Land of Mine (2015)

In post-World War II Denmark, a group of young German POWs are forced to clear a beach of thousands of land mines under the watch of a Danish Sergeant who slowly learns to appreciate their plight.

Director:

Martin Zandvliet

Writer:

Martin Zandvliet

Stars:

Roland Møller, Louis Hofmann, Joel Basman

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 29 wins & 25 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Roland Møller	...	Sgt. Carl Rasmussen
Louis Hofmann	...	Sebastian Schumann
Joel Basman	...	Helmut Morbach
Mikkel Boe Følsgaard	...	Lt. Ebbe Jensen
Laura Bro	...	Karin
Zoe Zandvliet	...	Elisabeth, Karins Daughter (as Zoé Zandvliet)
Mads Riisom	...	Soldier Peter
Oskar Bökelmann	...	Ludwig Haffke
Emil Belton	...	Ernst Lessner
Oskar Belton	...	Werner Lessner
Leon Seidel	...	Wilhelm Hahn
Karl Alexander Seidel	...	Manfred
Maximilian Beck	...	August Kluger
August Carter	...	Rudolf Selke
Tim Bülow	...	Hermann Marklein

Storyline

In post-World War II Denmark, the Danish government puts their hated German prisoners of war to work clearing the 1.5 million landmines from the western beaches of the country. At one such beach, Sgt. Carl Leopold Rasmussen finds himself in charge of one such labor unit and finds they are largely all inexperienced boys. As the boys struggle to complete and survive their dangerous work, Sgt. Rasmussen's hate for Germans gradually cools as he grows to understand the horrific situation these child soldiers are in even as the mines claim more and more victims. Eventually, the boys and the Sergeant must decide what can be done in a situation that would be later be denounced by later generations as the worst war crime committed by the Danish government in its history.

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Plot Keywords:

beach | minefield | denmark | child soldier | dog | 

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Taglines:

They survived World War II. Now they have to survive the clearing.

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Genres:

Drama | History | War

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence, some grisly images, and language

Did You Know?

Trivia

The use of German children for post WW2 mine sweeping has by many historians been declared as the worst case of war crimes ever conducted by the Danish state. Specifically, it is explicitly forbidden in the Geneva Conventions that any Prisoner of War be forced to perform dangerous and/or unhealthy labor.

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Goofs

In the opening scene after Sgt. Rasmussen takes a flag from a German soldier we see him yelling at another soldier with nothing in his hands. In the next shot the flag is back in his hand.

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Quotes

Lt. Ebbe Jensen: If they are old enough to go to war, they are old enough to clean up.

User Reviews

Tough-as-nails post-WW II soldier drama from Denmark

"Land of Mine" (2015 release from Denmark; original title: Under sandet, ('Under the Sand'); 100 min.) brings the story of a group of German POWs in Denmark. As the movie opens, we are reminded it is "Denmark, May 1945", right after the end of WW II. We get to know Danish Sgt. Rasmussen, who--after violently lashing out against German soldiers leaving the country--is assigned to de-mine an area on Denmark's western coast. Apparently the Nazis anticipated a possible invasion there, incorrectly as we all know. Rasmussen gets the help of about a dozen German soldiers who are ordered to actually do the work. When the soldiers arrive, it turns out most of them are just boys. As the Germans are trained on how to de-mine, one of them accidentally detonates a mine and dies. At this point we are a good 10 min. into the movie, but to tell you more of the plot would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.

Couple of comments: this is a high-profile (more on that later) and expensive (for European standards) production that brings to the big screen a post WWI episode not well known by the public at large (in the movie's end titles, we learn that more than 2,000 German soldiers were involved in this enormous mining clearance project). The movie's underlying tension (namely, at any time one of those landmines may detonate when making a minor error) rarely lets up, keeping us at the edge of our seat. On top of that, there are several outright brutal scenes involving Sgt. Rasmussen's attitude towards the boy soldiers (it somehow reminded me of the first half hour of Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket). All that said, while one certainly may have empathy for the boy soldiers as a group, I found it difficult to have the same emotional investment for the individual boys, as frankly they all seemed interchangeable to me within the movie's context. But in the end, this is an eye-opening movie on many levels. Danish actor Roland Møller in the role of Sgt. Rasmussen is nothing short of extraordinary.

"Land of Mine" received immediate critical acclaim upon its release in 2015 and in fact was nominated for the 2016 Best Foreign Language Movie Oscar, yes, LAST year's Oscars. I have no idea why this movie is just now opening up in US theaters, but better late than never I suppose. The Saturday matinée screening where I saw this at in Ft. Myers was attended very nicely, much to my surprise. If you are interested in a slice of WW II history that you may not be familiar with, I urge you to check this out, be it in theater, or later on Amazon Instant Video on eventually on DVD/Blu-ray. "Land of Mine" is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [Germany] Official site [Japan]

Country:

Denmark Germany

Language:

German Danish English

Release Date:

3 December 2015 (Denmark)

Also Known As:

Land of Mine

Filming Locations:

Vejers and Blåvand in the Danish North Sea Nature Park, Municipality of Varde, Denmark

Box Office

Budget:

DKK35,500,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$435,266

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$3,169,553

Company Credits

Production Co:

Nordisk Film, Amusement Park Films, Majgaard

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital (Dolby 5.1) DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1