Flame & Citron Movie Hollywood 2009
Directors: Ole Christian Madsen
Cast: Mads Mikkelsen, Stine Stengade, Thure Lindhardt
July 31st, 2009
Comedy, Drama, Thriller
Review
"At $9 million, Flame & Citron is the most expensive Danish production to date, but it has justified its relatively large cost with huge audiences at home and strong sales worldwide. Painting on a much bigger canvas than he has in his previous efforts, director Ole Christian Madsen offers a revisionist examination of the role of the resistance in Nazi-occupied Denmark during World War II, and he does so in many shades of gray, metaphorically speaking. Flame and Citron are based on two real-life “heroes” of the resistance: the former a borderline sociopath who revels in killing, the latter a morose, alcoholic screw-up. Both men are far from the conventional image of the resistance hero, carrying out covert assassinations with increasing audacity as the Nazis step up their retaliatory executions until their game is played out. In this compelling drama, partially inspired by Jean-Pierre Melville’s classic Army of Shadows, Madsen keeps his focus, holding the cast at a high level of nervous intensity, while displaying a fine-tuned awareness of uncomfortable truths, deceit, and betrayal in a story that has unwelcome relevance with parallels to the situation in today’s Iraq.
Bent (Thure Lindhardt), codename Flame, and Jørgen (Mads Mikkelsen), codename Citron, are comrades in Holger Danske, an arm of the Danish resistance during the German occupation. Denmark has been occupied since 1940, and Bent reminisces in voiceover about how the Germans established themselves in the country, working with Danish Nazis and collaborators.
Jørgen, we learn, has been nauseous since the invasion and can only counteract the sickness by working around the clock. Bent, meanwhile, had been sent to Germany by his hotelier father in 1940 for training in the catering business and speaks German fluently. He has no love for the German people though and methodically carries out hits ordered by the boss of their cell, Aksel Winther (Peter Mygind), who says he receives his orders direct from London.
Bent is desperate to take out the local Gestapo leader Hoffman (Christian Berkel), but Winther refuses to give the order, instead having them focus on seemingly inconsequential targets. Bent is a devout fighter and a hero to loyal Danes, but his certainty begins to crumble after he meets Ketty (Stine Stengade), whom he falls for but can't work out. Is she loyal to the same cause? Who does she work for?
Further anxieties creep in when Bent converses with the charismatic German Colonel Gilbert (Hanns Zischler), whom he fails to take out. The sweaty, dishevelled Jørgen is also struggling with the work, and desperately trying to retain some semblance of affection with his estranged wife Bodil (Mille Lehfeldt). As their circle of trust shrinks, Bent and Jørgen resolve to take out Hoffman themselves. But will they be able to put a plan into action when there are potentially moles and double-agents among their colleagues?
No comments:
Post a Comment