Former enemies struggle to recognise their shared humanity in this moving and tension-filled drama that draws on a seldom discussed episode from the end of World War II. Winner of awards and audience prizes at several festivals already, Land of Mine acknowledges Denmark’s punitive treatment of young German POWs held in Denmark after the Nazi surrender.
The film’s protagonists are put to work to search out and disarm mines that had been buried on Danish beaches by the Nazis in anticipation of an Allied invasion. At first, the Danish sergeant Rasmussen (Roland Møller) supervises his youthful charges with vengeful severity. A solitary individual but for the company of his faithful dog, he shows no hesitation in visiting the sins of the Third Reich on its youngest sons, mere boys conscripted as German manpower dwindled.
Gradually, though, the taskmaster finds himself at odds with those whose orders it is his duty to enforce. The tension is absolute, but never needlessly ramped up in Martin Zandvliet’s direction; humane concerns are very much at the centre of this gripping film. He draws performances of great poignancy from his cast, the formidable Møller included.
