The 2008 Danish film "Flame & Citron" (Flammen & Citronen) tells the true story of two resistance fighters in Denmark with the code names Flammen and Citronen who worked together as "liquidators," assassinating German officers and other targets. The main elements of the story are pulled straight from history, which is incredible because the events are incredibly intense. Nothing needed to be exaggerated to make this a thrilling action film, their lives were already like that.
The film takes the structure and style of a classic noir gangster picture. Again, nothing needed to be stretched in the source material to accomplish this. So it's super cool that the lives of these resistance fighters fits so well stylistically to make a great modern noir film. On the International Regulatary Bad Ass Scale this film scored pretty high, with about 400 international bad ass units (IBU's), compared to "Saving Private Ryan," which measures at 325 IBU's. The overall plot is a perfectly executed tale of betrayal and murder, and all set in the framework of Nazi occupied Denmark between 1943 and 1944. There's bar room shoot outs, stand offs, a femme fatale and everything else you hope for in a gangster picture.
The two main characters are well played and presented, and all around the acting from other parts of the ensemble is impressive. Mads Mikkelsen plays Citronen, a very different role from the kick ass viking he played in Refin's "Valhalla Rising," and this time around he speaks. So that was fun. The film is in Danish, except for a bit or two in German.
Cinematically the film is very stylish, but not stylized. The settings are perfect. It's probably relatively simple to film World War II period pieces on location in Europe. Meticulous attention is given to color - in the lighting, costuming, set design and locations - but not in such a way to be overbearing or obnoxiously artistic (I'm looking at you Mr. Shyamalan, we get it: red). The violence is visceral and believable. Camera work is also smart, and the film features some very fun crash zooms that set it apart from the classic gangster pictures it seemed to be using as a frame of reference.
There are those who don't like "reading" movies, and for this reason ignore all international cinema. I expect these people to being learning new languages all the time, because there is no reason to miss out on great films like this. So if you complain about reading films start learning Danish today. This is a film that would appeal to the history buff, the film noir connoisseur, that guy you know who likes talking about World War II, or even just anyone who enjoys a good action movie full of intrigue and excitement. So this really is a movie that deserves to be enjoyed by everyone. It tells an engaging and exciting story in a very effective and skillful way. What's more it tells a story based on real events, and due to the nature of the story it tells there is little changed or exaggerated, because there was no need for that. This a story that shouldn't be forgotten, about people who should be remembered for what they did. They were not perfect men (killing is not really cool), but what they did was brave, and should be viewed as heroic.
Go find this film. Get a group of people together. Have fun, talk about it, and then be amazed that all of this really happened.
If i were to assign a numerical rating, which I won't, I would hypothetically give it a very solid 4 out of 5 score units.
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