robbotnik2000 Review of A War

A War (2015)

A simple war story of confusion at the front, trial at home

[7/10 · 13 August 2019]

From "The Caine Mutiny Courth Martial" to "A Soldier's Story" and "A Few Good Men" there has been much to mine dramatically regarding the life in uniform, whether at the front or in training or in barracks versus the life as understood at home, and the life as understood under military or civilian law. In "Krigen" we follow the lives and events of a Danish team on point in Afghanistan, as well as the life of the commander's wife at home looking after her children in the absence of their father. Life for all is complicated when confusing action at the front is put under legal scrutiny at home. After the commander calls in an air strike while trying to evacuate a wounded comrade under fire, he is put on trial back in Denmark. It wasn't clear to me if the court was military or civilian. He is put in a situation where he (apparently) must lie in order to defend himself. It is hard to imagine this occurring in the United States where a person need not testify against himself. I found the crux of the Danish plot somewhat confusing. "Krigen" Shows a snatch of life on the Afghanistan front from one of the European "coalition of the willing": Denmark. The Danish soldiers are enmeshed in a foreign land with a language that they do not speak and rules of engagement. The squad leader is with his command when they are under fire in bewildering circumstances. After the action he is charged with civilian deaths. This was somewhat bewildering. Possibly it is based on a real event the Danes are aware of. To me the action under which they were under fire was confusing. That is as it shoujld be. War is really like that. But after the commander calls in the strike, they are no longer under fire. This would seem to corroborate his call. The movie was well done. The cast was believable, the effects excellent. Not too garish. It was like a quiet "Black Hawk Down". The commander is apparently put under a civilian court, not the more familiar (to Americans) court martial. But under actions such as this, civilians die all the time. If they are being occupied by insurgents, then they are under the same danger of attack. Ever since air strikes this has been a common occurrence. A similar them is covered more clearly in an episode of "The Good Wife" (Season 3 Episode 9: "Whiskey Tango Foxtrot") where the lawyers are hired to assist an air controller who calls in a drone strike which kills civilians. In that episode, there is a similar issue of civilians being put at hazard while a valid military target is hit. In that case there was no squad under fire, however the overall situation was explained in American military terms, which were easier to understand and less confusing than the situation of "Krigen".