A War

Can a war criminal be a good person? This time Lindholm asks more such questions without any unambiguous answers. In fact, it seems to me that the main purpose of A War is not to present a character study of a man losing his moral integrity or an account of a war that has no winners or losers, but rather the creation of a complex situation without a simple solution, as the film was apparently shot in response to the increasingly frequent (and dangerous) translation of serious problems into emotional rants and simple slogans. As is his habit, Lindholm, for the purpose of maximum authenticity, first builds a believable setting (though the film was shot in Turkey, Jordan and Spain, most of the soldiers were played by men who had actually served in Afghanistan and the natives by Afghan refugees from Helmand province) and subsequently has the actors react to the situations that arise (based on actual events). The director and the rest of the professionals on the crew thus found themselves in the position of outsiders, which may have partly contributed to the humble approach to the theme. With the exception of a few scenes that attempt to convey basic information (showing how far Denmark is from Afghanistan on the map), Lindholm does not try to (overly) explain the world depicted in the film or to ascribe any kind of meaning to it from the outside so that it could easily fit into some sort of narrative template. Drama is thoroughly subordinated to the realistic effect. At the same time, the film manages to draw in the viewer with its focus on the course of events. We are constantly kept in a state of anticipation as to what the depicted trial will lead to. As the opening explosion indicates, banality can at any time turn into a fight for life. We feel these twists very intensely thanks also to the camera glued to the actors throughout the entire first half, crouching like war reporters at ground level during a firefight, for example. The camera maintains a greater distance from the characters in the second half, when viewers also find themselves in the role of the judge who is supposed to pass judgment on Claus based on the previously provided “evidentiary material”. We may or may not agree with the verdict reached in the film – with the way the scene is shot, Lindholm himself does not judge, but rather leaves the decision up to us. As with his earlier films, we are forced to reassess events in light of things that happen later. The juxtaposition of those events, presupposing our willingness to think beyond what is explicitly stated, gives the film an element of powerful ambiguity. 80% (04/28/2016)

A War is not so much a movie about war, but rather about the collision of different cultures and the state of European society, which has become too comfortable, self-centered, and repeatedly fails in conflicts with other worlds because it stubbornly tries to give events in distant countries different meanings corresponding to our customs and ideals of morality nurtured in the safe ideological bubbles of European elites, which have not experienced a real crisis and uncertainty for a few decades and have permanently lost touch with reality. European society has lost in many ways the ability to improvise, relying on bureaucratic rules instead of faith and ideas. It is aging and weakening. It is no wonder that military missions have been showing at best minimal effectiveness for some time now and at worst a real disaster. The protagonist of the movie should not have stood before the court, but rather those who sent him on a senseless mission and tied the unit's hands with stupid rules. The director may have revealed more about the functioning of European society than he originally intended. Overall impression: 75%. (07/08/2021)

If I try to put myself in the situation of the main character played by the great Pilou Asbæk, I would fight the most brutal battle with my conscience. I have a feeling the same was true for him. This film raises a number of disturbing questions but provides no clear-cut answers to any of them. Perhaps it is because there is no clear answer to them. (70%) (04/28/2021)

An honest Scandinavian drama that pretends to be a war movie but in reality, is a prime example of Scandinavian depression in the lives of ordinary people. I am not giving it a full score only because the whole case seemed absurd to me. I would give the DA a few slaps and send her to the Taliban for a few weeks just so she would know what she was actually defending. She was so annoying during the whole movie that I was hoping for Clausʼs innocence. And when you don’t accept the main premise of the movie it’s hard to give it five stars. (12/22/2016)

A well-made story about what the responsibility of soldiers actually is and what their decisions are, or rather, what the consequences of their decisions are. The film focuses quite well on how it's possible to connect conventional life with military life, that even those who are soldiers are really just people. It's a slightly different view, more intimate. (04/27/2017)