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A War Movie Review

A War (Krigen) is a 2015 Danish war drama film directed by Tobias Lindholm and starring Pilou Asbaek. It’s a very complex film thematically speaking.

It follows a Danish military company in Afghanistan that is fighting the Taliban while trying to protect the civilians, and how the commander is accused of having committed a war crime. The movie is somewhat disparate in its two very different halves as the first one is a war film and the second one is basically a full-on courtroom drama. Though that made for a problematic structure, the film still works as the storyline is so good.

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The war first half is less memorable, though reasonably effective and well executed. I also liked the family drama sprinkled throughout the movie, although I longed for even more of that. But of course the highlight is that courtroom drama segment where we get to see the film’s most thought-provoking themes explored to the fullest degree.

A War explores so well the intricate dealings of wars and how sometimes answers are far from easy. The conflict between family duties and professional duties is very well emphasized, but also the war crime being so complicated is on full display here. It explores just how complex decisions made on a whim can be when discussed legally later down the line.

Pilou Asbaek is very good in the main role of Claus. Every performance is very good, but I would have liked to have seen more from the other characters. The character development is solid here, but not great.

I did like the action scenes in the first half, but those were so much inferior to the rest of the film and only a set-up for the real story to follow later on. The movie is very well shot, quite well directed by confident Tobias Lindholm and also well paced, though structurally troublesome a bit. The dialogue is stellar and the courtroom drama elements make the film a real treat. It entirely deserved its Oscar nomination and it’s probably among the best nominees for that particular year.

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Although structurally disparate, A War is a very thematically complex, intriguing film that explores so well the complexities of war crimes and the conflict between family duties and professional duties. The movie is also very well acted, well shot and particularly well directed by Tobias Lindholm, leading to a very strong foreign Oscar nominee.