Mark Pack

Can’t get enough of moody Danish drama and Lars Mikkelsen (Troels Hartmann) after The Killing / Borgen? Then Flame and Citron is just for you.

A Danish film with English subtitles from 2008, it includes a  role for Lars Mikkelsen and tells the mostly true story of two Danish resistance fighters of a particularly merciless sort.

Flame and Citron (their codenames) were assassins, picking off individuals by killing them to their face but justified in their eyes by the fact that the victims were Nazi collaborators. However, as the film explores that morality gets very frayed at the edges. What about women or children? Flame and Citron mostly balk at that. What about killing Germans, even if they might be anti-Nazi plotters? That causes Flame and Citron some doubts. And what about killing Germans even if you know it will cause reprisals in which many Danes will be killed? Once set on their course, Flame and Citron see that as no reason to hold back.

In addition to the questions of morality, the film raises questions of trust as it is far from clear who is really on which side or indeed which each side is. Is someone a traitor or only clearing up their own embarrassing past? And is that enough to view them as a traitor?

The apparently most implausible parts of the film – the flamboyant executions, the mammoth shoot-out – are if anything toned down from the historical record on which the film is built. The shoot-out, for example, last only minutes in the film but hours in real life.

All in all, a very enjoyable and thought-provoking slice of Danish drama that also has the urban and rural beauty of Denmark gracing our screens once again.

You can buy Flame and Citron here.