Sydney Film Festival 2016 - Film Review - Land of Mine

Land of Mine - German conscripts await their fate

Land of Mine written and directed by Martin Zandvliet approaches a well worn period with a fresh, absolutely compelling approach. Based on extraordinary true events, at the end of World War II a group of conscripted, teenaged German soldiers are sent to work by the Danish Army to disarm hidden landmines placed on beach along the Danish coast during the Nazi occupation.  Under the strict, unrelenting supervision of Danish paratroop Sergeant Rasmussen (Roland Møller), the young soldiers are faced with clearing thousands of mines, some booby trapped. Rasmussen's initial lack of sympathy for his young prisoners changes as his recognition of the true horror of the situation grows and the body count climbs when the mines accidentally detonate.  

Of the original dozen young soldiers who arrive at the beach to clear the mines, only four survive to return home after completing their task and only then through the direct intervention of Rasmussen, who drives them to the Danish-German border to escape. The Danish Officers in charge of the overall operation using the prisoners-of-war had other ideas.

Lead actors, Roland Møller (as Danish Sergeant Carl Rasmussen) and Mikkel Følsgaard (as German Lieutenant Ebbe) bring intensity to their roles as key protagonists under Zandvliet's direction. Shot on location in Denmark on the actual beaches and coastal installations from the period, the heartbreaking elements of this film resonate over time.