Jeri Jacquin
Coming to Bluray, DVD and Digital on June 6th
from writer/director Martin Zandvliet and Sony Pictures Home Entertainment is
childhood gone war with LAND
OF MINE
It is the year 1945 after the end of the war with Germany on the shores of Denmark . Sgt.
Carl Rasmussen (Roland Møller) is given the duty of removing 2.2 million mines
along the Danish West Coast. Ordered to make the beaches safe is his primary
and painstaking job.
Arriving to do the job is a group of Germany boys
Sebastian (Louis Hofmann), Helmut (Joel Basman), Ludwig (Oskar Bokelmann),
Wilhelm (Leon Seidel), Manfred (Lark Seidel), August (Maximillan Beck), Rudolf
(August Carter), Hermann (Tim Bülow) and the twin brothers Ernest (Emil Belton)
and Werner (Oskar Belton).
Clearly afraid, the boys make it clear to their captors that
they will do the job well because they just want to go home. Rasmussen doesn’t
show any empathy for the boys while teaching them during the day and boarding
them up in a shed by night without food.
The boys soon realize that they are not going to be able to
go on without food and sneak out to find anything they can. Discovering what is
happening, Rasmussen realizes that these are merely boys and tries to help them
even though the townspeople and Lt. Ebbe Jensen (Mikkel Boe Følsgaard) would
rather they meet an ugly end.
Rasmussen even becomes compassionate with the boys and
befriends Sebastian somewhat hearing his story and that of the other boys. He
reaffirms to them that they will be going home once the beaches are cleared.
One afternoon could change everything when an accident
brings out the ugliness that Carl once felt and Ebbe is ready to send the boys
to another mine field.
This is where a life altering moment can happen – but will
it?
Møller as Rasmussen hits the screen immediately as a man who
has no humanity of the German soldiers who destroyed his country. Making it
clear he is not a man to be played, he keeps his eye on the goal – to take out
every mine every placed on the shores of Denmark . Møller gives his character
anger, resentment and even a callousness that is frightening.
Hofmann as Sebastian is a boy with hope on so many levels –
hope they will eat, hope they will get the job done, hope they will go home and
all while trying to survive. Although the character of Sebastian sees a lot it
can be easy to forget through the film that he is a boy hoping to make it to
manhood. Hofmann gives his character heart and charm.
The Belton brothers play Ernest and Werner and I don’t think
I can recall the last time I was so moved by two characters love for one
another. The stronger looks out for the weaker but never out of pity, out of
dedication and the will for them both to survive. Absolutely beautiful!
Basman, Bokelmann, Seidel, Lark Seidel, Beck, Carter, and
Bülow play young men who know they are in a desperate situation. Forced to
fight in a war they had no business being in, they are now paying for the sins
of others. Watching their characters work together, struggle together and even
occasionally struggle against one another is heartbreaking with every move they
make on the beach. Well done young men, well done!
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment brings amazing quality
motion picture and television productions. Such films as BILLY LYNN’S LONG
HALFTIME WALK, THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN, UNDERWORLD BLOOD WARS and PASSENGERS also
available for your home entertainment library – there is so much more. To see
more of what they have to offer please visit www.sonypictures.com.
Although the Geneva Convention of 1929 forbade using
prisoners of war to do dangerous work, the British and Danish commands might
have changed the wording to “voluntarily surrendered enemy personnel” to get
around the Convention. The boys from 15-18 years of age were used to clear out
the Danish coastline of all the mines left by German forces which took over
five months.
This film is a marathon of emotions from the first frame
until the end. From the ugliness of war to the anger of those left behind, this
film captures the stark realities of what is left after war. Every scene
carries in it the cruelty and turmoil that people can do to one another and
even the compassion brings about distrust due to fear.
My heart went out to the boys and every time they walked the
beach I physically held my breath! That is what this amazing cast has done for
this film, leaving the viewer drained not even realizing it has happened until
the credits roll.
The cinematography is equally as stunning and graceful
giving the film an added character in the film. The intensity of the boys on
the beach doing such a dangerous job would not have the same impact without the
amazing shoreline shots.
Director Zandvliet also directed APPLAUSE, A FUNNY MAN and
is in the process of his new film THE OUTSIDER. He had brought a mixture of war
with twists in a piece of history many may never have known.
The Bluray includes the Special Feature of a Conversation
with Director Martin Zandvliet which I highly recommend making time for.
In the end – they survived World War II now they must
survive the clearing!
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