Flammen & Citronen (2008)

A drama centered on two fighters in the Holger Danske World War II resistance group.

Director:

Ole Christian Madsen

Writers:

Lars Kristian Andersen (as Lars K. Andersen), Ole Christian Madsen

Stars:

Thure Lindhardt, Mads Mikkelsen, Stine Stengade

9 wins & 15 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Thure Lindhardt	...	Flammen
Mads Mikkelsen	...	Citronen
Stine Stengade	...	Ketty Selmer
Peter Mygind	...	Aksel Winther
Mille Lehfeldt	...	Bodil (as Mille Hoffmeyer Lehfeldt)
Christian Berkel	...	Hoffmann
Hanns Zischler	...	Gilbert
Claus Riis Østergaard	...	Bananen
Flemming Enevold	...	Spex
Lars Mikkelsen	...	Frode 'Ravnen' Jacobsen
Jesper Christensen	...	Flammens Far
Lærke Winther	...	Cap (as Lærke Winther Andersen)
Peter Plaugborg	...	Lillebjørn
Martin Hestbæk	...	Storebjørn
Thomas Voss	...	Teddy

Storyline

During Nazi occupation, red-headed Bent Faurschou-Hviid ("Flame") and Jørgen Haagen Schmith ("Citron"), assassins in the Danish resistance, take orders from Winther, who's in direct contact with Allied leaders. One shoots, the other drives. Until 1944, they kill only Danes; then Winther gives orders to kill Germans. When a target tells Bent that Winther's using them to settle private scores, doubt sets in, complicated by Bent's relationship with the mysterious Kitty Selmer, who may be a double agent. Also, someone in their circle is a traitor. Can Bent and Jørgen kill an über-target, evade capture, and survive the war? And is this heroism, naiveté, or mere hatred?

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Plot Keywords:

year 1940 | year 1944 | 1940s | jew | jewish | 

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Taglines:

Resist at all costs.

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Genres:

Action | Drama | History | Romance | Thriller | War

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Certificate:

18A

Did You Know?

Trivia

The movie takes its title from the nicknames of the two main characters. Flame refers to the color of Bent Faurschou-Hviid's red hair, after an attempt to dye it blond. Citron (Danish for "lemon") got the name because, while working at the Citroën factories in Copenhagen, he sabotaged German cars and trucks.

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Goofs

Citron picks up a British Sten SMG in the basement scene and fires it. A few seconds later he has a wooden stocked sub machine gun instead (the Sten had a steel framed stock) which looks like a Finnish Suomi SMG.

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Quotes

Gilbert: You are a Partisan. That's very interesting. A soldier without a front. Are you a good soldier? Are you prepared to pay the price?
Flammen: What price?
Gilbert: What do you think? Your life. You see, there can only be three reasons for fighting in a war. Firstly, career opportunity. It's widespread, but does not produce good soldiers. You have a fear of dying and only think of peace. Secondly, ideology. Love of the mother country. That is much more intriguing, but the dreamer breaks down. He doesn't have the ...
[...]

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Connections

Referenced in Produktionsdagbog: Prag - Berlin - København (2008)

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Soundtracks

There'll Be Some Changes Made
Written by Benton Higgins
Performed by Chicago Rhythm Kings

User Reviews

Realpolitik and double-crossing in WW2 occupied Denmark

I don't know what to say about this movie. Original setting for many of us, Flame & Citron is based on the lives of two resistance fighters/assassins ("Citron & Flame") in occupied Denmark back in World War Two. The premise is that our leads are on order to do their killings but their own aim is to kill the leader of the local Gestapo unit. However, realpolitik, double crossing, self-preservation and a femme fatale all just get in the way of everything, so our lead duo have no option but to battle as much with their own as with the occupiers. Personal relationship problems for our duo helps to keep the film human, and the story never glamorises the pair, and in many ways does show them to be quite amateurish despite their legendary status even showing their botched jobs.

So how does it all go? Well, it's not an easy one to follow. Many a time not sure what to make of the storyline if we were to really learn much. The whole realpolitik aspect of the piece never seems to resolve and with so many sides in this film, it's hard to keep up. In fairness, that was likely the main point showing the true difficulty of war, as each group seems to play off of each other for their own ends, whatever they may be. This is a weakness overall, and with its length quite tiresome.

Acting in general is faultless and beautiful shots of the Scandanavian countryside plus panoramic views of the cities are great on the eye, but some bad camera work at times is just really amateurish and spoils things.

Overall a good film that is interesting and a new-ish angle for WW2 films. Some very good points and most will like it, but not as special as it possibly could have been.

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Official site [Denmark]

Country:

Denmark Germany Norway France Sweden Finland Czech Republic

Language:

Danish German

Release Date:

28 March 2008 (Denmark)

Also Known As:

Flame & Citron

Filming Locations:

Czech Republic

Box Office

Budget:

DKK45,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$15,254, 2 August 2009

Gross USA:

$148,089

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$10,186,084

Company Credits

Production Co:

Nimbus Film Productions, Wüste Film, Wüste Film Ost

Technical Specs

Runtime:

130 min 45 min (3 part TV-miniseries)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1