The movie is beatiful filmed, and the production is good.
But the main actress Trine Dyrholm is not the right person for the role...
It would have been easy to find a woman that could be masculine and at the same time attractive.
6 Reviews
A cliché to compare it to the book, but...
thniels6 September 2021
Comparing movies to their literary origins is almost cliché and, some may say, inherently unfair. In this case, however, it does make at least some sense I think.
Erling Jepsen has made it his trademark to write absurd stories with a generous dollop of humour - Franz Kafka meets Dario Fo, as it were. "Erna i krig" (the book) is certainly no exception to this, which is exactly why I think the movie needs to suffer this unfair comment.
The book treats World War I, the identity crisis of post-Prussia-war (1864) Sønderjylland and social dysfunction in general, as one big absurd theatre linked by one unlikely event after another.
This is my main criticism of this movie. These wonderful impossibilities that drove the original story are completely absent. What is left is just a handful of depressing fates in a war long forgotten. A few sausage bribes and funny syllogisms are simply not enough. Add to that, that only a few minor links in Erling Jepsen's original chain of events made it into the movie and an almost cheapish ensemble-like crop of the original cast. All the characteristics that made the story work and (believe it or not) believable have been largely omitted.
Disregarding the book, it was a neat little movie, though. Particularly Ulrich Thomsen fit the Erling Jepsen universe of dysfunctional characters oozing insecurity. Everybody else was largely extras - even Trine Dyrholm.
Erling Jepsen has made it his trademark to write absurd stories with a generous dollop of humour - Franz Kafka meets Dario Fo, as it were. "Erna i krig" (the book) is certainly no exception to this, which is exactly why I think the movie needs to suffer this unfair comment.
The book treats World War I, the identity crisis of post-Prussia-war (1864) Sønderjylland and social dysfunction in general, as one big absurd theatre linked by one unlikely event after another.
This is my main criticism of this movie. These wonderful impossibilities that drove the original story are completely absent. What is left is just a handful of depressing fates in a war long forgotten. A few sausage bribes and funny syllogisms are simply not enough. Add to that, that only a few minor links in Erling Jepsen's original chain of events made it into the movie and an almost cheapish ensemble-like crop of the original cast. All the characteristics that made the story work and (believe it or not) believable have been largely omitted.
Disregarding the book, it was a neat little movie, though. Particularly Ulrich Thomsen fit the Erling Jepsen universe of dysfunctional characters oozing insecurity. Everybody else was largely extras - even Trine Dyrholm.
Huh..
allanbkchristensen8 April 2021
Why would you ever make a movie about a mother who godes to war instead of her son. She is supposed to look like a man, but she doesn't. It's just annoying. Trine Dyrholm is a great actress, but this role was never ment for her. I can't see past the fact that she is supposed to look like a man (her son).
Excellent movie - if you're able to suspend disbelief about two crucial issues
Anton_Klink19 January 2021
It has been a few months since I saw the movie so my take is not fresh, however the rating I gave was straight after the viewing and I still stand by it. I was thoroughly engrossed in the movie and found it captivating with superb performances by the actors, however there were two issues with the movie which I was able to overlook, but many others probably are not. The first is the need to suspend disbelief about how a middle-aged woman who clearly also looks as one is not recognized as such and so easily passes for a boy or a man. The second is the need to suspend disbelief about how such a middle-aged woman seems to be desired by almost every man from teenagers to middle-aged men who recognizes her as a woman. I hate to be saying this, but wonderful as the lead actress is, she is unfortunately miscast as she is not the right age for the role at all. Regardless, if you can overlook these hard-to-explain aspects of the movie, you will find an otherwise excellent movie underneath.
Excellent movie!
mudihini18 September 2021
Warning: Spoilers
Okay first of all: No, of course Erna Jensen doesn't look like a man. Foreby, I haven't read the book and I don't know if she has masculine features in the written story, but I really don't see the logic in it, if that's the case, that would have been unoriginal I feel.
BUT - if we see past that, we'll see that this movie is mainly about a woman who would do ANYTHING for her son Kalle, who she has sworn to protect for as long as she lives! A woman who keeps a promise she made a long time ago and worries about the struggles her son would have in war because of his mental disabilities. And yes, this should fail from the get go, but Erna does what she must and at first has the "protection" (but who are we kidding, he just wanted a place to put his sausage, if you know what I mean) of Meier, and has no choice but to trust this man, who she knows better than the rest of the batallion, because they are from the same town. When that fails, she finds that motherly superpower most mothers have, although her son ends up saving her. But, the main topic of this movie is: a mother's unconditional and unmeasureable love for her child! And yes, she doesn't look like a man, and most of the army knows it, (heck, she was SO CLOSE to being caught) but she does not want her son dead, and this period in time ( and much later too actually - speaking from family experiences) did not see this group(mental disabled people) as people, and in this case, they just needed every man who could stand and run and had arms to shoot with a gun.
But I feel it's wrong to judge the movie solely on the assumption that Erna is supposed to look like a man, or that this role was not meant for a certain actress. I think Trine Dyrholm is brilliant as always and so is Anders Berthelsen - they are excellent in this story. The only reason I give this movie 9 and not 10 stars, is because I am unsatified that we don't see her child get born, but I have researched online and Erling Jepsen has written another book, hopefully this one will also be turned into a movie, and we hear more about the next generation I hope :D.
BUT - if we see past that, we'll see that this movie is mainly about a woman who would do ANYTHING for her son Kalle, who she has sworn to protect for as long as she lives! A woman who keeps a promise she made a long time ago and worries about the struggles her son would have in war because of his mental disabilities. And yes, this should fail from the get go, but Erna does what she must and at first has the "protection" (but who are we kidding, he just wanted a place to put his sausage, if you know what I mean) of Meier, and has no choice but to trust this man, who she knows better than the rest of the batallion, because they are from the same town. When that fails, she finds that motherly superpower most mothers have, although her son ends up saving her. But, the main topic of this movie is: a mother's unconditional and unmeasureable love for her child! And yes, she doesn't look like a man, and most of the army knows it, (heck, she was SO CLOSE to being caught) but she does not want her son dead, and this period in time ( and much later too actually - speaking from family experiences) did not see this group(mental disabled people) as people, and in this case, they just needed every man who could stand and run and had arms to shoot with a gun.
But I feel it's wrong to judge the movie solely on the assumption that Erna is supposed to look like a man, or that this role was not meant for a certain actress. I think Trine Dyrholm is brilliant as always and so is Anders Berthelsen - they are excellent in this story. The only reason I give this movie 9 and not 10 stars, is because I am unsatified that we don't see her child get born, but I have researched online and Erling Jepsen has written another book, hopefully this one will also be turned into a movie, and we hear more about the next generation I hope :D.
If you see a bad rating of this...
glla2003-786-18680314 September 2023
...these are dumb people, who knows nothing of war, and they have high opinions of themselves. Ernas Village has her employed at a special function, which no one ever talks about anymore. Erna has realized certain things about her life and the life of others.. about education and things nobody talks about anymore. Its most of all an anti war film, an Vladimir Putin critique film. Its a NO to USA, a NO to russkyMir, but most of all its a NO to Empires. So in a way one could see this as a predecessor to #StarWarsCloneWars
Or as part of #StarWarsRebels most of all one has to pay attention to the great acting, the great directing, and the fantastic filming and cutting. It did not get any Oscars, stupid people in the socalled Academy.
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