Flame & Citron is a Danish drama detailing the true story of the Danish resistance during World War II. Its themes really deal with how war cannot only destroy lives but that also it can create monsters from seemingly well meaning people and that has a direct affect on one's views and on their family too. Flame & Citron is all about real life resistance members Flame and Citron or better known as Bent (Flame) and Jørgen (Citron) who together carried out assassinations on Nazi's in Denmark and through doing so created quite a notorious reputation and also a hefty bounty on their heads. The film weaves nicely through the story and never lets go or slows down so much you get bored, it is however pretty long and parts can feel a little dull but altogether the movie is a good one.
Mads Mikkelsen stands out from the cast to a wider audience outside Denmark and the well known "sweaty" actor plays Jørgen, a man torn between doing what he see's is right but also trying to feed his wife and daughter of which he is becoming increasingly distant from. We then have Thure Lindhart as Bent who is just as committed to the cause as Jørgen, although the man is definitely more ruthless and can kill much easier. Both actors do a fine job but for me it is Lindhart who stands out, he seems confident in his role and really takes it upon himself well mixing that ruthless side with a more emotional side too.
Ole Christian Madsen is the director on this film and he does a pretty neat job, he manages to make this powerful but not so much that you feel this is just begging for awards, Madsen makes this feel gritty but also thrilling when it wants to be. The script can be a little shaky in parts where really the acting can suffer, I didn't care too much for any of the off shoots this story develops where the resistance storyline is put on hold for a little while. One unnecessary off shoot is really the whole plot surrounding Bent and Ketty Selmer (Stine Stengade), a lady whose mysterious arrival in a bar frequented by Bent and associates is seen as suspicious from Bent's point of view.
The movie is maybe not for all I mean this is not exactly a movie that is going to give you roses, it stays dark throughout but that is really what makes this stand out more. The pace of the movie is nicely done too mixing fast scenes where maybe a killing is done with scenes of true dramatic dialogue that is important to understanding the plot. A scene which for me really stands out is one with Bent and a German officer he pays a visit to, the scene is full of smart dialogue between the two and some things said are very nicely written and this scene is one that makes up just a little for the script I talked about a little before.
So overall Flame & Citron is a movie I would recommend, for those who maybe want a lot of action then maybe give this a miss but it can't be said this lacks in exciting and thrilling scenes. This is a big film for Danish cinema, a film industry very much not looked at much from a worldwide point of view, but Flame & Citron manages to make not only a movie that is a good little piece of work and shows off Danish cinema, but it also shows us the history of the country in WW2, and what problems they had that drove them to resist.
Mads Mikkelsen stands out from the cast to a wider audience outside Denmark and the well known "sweaty" actor plays Jørgen, a man torn between doing what he see's is right but also trying to feed his wife and daughter of which he is becoming increasingly distant from. We then have Thure Lindhart as Bent who is just as committed to the cause as Jørgen, although the man is definitely more ruthless and can kill much easier. Both actors do a fine job but for me it is Lindhart who stands out, he seems confident in his role and really takes it upon himself well mixing that ruthless side with a more emotional side too.
Ole Christian Madsen is the director on this film and he does a pretty neat job, he manages to make this powerful but not so much that you feel this is just begging for awards, Madsen makes this feel gritty but also thrilling when it wants to be. The script can be a little shaky in parts where really the acting can suffer, I didn't care too much for any of the off shoots this story develops where the resistance storyline is put on hold for a little while. One unnecessary off shoot is really the whole plot surrounding Bent and Ketty Selmer (Stine Stengade), a lady whose mysterious arrival in a bar frequented by Bent and associates is seen as suspicious from Bent's point of view.
The movie is maybe not for all I mean this is not exactly a movie that is going to give you roses, it stays dark throughout but that is really what makes this stand out more. The pace of the movie is nicely done too mixing fast scenes where maybe a killing is done with scenes of true dramatic dialogue that is important to understanding the plot. A scene which for me really stands out is one with Bent and a German officer he pays a visit to, the scene is full of smart dialogue between the two and some things said are very nicely written and this scene is one that makes up just a little for the script I talked about a little before.
So overall Flame & Citron is a movie I would recommend, for those who maybe want a lot of action then maybe give this a miss but it can't be said this lacks in exciting and thrilling scenes. This is a big film for Danish cinema, a film industry very much not looked at much from a worldwide point of view, but Flame & Citron manages to make not only a movie that is a good little piece of work and shows off Danish cinema, but it also shows us the history of the country in WW2, and what problems they had that drove them to resist.