The Bombardment movie review

MOVIE TITLE: The Bombardment

This dramatic movie is now available exclusively on Netflix.

RATING: TV-MA

LENGTH: 1 hour 47 minutes

MOVIE REVIEW MOM GRADE: A-

IN A NUTSHELL:

One of my sons is dating a girl from Denmark, so I’m always excited when I come across a new movie from that country. This movie is based on the heartbreaking, true story of a World War II bombing mission in 1945 that accidentally missed its mark in Copenhagen.

The movie was written AND directed by Ole Bornedal.

THINGS I LIKED:

The young cast is absolutely fantastic! For example, Ester Birch Beck is the shining light of childhood that perfectly contrasts with the dreary wartime. Malena Lucia Lodahl’s innocent, little face speaks volumes amidst the horror. A real standout of the young cast, for me, was Bertram Bisgaard Enevoldsen. For such a young actor, he was able to evoke so much emotion and subtlety on his face, in addition to portraying tremendously believable trauma as a mute.
It’s fascinating to learn a little bit about the individuals whose lives were touched by the bombing.
There’s a heartbreaking conversation that a young nun has with her students about why bad things happen to good people. She explains that God might be temporarily distracted, so He hasn’t noticed what’s happening in Europe because God’s time is different from earth’s time. He could blink for a second but that would be the equivalent of several years on Earth. She uses the example of how we take our eyes off of everything when we bend over to pick up a pencil that drops to the floor. The nun is played by Fanny Bornedal who is the daughter of the director! She did an excellent job!
The soundtrack does a great job filling the scenes with tension.
I appreciated all of the little details that the director tried to incorporate into the film to add to the historical accuracy. After the film was originally released, it was edited again because some descendants of one of the pilots seen firing at civilians complained. That’s outstanding that the director would be sensitive to that change.
You WILL feel completely devastated by the end of the movie. Be prepared! Just know ahead of time that this is not a “feel-good” movie with a happy ending. It does an excellent job of painting the time and place with all of its bleakness and humanity.
Despite the sadness of the story with its impending doom, there are some cute moments with the children that provide some relief from the drama.

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE:

We really don’t get to know any of the men in the Danish resistance who are being tortured or any of their other efforts in the city during the Nazi occupation.
We don’t really get to see the relationship between England and Denmark as their two country’s leaders planned this bombing in an attempt to fight against the Nazis and destroy their Gestapo headquarters in Copenhagen.
There are so many characters we’d love to learn more about but there just isn’t enough time to truly dive deep enough in order to feel completely devastated by each person’s final end in the story.

TIPS FOR PARENTS:

A child is so traumatized by something he sees during the Nazi occupation that he becomes a mute
A young nun flogs herself
We see men being tortured with blood and agonizing sound effects.
We see the unmoving legs and arms of people who are assumed to be dead.
We watch people get shot to death in a car with lots of blood.
We hear French, German, and Danish spoken with and without subtitles.
Catholic nuns and students are seen in a French school.

THEMES:

The brutality of war
Innocence
Faith in God
Following orders
Humanity
How short life is
PTSD
Choosing sides

FUNNY LINES:

None. This is a serious drama.

INTERESTING LINES:

* “If I kiss someone like you, God will surely punish me. Then I’ll know He exists.” – Teresa

* “If you don’t find the Lord, you will burn.” – Teresa

“Our aim is to destroy their archives and kill as many Huns as possible.” – British pilot leader
“Mom and dad are nice because they say the war is over soon, which is lucky because God just stepped out to buy some cigarettes.” – Rigmor