but my research indicates it has the expected changes when you adapt a young adult book to the screen. Characters were dropped and obviously scenes were eliminated for time reasons. Subplots were cut. (The book is 550 pages.) In a slap in the face of youngsters who have read the book, the movie is more upbeat. The Devil from the book only appears as a narrator at the front and back of the movie, with a little in between. The relationship between Liesel and Rudy is more of a romance than a big brother – little sister vibe. I did feel upon watching the movie that it did not have enough hardship. It piles all the heart-tugging to the end. There is little suspense along the way. The plot clearly aimed the movie at young adult movie-goers, rather than young adult readers. But it did well, so you can’t fault the studio for encouraging the changes.

            I found the movie to be entertaining, but inconsequential. Considering the fame of the novel, I did not find the movie to be impactful. I have a strong belief that a movie version of a book should be better than the book, unless the book is too fanciful or futuristic for movie technology to replicate. The screenwriter of “The Book Thief” had the template of a beloved book to build his screenplay from. He could have improved upon it, but he didn’t. However, if you are not going to read the book or your child is not going to read it, watching the movie is an acceptable option. The plot is close enough and the actors do a great job bringing the characters to life. I believe most readers found the actors to fit how they envisioned the characters they read. And the book does not have a soundtrack by John Williams, so score one for the movie.

 GRADE  =  C