A WAR (KRIGEN) (director/writer: Tobias Lindholm; screenwriter: Rene Ezra; cinematographer: Magnus Nordenhof Jonck; editor: Adam Nielsen; music: Sune Rose Wagner; cast: Pilou Asbaek(Claus Michael Pedersen), Tuva Novotny (Maria Pedersen), Soren Malling (Martin R. Olsen), Charlotte Munck (Lisbeth Danning ), Dar Salim (Najib),Alex Hogh Andersen (Anders); Runtime: 116; MPAA Rating: R; producers: Rene Ezra/Tomas Radoor; Magnolia; 2015-Denmark-in Danish with English subtitles)
“Observant Afghan war drama.”
Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
Danish filmmaker Tobias Lindholm (“A Highjacking”/”R”) is at his best raising moral issues about the war without answering them. In this observant Afghan war drama that profiles the stressful life of the competent company commander Claus M. Pedersen (Pilou Asbaek), who is on a peacekeeping mission stationed in a remote outpost in an Afghan province teeming with Taliban. Meanwhile his fragile wife Maria (Tuva Novotny) is back home with her hands full raising her three young children without their father. During a routine patrol mission Claus’s soldiers are trapped in a heavy crossfire and he wishes to airlift one of his wounded men to safety. Thinking of only saving his men, he orders a compound bombed without approval from the brass. Though his men are safe, he’s court-martialed for the deaths of 11 civilians that include women and children. He is summoned home to be tried in a Danish lay court, where he must either lie or most likely will be sentenced to 4 years in prison. It breaks no new ground, but the dire situation holds our interest, the acting is superb and the film is well-executed.
REVIEWED ON 11/9/2016 GRADE: B+
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