Flammen & Citronen

Plot synopsis:
Set after the Nazi invasion of Denmark, the film focuses on the Holger Danske resistance group's Bent Faurschou Hviid (known as Flammen) and Jørgen Haagen Schmith (known as Citron). In a bar, Bent flirts with a woman, who identifies herself as Ketty Selmer and disturbs him by saying his real name. Bent and Jørgen follow the woman, and she tells Bent she is an emissary from Stockholm to Copenhagen.
Aksel Winther, Bent and Jørgen's handler, signals to them to kill Elisabeth Lorentzen, Horst Gilbert, and Hermann Seibold–members of the Abwehr, the German military intelligence service. Bent and Jørgen argue over it as they kill only Danes, to reduce the chance of retaliation by the Nazis. However, Winther claims orders from the government in exile in London. Bent kills Lorentzen but fails to kill Gilbert and Seibold. Later, Jørgen, his wife, Bodil, and their daughter, Ann, celebrate the girl's birthday on their car as they are without money, and Bodil laments over their relationship. Three weeks later, Bent, Jørgen and Whinter meet Spex from the Danish Army Intelligence. He says there will be no more attacks, as they need peace to assemble men for a big attack. The three agree that they should not follow Spex's order, and later Jørgen kills Gilbert. That night, Jørgen robs a grocery store and takes the products to his wife and daughter; however, Bodil announces she is seeing another man.
After several members of the resistance are killed by the Gestapo, Winther suspects they have an informant among them. Later, Bent visits Ketty's hotel room, and they have sex. Meanwhile, Jørgen visits his wife and advises her boyfriend to treat her properly or he will return. In a meeting, Winther says the informer is Ketty and orders her death. Bent meets Ketty; she tells him she works for both Winther and army intelligence, and that Winther does not work for the British. Winther, involved with Gilbert and Seibold, had ordered them to be killed in order not to be seen as a traitor. Bent and Jørgen search for Winther in the bar and discover that he has escaped to Stockholm. They realize it is a trap, and they escape from the Gestapo men. They decide to kill Karl Heinz Hoffmann, the Gestapo's leader, and then take over the favorite Gestapo restaurant. Bent cannot kill Hoffmann because they have to get away when he notices the police coming. That night, Ketty says to Bent that he and Jørgen should go to Stockholm. In the meeting, they are offered positions in the Danish Army but they refuse. A man called Ravnen gives them the name of the real informer, and Jørgen soon kills him.
Bent visits his father, the owner of a hotel, who says Hoffmann, his family and his mistresses visit there on occasion. In a fateful coincidence Bent sees Ketty arrive at the hotel in the company of Hoffman in what appears to be a tryst. Later Bent confronts Ketty, and she argues that army intelligence requested her to stay close to Hoffmann. Bent demands to know what car Hoffman uses and what his route is. Later, on the road, Bent, Jørgen and some allies open fire on two cars with Nazi flags; however, they are dismayed to discover they have killed a father and wounded a child. An enraged Bent goes to Ketty's hotel room, only to discover that she has flown to Stockholm, fearing Hoffmann's retaliation. Now, Bent and Jørgen plan to kill Hoffmann, and they disguise themselves as policemen. However, they are arrested in a general round-up of the German-allied Danish police, who are killing policemen by firing squad. Jørgen decides to jump over a fence and is shot, allowing Bent to escape. Time passes, and Jørgen is at a safe house. A squad of German officers arrives. He kills some of them with a sub-machine gun and grenades but ultimately is killed. Meanwhile, Bent, in his home, commits suicide with a pill when he sees the Gestapo arriving. Later, Hoffmann gives Ketty the reward for helping apprehend Bent and a letter from him found in his room, in which he expresses his feelings and his doubt of her betrayal. The film ends with notes about Bent and Jørgen's legacy.

Tags: suspenseful, murder, violence

Review:
Another good movie, occasionally but steadily coming from Denmark, Flammen & Citronen (Flame and Citron, 2008), not necessarily belonging to the genre, but still shot in a good old film-noir style ("black-and-white" detective or other crime stories, a film genre with its hey-days back in 1940's and 1950's, nevertheless kept alive over the years, having its newer "offsprings" often related to as neo-noir, with the latest solid follower of the style, Shanghai (2010), American product directed by another filmmaker from Danish Scandinavian neighbourhood, Mikael Håfström from Sweden), based on the historically true story (with all the necessary fictional cinematic alternations) about the title hit-man and his driver, two among, apparently, very few but still existent resistance fighters in Nazi occupied Denmark, targeting at first only Danish collaborators, subsequently ordered to liquidate Germans, and, eventually, hit-man's girlfriend, getting themselves (and spectators along) ultimately confused in who their friends and foes are....
