A War (2015)

It's easy as an American, with our American-centric media, to think of military conflicts like those taking place in Afghanistan as essentially American conflicts. It's interesting, therefore, to see films that explore those conflicts through the perspectives of other countries fighting the same fight we are.Documentaries and fictional films I've seen that have the war on terror as their subject, "A War" included, remind me of the films I've seen about Vietnam. A bunch of soldiers wandering around, not sure of what their assignments are or who's giving the orders, living in a constant high-key state of extreme anxiety that any moment might be the moment where they or a friend die. Whatever the conflict's origin, the purpose seems to gradually be obscured by the sheer monotony and bureaucratic confusion of the whole thing, important decisions being made by men in offices miles away from where the actual fighting is taking place."A War" establishes this environment, and then asks us as viewers how well we would do at making critical decisions if we were in the same situation. The commander at the film's focus is put on trial, and from a purely legal standpoint should probably have been found guilty. He certainly lies in an attempt to gain an acquittal. But I for one didn't want him to be found guilty and didn't blame him for lying or a member of his unit for lying for him. The film asks of us what wars since the beginning of time have been asking of those who are forced to fight them: measure the value of one human life against that of another. It's an impossible position to be put in, one that has no good outcome, and one that is destined to haunt the person who has to make the decision for the rest of his life, no matter what he ultimately decides."A War" brought Denmark an Academy Award nomination for Best Foreign Language Film at the 2015 Oscars.Grade: A-

Nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at 88th Academy Awards, A War (also known as Krigen) is a competently crafted tale that may give the impression of a war drama at first but in actuality is a contemplation of the trail of blood that even a slight mistake in the battlefield can leave behind & follows a two-segment structure that slowly merge into one.A War tells the story of the commander of a Danish military company who is stationed in an Afghan province. Meanwhile, his family back home is struggling to cope with his absence. Things are set in motion when his soldiers are caught in a heavy crossfire while on a routine patrol during which he makes a judgment call that results in terrible consequences for him, his family & the very people they were trying to protect.Written & directed by Tobias Lindholm, A War commences on an instantly gripping note and nearly every moment set in Afghanistan is effortlessly compelling. Lindholm's direction is brilliant for he shows the events as they unfold but later puts the viewers in the jury seat and asks them few difficult questions about right & wrong by revealing the carnage left behind by an earlier decision that looked reasonable before.The relevant characters do exhibit interesting arcs, the two concurrently occurring segments are in proper sync for the most part, and the locations & set pieces manage to give it an authentic look n feel. Camera-work is expertly carried out, especially during the moments of combat. Editing is a bit slow in the second half. But the actors remain thoroughly committed in their given roles and deliver sincere performances that carry no complaints.On an overall scale, A War is effective in bits n pieces but there are also times when it falls flat. The film skilfully captures the difficulty in properly assessing the surroundings when life is hanging by a thread but also questions the validity of the final choice made and who's to be blamed should it result in an unintended tragedy. While the story smartly exhibits the struggles of its characters, this Danish drama is simply a quest for the right decision in a scenario that's without such an option. Worth a shot.

The movie that representing Denmark at the 88th American Academy Awards. To be honest, it was not as overwhelming as I anticipated or heard of it, especially after witnessing an outstanding sea piracy drama 'A Hijacking' from the same director. But for the todays scenario, any war movie with a fine production quality and a decent storyline is a hot topic. For instance, how a small movie like 'Kajaki' made a big impact among the movie fans.The main cast and crew combo returned from the previous film. It was a simple story told in three phases. The first two are narrated parallely between a husband fighting a war in Afghanistan and his wife taking care of their children back at home. The third part was the crucial one, the meeting point of the previous two, that mean all the earlier development leads to this final and probably the best setup for the tale to conclude.It was a realistic portrayal, and obviously coped with a slow pace rendering. But the timeline, especially skipping almost 6 months between the two halves of the movie ruined the rhythm of the steady narration. Actually, that is the story and it has to be done that way without other option. Regarding the story, it is difficult for the viewers come to any conclusion about what they see. Definitely it was not a complicated storytelling, but the entire film was a single perspective narration and you can't know what happened on the other side."You can't imagine, what it means to be out there."You might think I said lots of negative about the movie, but the fact is I liked it and still I felt it should have been a lot better than that. You are not me, so you might like it better than me. The movie topic was very serious, that talks about a war crime and the rest is a courtroom drama. The first half was clueless about what the movie is about, so you can't make any prediction. More like a composition of the unimportant events until the army unit's first encounter with their enemy.What comes after was really a good stuff, increases our expectation on how it's going to end and again that part was very ordinary. It's okay to be simple because this screenplay was not aimed for commercial or the entertainment gain than being natural to the real world. The moral of the story is the highlight, but people who watched this film forget that and bring up points why they did not like it as I brought a couple in the early.All scenes were well shot and the actors performed so good. I also heard that the soldiers were real army men who fought in the real battleground where this movie sets in. So the director had the experienced men around to guide to make a flawless war-drama and in the end it all payed off well after entering the final stage of the Oscars race. That's what any filmmaker in the world would have wanted, an international recognition for his hard work.7/10

A War (Krigen) is a realistic drama about a Danish commander in Afghanistan, his unit, and his family back home, focusing on several key decisions that the commander must make, both in Afghanistan and back home in Denmark. Using naturalistic lighting, unobtrusive straight cuts, and a mix of stationary camera and hand-held, A War examines the moral complexities of asymmetric warfare and military justice. There are no easy answers, but there are spectacular natural performances from all of its cast. The sum total of these parts is an engrossing and seamless minimalistic movie, and another success from Tobias Lindholm. The Oscar nomination for A War is well-merited.