‘Land of Mine’ reveals an untold war story

I love Danish movies, which is why I insisted on seeing "Land of Mine," one of the five films nominated for the Best Foreign Language Oscar. Following is the review that I wrote for Spokane Public Radio:

During the waning days of World War II, the Danish government forced some 2,000 German prisoners of war to execute a dangerous mission. Over the previous years, the German High Command had been trying to figure out a way to stave off what they knew was coming: an Allied invasion somewhere along the European coastline.

As it turned out, that invasion would occur in France. But it might have happened in Denmark, or so the German suspected. So they fortified Danish beaches, including burying a million and a half or so land mines under the dunes. When Denmark was finally liberated, the retreating German troops did not take the mines with them.

That left the task of clearance to the unfortunate German POWs, under the direction of the Danes. And it is the story of those unfortunates, many of whom were just in their teens, that writer-director Martin Zandvliet tells in his film “Land of Mine,” which was Denmark’s Oscar nominee for Best Foreign Language Film.

Set in May, 1945, the film first introduces us to Sergeant Carl Rasmussen (played by Roland Møller), whom we see driving past a file of POWs. When he spots one carrying a Danish flag, he assaults the man, beating him savagely. His actions, and the look of hatred that twists his face, tell us all we need to know about the horrors of war he has witnessed.

It is Rasmussen who is put in charge of a troop of young Germans, all of whom look as if they should be preparing to attend their senior prom rather than fighting a war – and at least one of whom, Sebastian (played by Louis Hoffman), who looks as if he could be king of the prom. Rasmussen, after telling the prisoners he doesn’t care whether they live or die – obligatory foreshadowing here – shows them the stretch of beach they will have to clear.

And here is where the film’s visual irony works best: These wind-swept Danish dunes, set so close to the sapphire-blue sea, are literal killing fields. Where “Land of Mine” – a switch from the Danish title that translates to “Under the Sand” – works worst overall is in its predictable who’s-gonna-die-next scenario. When a character starts talking about what his plans are once he gets home, you know what’s coming.

Then again, overall, Zandvliet’s film succeeds mostly because of Møller, whose performance won him the Danish equivalent of the Oscar. Gradually, Rasmussen regains his lost humanity. And even as he braves the wrath of his immediate superior, not to mention other Allied soldiers, he begins to treat the boys – and soldiers or not, these POWs are just boys – with something close to kindness.

Stories of World War II have been told so many times since 1945 that certain notions have become accepted truths. The most basic is: Axis soldiers bad, Allied soldiers good. But like most versions of any so-called truth, the reality is often more complex.

And that complexity is more than capably demonstrated in what is, finally, a study of one good man’s attempt to right a war wrong.