FEBRUARY 16, 2016
One particularly snarky critic has dismissed Tobias Lindholm’s Oscar-nominated “A War” as “one of the four films destined to lose to ‘Son of Saul'” for the Best Foreign-Language Film Oscar. While that’s probably true, “A War” should not be so summarily dismissed.
The Danish Lindholm is one of the more interesting of the current new-wave European directors. His focus on genre movies is to take the point-of-view of those who aren’t the stars but are the people who affected by the genre action. For example, in his 2013’s “A Hijacking,” Lindholm takes a situation that’s similar to the terrific Tom Hanks-starrer “Captain Phillips” (which was released just months before “A Hijacking”), but instead of focusing on the captain as the star of the show, he takes the point of view of the crew, particularly the ship’s cook (Pilou Asbæk). It made for a fascinating perspective.
Asbæk is back here in the war genre, focusing on the fight in Afghanistan, as Claus Michael Pedersen, a Danish commander who leads his men into the heart of the battle, hoping to protect Afghani civilians from the violence at their door. At the same time, he is able to call his wife Maria, (the wonderful Tuva Novotny) regularly to check on her and the kids, who are beginning to act out because their father isn’t home.
The fact that Lindholm spends so much time on the people whom Claus Michael has left behind speaks volumes about the kind of director he is, looking at the big picture instead of the immediate thrill.
Even though Pedersen is away from his own kids, he still acts as a father figure to his men, particularly to one soldier who is traumatized when his buddy gets blown to bits when he steps on an IED. During one routine mission, that soldier, along with several colleagues, are pinned down by heavy crossfire, and, in order to save his men, Pedersen makes a time-sensitive decision to order an airstrike on a building he hasn’t fully vetted as being non-civilian. His men are saved, but Pedersen’s decision has unforeseen tragic consequences, and he is sent back home to face a court-martial.
What’s interesting about “A War” is that Lindholm is able to make the film’s second half — the trial — every bit as suspenseful as the battle scenes. Maria and the kids are, of course, happy to be reunited with their loved one, but are they ready to endure the kind of public humiliation that comes with being accused of a war crime? Even worse, he faces the dilemma of either telling the truth and being convicted or of lying and being able to stay free with his family. From the battlefield, the war for Pedersen is now within himself.
At every chance to have an exploitative moment, Lindholm chooses subtlety, and “A War” is all that more powerful for doing so.
GRADE: B+