This film about the Danish resistance reminded me an awful lot of Jean-Pierre Melville's brilliant film "L'armée des Ombres" (Army of Shadows), as both were true stories about the resistance to Nazi occupation and were great because they were well acted and without a lot of frills.
Good, crisp direction, exceptional tension and excellence throughout--that's how I'd describe both films.The title of the film comes from nicknames given to two famous resistance fighters who specialized in assassinations--mostly of Danish collaborators but also, occasionally, Nazis.
Based on a true story, this twisting tale of two second world war folk heroes of the Danish resistance unfolds with noir-ish intrigue.
Atmospherically photographed on a fat budget, the film looks stunning but retains a gritty period realism.The performances are universally strong and there is a real chemistry between the two central characters; Mads Mikkelsens' quirky Citronen, a twitching, sweaty bundle of amphetamine-fuelled nervous energy and his sole ally, the flame-haired, but relatively cool-headed Flammen (Thure Lindhardt).This is a war film - but the war we experience here has a dreamlike, claustrophobic quality.
Turn a Blind Eye. FLAMMEN & CITRONEN (FLAME AND CITRON) is a dark long film that will prove to enlighten many about another aspect of WW II we know very little.
Written (with Lars Andersen) and directed by Ole Christian Madsen it unfolds a true story about two 'heroes' of the Holger Danske resistance moment, a large group of Danish citizens who fought to kill not only the Nazi invaders but also the Danish supporters of Hitler's movement: the heroes are Flame (Thure Lindhardt) and Citron (Mads Mikkelsen) and the course of their lives is traced with brilliant use of sound, cinematography, a pervading darkness which serves the story well, and attention to minute details that makes the viewer almost involuntarily involved with their mission, their plight and the final results of their work.
In addition to the outstanding performances of Lindhardt and Mikkelsen, there are excellent performances by Christian Berkel as Hoffman, leader of the Gestapo, Stine Stengade as the puzzling spy/counterspy/ love interest Ketty Selmer, and a cast of bit players that remain in mind's eye long after the film is over.
Though produced as an epic (and the film is a very very long 130 minutes!) the interaction between the lead characters is clearly defined and they come across as credible resistance fighters whose plight is always one of duress and fear.
Brilliant performances by Thure Lindhardt and Mads Mikkelsen involve us in the personal crises of honest citizens who are forced by war into the roles of brutal hit-men.
Congratulations to writer Lars Andersen and to writer/director Ole Christian Madsen on producing a grown-up war movie that has nothing to do with the Pentagon or its suck-hole clients in Hollywood..
Original setting for many of us, Flame & Citron is based on the lives of two resistance fighters/assassins ("Citron & Flame") in occupied Denmark back in World War Two. The premise is that our leads are on order to do their killings but their own aim is to kill the leader of the local Gestapo unit.
This is a weakness overall, and with its length quite tiresome.Acting in general is faultless and beautiful shots of the Scandanavian countryside plus panoramic views of the cities are great on the eye, but some bad camera work at times is just really amateurish and spoils things.Overall a good film that is interesting and a new-ish angle for WW2 films.
It has great intentions, and the protagonists go around shooting Danish Nazi types in the head, which was probably a pretty good things to do during the war, at least in movie terms.
It's gritty and moody, it has tension and good music and great dramatic filming (the light and the camera-work are both very clean and yet provocative).But this cinematic prowess gets in the way of the movie a little, and the plot is slow enough that you begin to watch the surfaces of things as you go.
The writing there is infinitely little to complain about, and a long line of positives about, including the psychology, the complexity, the characters(the consistency of which is almost entirely flawless, and the only real problem within that is really how at least one major character disappears from the movie) and the incredibly accurate depiction of the time, the environment, the types of people.
The actors are good, the feeling is like you live in the 40'es, and lot of things that really happened is in the movie, (and some is left out, but the result is dramatically OK).It is a movie fit for the big screen, it is delicious to watch in every way, and i give it a big 10, love the twist about the front figures versus their leaders pulling strings in the back.
Even the Nazi occupiers gave good support though as fierce opposition; better make that as brutal suppressors of the Danish 'resistance'.One prominent Nazi, Herr Hoffman, even as the Copenhagen SS chief at times appeared almost, well, human.
No doubt that the two main protagonists, Flame and Citron, as the Resistance's crack enforcers played a most pivotal even momentum changing role.And the film's producers/director gave much credence to that perspective, right to the sad end.
The main character, Flame (played by Thure Lindhardt), looked awesome in almost every shot and his partner Citron (Mads Mikkelsen) did an amazing job acting as well.
