Best not to think about it?That's a horrible last act.The Lieutenant is concerned the Sergeant is softening.I understand the anger but humiliating people does not keep the world peaceful.Oh $hit.... No. That is worse than I suspected.I'd walk farther behind.The Sergeant is not perfect, but he is a wise human.OH $$$HH!!!! I jumped outa my chair.Great music for the non-dialog scenes.

Not only was this right up my street it was one of the best films I have seen this year. Nominated at the Oscars for Best Foreign Language Film of the Year this is the story of a group of young German soldiers held as prisoners at the end of the war , who are ordered to dig up and disarm all of the Nazi land mines remaining on the west coast of Denmark. A Danish sergeant watches over the effort as the untrained soldiers attempt to complete their extremely dangerous punishment. It's probably not the best description to describe what I felt about this film but I really was was blown away. I has no idea about this part of World war II history and that the Germans planted over 1.2 million mines because they though the allies would land via Denmark and not France. This is beautifully written and filmed by Director Pieter Zandvliet and the acting from the group of young German actors is stunning. Sometimes moments of silence says more than words can and the silent moments say everything in this film wether it be when they are unarming the mines or when they are in fear of the sergeant. It's a very sad story that I'm sure the Danes are not proud of but I'm so glad it was told with such expertise.

Land of Mine is about Nazi soldiers who are so young some seem to be 14 years old. World World II ends and the Nazi soldiers who victimized the Danes are now being victimized by the Danes by the loss of the war. This shows how absurd war is. There are beautiful shots of long beaches filled with smooth looking orange sand. But the sandy beaches are covered with land mines. The Nazi soldiers who are POW's now are forced to dismantle the land mines. This movie played on my conscious. While I watched the movie, I was wondering if the Nazi soldiers POW's did not need to be released as the war was over. This movie was disturbing to me because I do not believe in the philosophy of an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. Yes, the Nazi soldiers had a history of being terrible to the Danes; then after the war ended some Danes (like in this movie) became visibly terrible to the former Nazi's. This kind of behaviour makes my stomach turn - as each group suffered at the hand of an aggressor. In a way this movie shows the worse side of humanity. There were pieces of kindness scattered through the film - but in essence - it appeared like many generals in charge practiced their authority in a corrupt way.

"Those of you who count the mines, make sure my card is updated. This task is as important as defusing mines." Sgt. Carl Rasmussen (Roland Moller) In 1945, Denmark needed to defuse the over 2 million landmines left on their western beaches by the Nazis. A Danish sergeant is responsible for 14 German POWs, youngsters all, to find the 45 K on one beach, after which the boys can go home.That precision mentioned in the opening quote lies at the heart of the film's considerable suspense because one unaccounted for mine can take multiple lives. And so, the sergeant has to corral teenage workers, motivate them with fear, and keep at bay his growing affection for them.Therein lies the real suspense: Will he learn to love and protect them or will he be brutal as he was in the opening scene? For a story somewhat like Hurt Locker, Land of Mine is a minimalist work of complexity, unadorned with the usual tropes of thrillers but full of the humanity to make it rise above just another WW II sentimental reflection.Besides the tension built into the always impending explosions is the question of whether or not the Danes will act like Nazis suppressing the lads and hurrying them on to death. The moments of warmth between the sergeant and the boys are few but revelatory enough for us to hope their innocence and bravery will win him over.Land of Mine will usher you into a war zone you've not seen handled so well in cinema, except possibly Jean Renoir's Grand Illusion in the '30's. The drama, replete with many dramatic elements and even Chekov's gun, will make you wince at the possibly grotesque fate of faultless boys and their conflicted sergeant.