A War (2015)

The story of a Danish commander, who accused for civil murder in Afghanistan, while trying to save his squad.

Director:

Tobias Lindholm

Writer:

Tobias Lindholm

Stars:

Pilou Asbæk, Tuva Novotny, Alex Høgh Andersen

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 6 wins & 23 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Pilou Asbæk	...	Claus Michael Pedersen
Tuva Novotny	...	Maria Pedersen
Alex Høgh Andersen	...	Anders
Dar Salim	...	Najib Bisma
Søren Malling	...	Martin R. Olsen
Charlotte Munck	...	Lisbeth Danning
Dulfi Al-Jabouri	...	Lutfi Hassan
Petrine Agger	...	Ulla
Morten Bennebo	...	Retsbetjent
Jakob Frølund	...	Terkel Sand
Marianne Levy	...	Dommer
Phillip Sem Dambæk	...	Brian Brask
Martin Tamm Andersen	...	Michael Chidekel

Storyline

Company commander Claus M. Pedersen (Pilou Asbæk) and his men are stationed in an Afghan province. Meanwhile back in Denmark Claus' wife Maria (Tuva Novotny) is trying to hold everyday life together with a husband at war and three children missing their father. During a routine mission, the soldiers are caught in heavy crossfire and in order to save his men, Claus makes a decision that has grave consequences for him - and his family back home.

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | War

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language and some war related images

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site [Japan]

Country:

Denmark

Language:

Danish Arabic English

Release Date:

1 June 2016 (France)

Also Known As:

A War

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$28,997 (USA) (26 February 2016)

Gross:

$121,577 (USA) (15 April 2016)

Company Credits

Production Co:

AZ Celtic Films, Nordisk Film Production

Technical Specs

Runtime:

115 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Four of the cast members are real Danish soldiers who have been stationed in Afghanistan.

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Soundtracks

Sweetness
Komponeret Og Fremført AF/ Composed and Performed by Drew Holcomb
(p) 2010 Riptide Music
Forlaght AF Apollo Live

User Reviews

Danish cinema delivers once again

Over the last decade, we've come to expect a lot from the Danes when it comes to making movies. This film, too, shows a lot of promise: its writer and director Tobias Lindholm also wrote the scripts for the fantastic Kapringen and the utterly haunting Jagten. Its lead actor Pilou Asbæk shined in R, Kapringen and Borgen. Does this talent show again in Krigen? Yes, it does.

It certainly does. The film excellently portrays the atrocities of warfare in Afghanistan through the eyes of company commander Pedersen (Asbæk), who is confronted with questions and decisions only soldiers have to deal with. Issues of survival, of morality, of death and life come to the fore in a film that shows nothing in war is black and white.

Why decide so-and-so? Why did such-and-such happen in this or that way? Could it have been altered? Could lives have been saved? Did I do the job I signed up for, or more, or less? The ways in which such issues haunt soldiers, their commanders, their families and even the Afghan locals, form the basis of this important film.

Lindholm refrains from falling into the pitfalls of making a typical gung-ho war film, or copying any of the thousands of battlefield depictions already produced. He produced a motion picture that will certainly stand the test of time because it is as much about the human condition on the battle- and home fronts, as it is about the fighting itself.

The cinematography is great, the sound is very decent and the plot ultimately leaves you with the same ambiguous feeling that many of the soldiers depicted will undoubtedly have. Krigen is a solid film that does not blemish the Danish film industry's good reputation, and is certainly a serious contender for this year's Academy Award for Best Foreign Picture.