This movie has a lot of good life lessons, and moral warnings.I liked the fact that it was based on true events.
This all in accordance with war time events of course, and resistance fighters.I looked into the history behind the movie and it's neat to know that they have statues built in Denmark to commemorate these brave underground soldiers..
Great acting from all in this movie and a little bit of history told on the big screen, combined with great scenery and good locations to give that 40's feeling.What makes this a very good movie and worth to watch, is the character of Thure Lindhardt as narrator and the flame, who does a sublime job doing the whole movie.
The rest of the actors also makes this a very believable movie.How close the storyline is to the real one, I do not know, but I was entertained and captured for the entire length of the movie, never once did I think ooh come on, move this along, the flow and the feel is just great.This is one to watch, good story, better Scenografi and sublime acting..
It tells the story about a 23-year-old man named Bent aka "Flammen" who lives with a married couple and a 33-year-old man named Jørgen aka "Citronen" who lives with his wife Bodil and their daughter Anne in Copenhagen, who carries out illegal operations for a police attorney named Aksel Winther.Distinctly and engagingly directed by Danish filmmaker Ole Christian Madsen, this finely paced fictional tale which is narrated by and mostly from the main character's point of view, draws a moving portrayal of two members of the Danish resistance movement and their dedicated fight against Danish informants and Nazis.
While notable for its naturalistic milieu depictions, sterling production design by Danish production designer Jette Lehmann, cinematography by Danish cinematographer Jørgen Johansson, costume design by Danish costume designer Manon Rasmussen, fine make-up by make-up artists Sabine Schumann and Jens Bartram and use of sound, this character-driven, narrative-driven and historic story depicts some dense studies of character and contains a good score by Danish composer Karsten Fundal.This somewhat romantic and somewhat biographical neo-noir which is set during World War II and the German occupation of Denmark in the mid-1940s, centers on some of the many sabotage operations that was executed by two of the most prominent resistance fighters in the Holger Danske group and is impelled and reinforced by its cogent narrative structure, subtle character development, mysterious characters and the brilliant acting performances by Danish actors Thure Lindhardt, Mads Mikkelsen and Danish actress Stine Stengade.
This is one of those Danish films which are attracting so much attention these days, and the actor Lars Mikkelsen who played Troels in season one of THE KILLING a year earlier (2007, see my review) even appears in it.
The performances by Thure Lindhardt and Mads Mikkelsen as Flame and Citron are very good.
We have to remember that all these Danish people who are largely unknown to us are really highly experienced pros in their field, and that Denmark has produced more than just the film director Carl Dreyer whose work we all know and love.
Following "The Killing" and "Borgen" that channel is currently having a love-affair with all things Danish, and it was there that I recently caught "Flame & Citron".
It is loosely based on actual events and deals with the Danish resistance movement during the latter part of World War II.
The title refers to the code names of two members of the Holger Danske resistance group, Bent Faurschou-Hviid (known as Flame because of his red hair) and Jørgen Haagen Schmith (known as Citron, Danish for lemon, because he once worked for the Citroen car company).
The film opens in 1943 when the tide of war is starting to turn against Germany, Hitherto the Resistance has largely confined itself to sabotage and assassinations of Danish collaborators.
Despite its World War Two setting, it bears more resemblance to a modern spy movie or to a neo- noir crime drama than a traditional "heroic Resistance" film.
Flame & Citron is a Danish drama detailing the true story of the Danish resistance during World War II.
Flame & Citron is all about real life resistance members Flame and Citron or better known as Bent (Flame) and Jørgen (Citron) who together carried out assassinations on Nazi's in Denmark and through doing so created quite a notorious reputation and also a hefty bounty on their heads.
The film weaves nicely through the story and never lets go or slows down so much you get bored, it is however pretty long and parts can feel a little dull but altogether the movie is a good one.Mads Mikkelsen stands out from the cast to a wider audience outside Denmark and the well known "sweaty" actor plays Jørgen, a man torn between doing what he see's is right but also trying to feed his wife and daughter of which he is becoming increasingly distant from.
Both actors do a fine job but for me it is Lindhart who stands out, he seems confident in his role and really takes it upon himself well mixing that ruthless side with a more emotional side too.Ole Christian Madsen is the director on this film and he does a pretty neat job, he manages to make this powerful but not so much that you feel this is just begging for awards, Madsen makes this feel gritty but also thrilling when it wants to be.
A scene which for me really stands out is one with Bent and a German officer he pays a visit to, the scene is full of smart dialogue between the two and some things said are very nicely written and this scene is one that makes up just a little for the script I talked about a little before.So overall Flame & Citron is a movie I would recommend, for those who maybe want a lot of action then maybe give this a miss but it can't be said this lacks in exciting and thrilling scenes.
