If it were not for this movie, it would be difficult for the world to connect the fairy tale kingdom of Denmark on the coast of the Baltic Sea with the war in Afghanistan thousands of miles away. The film's success in being nominated for the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film in this year stimulated my curiosity to see this Nordic literary war film.
The plot structure of the film is clearly divided into two parts. The first half adopts a two-line narrative. Peterson is the company commander of a patrol squad in the NATO army in Afghanistan. While he wants to comfort his subordinates who are out of control due to war anxiety, he also endures it. With the loneliness brought about by this meaningless war. The occasional satellite phone calls to family members are the only spiritual comfort in this lonely war. At this time, the wife far away in Denmark has to bear the rebellion of her son alone. The lack of love and the pressure of life make her look forward to the return of her husband every day. The contrast of the two-line plot intuitively reflects the family imbalance brought about by the war. But there is also a sense of boring cliche.
second half of the film, Peterson ordered the bombing of a stronghold in order to save the injured comrades during the mission, which caused the death of 11 poor people accidentally. He was sued by the military court for this reason. , Dismissal and return home early. So far, the two-line narrative of the film has merged into one. The focus of the story is separated from the battlefield and concentrated on the military court where the prosecution and the defense are fiercely disputed. This trial scene constitutes the most intense conflict in the plot. On the one hand, the cruelty and humanitarianism of the war itself On the other hand, Peterson is regretful but he is eager to escape from legal sanctions. Two contradictions constitute the theme of the film-human nature in war.
The film’s director Tobias Lindauhme was once the screenwriter of the heart-abuse film "The Hunt". In "War", the performance of humanity is equally delicate. What is most impressive is that the soldiers in the barracks watched the video sent by the injured comrade Ras. This scene is a rare flash of humanity in a cruel war. The film’s characterization of the protagonist Peterson is more complicated. When the court acquitted him and released him, his comrades in arms were calling for him. At this time, the lens gave Peterson a close-up, but what we saw was a confused picture. face. In the eyes of humanitarians, the moment Peterson made a choice on the battlefield was human selfishness, but for his subordinates, what they saw at that moment was a brave boss who spared no effort to save the team.
War films have always been a popular theme in Hollywood. Although this film is a Danish film, it tells a very American story. It is just that the director is more restrained and restrained in the subject matter expression, and lacks the commercial and commercial nature of Hollywood films. Entertaining. The alienation and desolate temperament of Nordic films has always given this war film a serious and heavy look. This look and feel fits the tastes of the old and serious academics, but this neat and serious attitude also restricts the film from digging deeper into the themes and the war. Rethinking is still the old-fashioned discussion about the impact of war on people. Perhaps war will make people selfish, cold-blooded, and cruel, but this does not determine the selfishness and ugliness of human nature, because war is the only thing that is evil.
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