LAND OF MINE (German, Danish, English with subtitles)

In the days following the surrender of Germany in May 1945, a group of young German prisoners of war were handed over to the Danish authorities and subsequently sent out to the West Coast, where they were ordered to remove the more than two million mines that the Germans had placed in the sand along the coast. With their bare hands, crawling around in the sand, the boys were forced to perform the dangerous work under the leadership of the Danish sergeant, Carl Leopold Rasmussen.

A moving story I had never heard before. These young boys were certainly courageous in tackling what they were forced to do. The acting is very good and the story is told with sensitivity. This movie could have been made in a very sensational way. To the director’s credit, the tension is naturally embedded in the situation and the whole thing is very believable. It was nominated for best foreign film at the Oscars. An important movie about war and forgiveness.