This is a big film for Danish cinema, a film industry very much not looked at much from a worldwide point of view, but Flame & Citron manages to make not only a movie that is a good little piece of work and shows off Danish cinema, but it also shows us the history of the country in WW2, and what problems they had that drove them to resist..
Thure Lindhart and Mads Mikkelsen's performance was stunning, and better than I've seen from any of the high paid Hollywood actors.This is the film that got me interested in resistance/partisan movies, though it still remains one of my favorites.
However and collectively, this film isn't about Nazis or the Danish resistance per say, or the things people did to survive--it's about romancing these heroic figures in spectacular style.
The movie often feels more like film noir than a war picture both in the way it is shot and in the manner in which the characters are portrayed.
Despite being a gorgeous period noir, "Flame & Citron" reminds us that assassins like these may have earned a heroic status for their cause and actions, but they also killed innocent people along the way.
This is the story of two men known as Flame and Citron who worked in the Resistance in Denmark during the WWII.
The movie was not filmed in Copenhagen, where the story takes place, which makes the atmosphere even less than authentic but there are beautiful shots of the Scandinavian countryside plus panoramic views of the cities.
I especially wanted to see it because it has Mads Mikkelsen in it who most know from his turn as the bad guy in the Bond film "Casino Royale" but actually showed his acting ability in the little seen but excellent "After the Wedding." This overall although not a great film, still has quite a bit of charm & the story keeps you engaged as well.
Flammen ("The Flame" because of his red hair) and Citronen (Worked for Citroën) are two of the most legendary figures in Denmark during the war, where they were members of the Danish resistance group Holger Danske, participating in spectacular sabotage actions and liquidating stitches.
Besides, the movie isn't filmed in Copenhagen, where the story takes place, which makes the atmosphere even less authentic.
In Nazi occupied Denmark, red-headed Bent 'Flame' Faurschou-Hviid (Thure Lindhardt) and Jørgen 'Citron' Haagen Schmith (Mads Mikkelsen) are resistance members.
It is hard to tell, Danish resistance was not very much talked about after WWII.I am glad that European film making is continuing and that it produces such a good films.
But most of all the true story of the shocking lack of resistance in World War II makes this movie stand out..
'Flame and Citron' tells the story of two fighters in the Danish resistance, who systematically kill collaborators with the occupying Nazis.
The strongest part of the film are the two protagonists: Thure Lindhardt as Bent Faurschou-Hviid, also known as Flammen, and Mads Mikkelsen as Jørgen Haagen Schmith, also known as Citron; both the actors give really gifted performances, although I have to admit that Flammen's character was more elaborated and specified.
Nevertheless, it is a good resistance film, and being due to real events provides an additional authenticity..
Those who saw Casino Royale and remember La Chiffre, know one half of this two-man resistance squad that goes about killing Nazi collaborators.Thure Lindhardt (Nordkraft, Angels and Demons) is Flame, and (Mads Mikkelsen (Casino Royale, Pusher) is Citron.
One revels in the killing; the other is growing ever more uneasy.And there is Stine Stengade (Prague, Danish version of Monsters vs Aliens) as Ketty, who is also working for Army Intelligence while having a relationship with Flame.It has a noirish feel, and it reminds you of the great film on the French resistance, Army of Shadows..
The Danish production directed by Ole Christian Madsen, who adapted the material with Lars Andersen, based their film in a real wartime incident that involved a lot of courage to carry out.
It was not an easy task to do, but among the fighters that came to oppose the Germans were Bent Faurschou-Hviid, whose war name was Flame, named so because of his bright red hair, and the taciturn Jorgen Haagen Schmidt, known as Citron, his comrade in arms.The two friends were recruited to be trigger men for the elimination of their fellow Danish who were collaborating openly with the enemy, as well as the hated Nazis themselves.
Mostly true (I've read there has been some changes) of two men known as Flame (because of his red hair or because he smokes constantly?) and Cintron (I'm guessing because of his car) who worked in the Resistance in Denmark during the Second World War. They developed a reputation for killing collaborators and spies.
This isn't due to a minimal budget and it certainly can't be blamed on the actors, which all had good performances in their careers.Despite the fact, that this movie is based on true events, you never really care about the two main characters.
I want to take nothing from any resistance worker but I query a lot about what was in this particular film.Was Denmark the only country in occupied Europe where assassinations weren't followed by swift and brutal reprisals?
With some decent direction and a story that made us care about, or even be interested in a few more of the characters, this could have been a good film - but sadly, it isn't.
It tells the story of two real-life Danish resistance heroes, who operated as assassins against the German occupiers and Danish collaborators.