Reviewed by: Dare Devil Kid (DDK)
Rating: 2/5 stars
Director/writer Tobias Lindholm's Danish war drama Krigen, which translates to simply "A War" in English, is completely devoid of staple war movie tropes of heroism, machismo, and intrepid sacrifice. While this method of presentation could have been a refreshingly welcome take on the war genre, it unfortunately stalls the film's narrative severely because of the fact that the movie's also devoid of any semblance of narrative conflict, intense drama, or any other absorbing qualities for that matter. If anything, Lindholm is quite content at steering the film into lackadaisical territory for most of its duration; a far cry for his erstwhile superior endeavors like "The Hunt" and "A Hijacking".
"A War" alternates between the Afghan deserts and a courtroom in Denmark, and in the absence of any real depth in-between, the only moments that create moderate impact are the pauses taken by the film's main protagonist, troop commander Claus Michael Pedersen (Pilou Asbaek) – from guiding his regiment on their protective duties – to converse with his wife, who's managing the household affairs and three pesky kids back in Denmark. Denmark's overseas military obligations, tactical modus-operandi, and more pertinent issues related to the troops have been better highlighted in some of their TV shows and documentaries.
Lindholm, instead chooses to focus on personal moral dilemmas, which wouldn't have been a bad thing had it been handled with more care and vision. When Clause order a civilian compound to be attacked after his battalion suffers an enemy bombardment, he's ordered home for a court hearing. Our hero, now, has to choose between incarceration for his actions or lying about them outright to save his honor, position, and remain with his family.
Though this final act manages to lend some sort of emotional heft and compelling dram to the proceedings, it, unfortunately, comes too late, and by this time, you'd have lost all interest in Clause's dilemmas, actions, repercussions, or anything else for that matter. I wouldn't go so far as to call "A War" a poorly made film, it's just a dull effort that has a few redeeming qualities.
Surprisingly, "A War", has snagged an Oscar nominee this year in the Foreign Language Film category. Perhaps, the Academy jury saw something I couldn't, or, maybe, this is another in their long history of missteps. Either way, I'd wager that the other four nominees aren't going to be overly perturbed about competition from Lindholm's film.
Rating: 2/5 stars
Director/writer Tobias Lindholm's Danish war drama Krigen, which translates to simply "A War" in English, is completely devoid of staple war movie tropes of heroism, machismo, and intrepid sacrifice. While this method of presentation could have been a refreshingly welcome take on the war genre, it unfortunately stalls the film's narrative severely because of the fact that the movie's also devoid of any semblance of narrative conflict, intense drama, or any other absorbing qualities for that matter. If anything, Lindholm is quite content at steering the film into lackadaisical territory for most of its duration; a far cry for his erstwhile superior endeavors like "The Hunt" and "A Hijacking".
"A War" alternates between the Afghan deserts and a courtroom in Denmark, and in the absence of any real depth in-between, the only moments that create moderate impact are the pauses taken by the film's main protagonist, troop commander Claus Michael Pedersen (Pilou Asbaek) – from guiding his regiment on their protective duties – to converse with his wife, who's managing the household affairs and three pesky kids back in Denmark. Denmark's overseas military obligations, tactical modus-operandi, and more pertinent issues related to the troops have been better highlighted in some of their TV shows and documentaries.
Lindholm, instead chooses to focus on personal moral dilemmas, which wouldn't have been a bad thing had it been handled with more care and vision. When Clause order a civilian compound to be attacked after his battalion suffers an enemy bombardment, he's ordered home for a court hearing. Our hero, now, has to choose between incarceration for his actions or lying about them outright to save his honor, position, and remain with his family.
Though this final act manages to lend some sort of emotional heft and compelling dram to the proceedings, it, unfortunately, comes too late, and by this time, you'd have lost all interest in Clause's dilemmas, actions, repercussions, or anything else for that matter. I wouldn't go so far as to call "A War" a poorly made film, it's just a dull effort that has a few redeeming qualities.
Surprisingly, "A War", has snagged an Oscar nominee this year in the Foreign Language Film category. Perhaps, the Academy jury saw something I couldn't, or, maybe, this is another in their long history of missteps. Either way, I'd wager that the other four nominees aren't going to be overly perturbed about competition from Lindholm's film.