Zandvliet discusses the title, how the movie played in different parts of Europe, and the historical subject matter. Land of Mine is joined by the featurette "In Conversation with Director Martin Zandvliet" (17:50),Īn English language Los Angeles Q & A session hosted by Alexander Messmann. While the greater detail of high definition is missed, this leaves nothing to be desired by the standards of DVD.īONUS FEATURES, MENUS, PACKAGING and DESIGN Sony's DVDs have always been solid and this one is no exception, the 2.40:1 anamorphic widescreen presentation satisfying in clarity and sharpness, while the player-generated subtitles translating the foreign dialogue neatly and effectively. With the Blu-ray being made-to-order (a somewhat troubling sign for physical media, although preferable to a DVD-only release), only the DVD edition of Land of Mine was made available for review. Subtitles: English, English for Hearing Impaired, French, Spanish, PortugueseĮxtras Subtitled in English and Portuguese Even without the Oscar, though, Land of Mine is a powerful drama you should see, if you can stomach it.įour months after opening in US theaters, Land of Mine hits DVD and made-to-order Blu-ray in early June from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.ĭolby Digital 5.1 (German, English Descriptive Video Service) In fact, the latter won, its victory inviting to be read as something of a political statement against President Trump's controversial Muslim country travel ban.
That for me gave it more impact than three of the category's fellow nominees, albeit the three I experienced at home rather than the big screen.ĭespite the Oscars' penchant for acknowledging this pivotal 20th century conflict, pundits and prognosticators were right to recognize that Land of Mine was trailing the frontrunners Toni Erdmann and The Salesman. Zandvliet's film calls your attention to a footnote of European history few probably know about and it breaks your heart in the process. Land of Mine punches you in the gut repeatedly, although at least it isn't as relentlessly bleak and zoned-in as last year's Foreign Language winner, the Hungarian Holocaust drama Son of Saul. He remains a madman, whose greatest grief involves a dog who tags around him.
But despite these glimpses of compassion and humanity (and the stands he secretly takes against his commanding officer), In time, he's even giving them a day off and playing soccer with them on the beach. Sergeant Carl shows no mercy.until he steals some bread and vegetables for them. At one point, they get sick after stealing what they think is food from a nearby barn. As if that wasn't bad enough, the boys are also malnourished. One survives the explosion with his arms and legs turned into bloody monstrosities. One boy blows himself up during training. Land of Mine features the kind of tension that made The Hurt Locker so riveting. They report to Sergeant Carl Rasmussen (Roland Møller), who shows these youths no sympathy and is determined to keep them on their three-month schedule.Īs you can imagine, this is perilous work. A group of fourteen is charged with uncovering and disarming thousands of mines buried in beach sands. The eldest appear to be in their mid-teens. Young German prisoners of war are assigned to defuse mines buried along the West Coast of Denmark. The film is set in 1945, the immediate aftermath of the war. This year's nominee was Land of Mine, a gut-wrenching Danish-German drama written and directed by Martin Zandvliet. It seems like there's always a film about World War II competing for Best Foreign Language Film at the Academy Awards.
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