A War
| A War (Danish film) | |
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Film poster
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| Directed by | Tobias Lindholm |
| Produced by |
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| Written by | Tobias Lindholm |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Magnus Nordenhof Jønck |
| Edited by | Adam Nielsen |
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Production
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| Distributed by | Nordisk Film Distribution |
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Release date
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Running time
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115 minutes |
| Country | Denmark |
| Language | Danish |
| Budget |
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| Box office | $880,073 |
A War (Danish: Krigen) is a 2015 Danish war drama film written and directed by Tobias Lindholm, and starring Pilou Asbæk and Søren Malling. It tells the story of a Danish military company in Afghanistan that is fighting the Taliban while trying to protect the civilians, and how the commander is accused of having committed a war crime. The film was nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 88th Academy Awards.
The film opens with a Danish squad patrolling in the Helmand province. One soldier trips a IED, and despite attempts at resuscitation he dies. This news reaches Claus, the commander of the company whose soldier died. He resolves to patrol on foot with his men on every patrol afterwards. One day, a local arrives at the base begging the Danish soldiers to allow his family to stay in the military compound, as they will be in danger of being killed otherwise for receiving help from the Danish. Claus makes the decision to reject the man.
Meanwhile, back in Denmark, Claus' wife Maria is trying to hold everyday life together, with a husband at war and three children missing their father. The strain their father's absence takes on the family is seen as the burdens of parenting fall on Maria herself.
During a routine mission, Claus' men find the dead bodies of the man's family that they rejected earlier. Without warning, an ambush ensues. Claus, without proper identification, calls in an airstrike on a nearby compound to cover the men's escape. He is charged the next day for killing 11 innocent civilians, and is sent back home. The grave consequences of these accusations shake him and his family, and his defense lawyer asserts that he needs to claim that he had proper identification in order to avoid a prison sentence. Though Claus plans to admit his guilt, Maria angrily admonishes him for not thinking of his children's lives without a father. He ultimately decides to claim that he had proper identification to call for the airstrike.
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Wikipedia