Reviewed by Richard Lee Zuras

Released July 31, 2009

2 hr. 12 min.

Ole Christian Madsen/IFC Films

Thure Lindhardt

Mads Mikkelson

Not everyone will be given the opportunity to experience Flame & Citron (Flammen & Citronen) during its theatrical release, but through the wonders of On Demand/DVD, no one will have an excuse to never see it. This is a Hollywood style film made in Danish and German (with English subtitles) that traces (in the vein of Spielberg’s Munich) the clandestine attempt of a few “good” men to seriously damage the Nazi effort. Set in 1944 Copenhagen, and superbly directed and penned by Ole Christian Madsen, the film chronicles the true-life story of a close-knit team of renegades. The problem, though, proves not to be the difficulty of overthrowing the German occupiers, but instead, which of my leaders can I trust?

Flame and Citron are two men who, despite their violence, are justly fighting to limit the havoc of the war. If they can “take out” the right figure heads, as the theory goes, they can effectively destroy the war effort. Only some of the information they are receiving is erroneous. Given instructions are often in the interest of profit, and only after the fact do Flame and Citron become aware. The plot only thickens, as they say.

Flame, nicknamed for his torch-like hair, is a man who could slide right into Hollywood as a sort of über-Bourne. There may be less steroidal hand-to-hand combat, but this is a man who can and will protect what he loves. His partner, Citron, is less prone to violence yet more prone to temper, and the two compose a mercenary team as good as I have seen.

Make no mistake– this is a Hollywood type of film (the most expensive film in the history of Danish cinema). Flame has a budding love life and Citron has a family he may need to lose in order to keep. Multi-layered, like so many foreign films, this movie is also a crowd pleaser. Part story, part war film, part romance, and all thriller, this is a foreign film domestic audiences will love– if only they take the time to seek it out. Though it wouldn’t surprise me if we one day see Thure Lindhardt (Flame) in the occasional Hollywood film. Hollywood has long been adept at “stealing” good looking talent from abroad. This is one theft we wouldn’t mind a bit.

It should be fully noted here that IFC Films is providing a service to the discerning moviegoer: Flame & Citron, In The Loop, Paris– the list goes on– have all come to the U.S. by way of IFC Films. For those who regularly watch IFC on cable or satellite, their penchant for supporting talented filmmakers comes as no surprise. But know this, if IFC is supporting a film and lending its name, chances are you will find it more than worth your while. This is truly a world we live in, after all, and as the new millennium unfolds, the “national” film borders we once knew will, thankfully, continue to fall away, opening up new frontiers (as Kirk famously said) for every fan of the cinema.

Bottom Line: 4.0/5.0