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Flame & Citron

Play trailer Poster for Flame & Citron Released Jul 31, 2009 2h 12m History Drama War Mystery & Thriller Play Trailer Watchlist
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86% Tomatometer 70 Reviews 82% Popcornmeter 5,000+ Ratings
Gunman Flame (Thure Lindhardt) and his partner Citron (Mads Mikkelsen) assassinate Nazi collaborators for the Dutch resistance. Assigned targets by their Allies-connected leader, Aksel Winther (Peter Mygind), they relish the opportunity to begin targeting the Nazis themselves. When they begin to doubt the validity of their assignments, their morally complicated task becomes even more labyrinthine. Though Flame romances enigmatic Ketty Selmer (Stine Stengade), Citron may be his only ally.

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Flame & Citron

Flame & Citron

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Critics Consensus

The true story of the Danish resistance in WW2, though lengthy and sprawling, is gripping and competently made.

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Critics Reviews

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Hank Sartin Time Out Rated: 3/5 Nov 18, 2011 Full Review Jonathan F. Richards Film.com Madsen has acknowledged a strong debt to Pierre Melville's 1969 classic Army of Shadows. This one deserves a seat at the same table. Jan 15, 2010 Full Review Michael O'Sullivan Washington Post It's fast-paced, stylish and thrilling. But it also raises one tough question. Rated: 3/4 Dec 17, 2009 Full Review Kaleem Aftab The List The film is too staid and over-conscious of its own importance to be entertaining. Give me The Great Escape any day of the week. Rated: 2/5 Nov 4, 2018 Full Review Kelly Vance East Bay Express A hard jewel of righteous political fury. Aug 29, 2011 Full Review Sarah Boslaugh Playback:stl ...a film noir set in wartime where there's moral ambiguity almost everywhere you look as well as large measures of heroism, treachery and ordinary human failings. Rated: 8/10 Dec 18, 2009 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (422) audience reviews
R 9 Very interesting story! 'Flame & Citron' is a film certainly worthy of your time. It does probably overrun a little with a 130 minute run time and could pick up the pace here and there, though overall this historical drama from 2008 makes for intruiging viewing. It's very well made. I had no knowledge of the real life of those portrayed, so it's good to learn of their World War II involvement; albeit with the usual stretched truth/fictionalization/whatever that films tend to do. The titular characters are played by Thure Lindhardt and Mads Mikkelsen, both give super performances as the former particularly impresses. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 10/07/23 Full Review isla s This is quite a gripping film - its gritty and dark, with interesting characters and a good, solid performance from Mads Mikkelsen. As a war based drama its quite good, with interesting plot development and a good amount of tension throughout. I can't comment on how historically accurate it may, or may not, be of course but its certainly quite a watchable film. I thought the cast did well - you can see the anger and hurt in their facial expressions at times, that made it seem more tense and gripping. I found myself guessing what the next plot twist may be - trying to second guess the narrative. I would recommend this film, yes. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Ned P Pretty good World War II thriller, but curiously flat in some places. The plot could have been a little more coherent. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 12/02/18 Full Review Audience Member Well made, but hard to get through. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/16/23 Full Review lovro h That was quite an experience! Flammen & Citronen stars Mads Mikkelsen and Thure Lindhardt as Danish assassins in 1944 who are being assigned targets to assassinate, but things get complicated when they found out there's a traitor among their order and they've been killing people who they thought were someone else. I won't go deeper into the story as there are many plot twists and shocking reveals along the way and it would be a shame if I spoiled you. I never heard of these two people before watching the movie, so everything that happened was new to me. The acting is fantastic! Mads and Thure are amazing as the assassins. And everyone else did a great job, but these two guys stand out. The characters are also very well developed and intriguing. As I said, there're many shocking reveals and you will find yourself, many times during the movie, doubting what some of the characters are saying. The whole movie has a very 'noir' feel to it. It feels like a gangster/mafia movie in time of World War II, which is good, not bad. What did bother me a bit was the length of the movie. The movie feels too long for the story it's trying to tell, but the shocking ending is well worth the time spent. All in all, a fantastic war drama with great acting and characters, intriguing story and an epic finale, albeit too long. I would highly recommend checking this movie out. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member Flame & Citron is a Danish drama detailing the true story of the Danish resistance during World War II. Its themes really deal with how war cannot only destroy lives but that also it can create monsters from seemingly well meaning people and that has a direct affect on one's views and on their family too. Flame & Citron is all about real life resistance members Flame and Citron or better known as Bent (Flame) and Jørgen (Citron) who together carried out assassinations on Nazi's in Denmark and through doing so created quite a notorious reputation and also a hefty bounty on their heads. The film weaves nicely through the story and never lets go or slows down so much you get bored, it is however pretty long and parts can feel a little dull but altogether the movie is a good one. Mads Mikkelsen stands out from the cast to a wider audience outside Denmark and the well known "sweaty" actor plays Jørgen, a man torn between doing what he see's is right but also trying to feed his wife and daughter of which he is becoming increasingly distant from. We then have Thure Lindhart as Bent who is just as committed to the cause as Jørgen, although the man is definitely more ruthless and can kill much easier. Both actors do a fine job but for me it is Lindhart who stands out, he seems confident in his role and really takes it upon himself well mixing that ruthless side with a more emotional side too. Ole Christian Madsen is the director on this film and he does a pretty neat job, he manages to make this powerful but not so much that you feel this is just begging for awards, Madsen makes this feel gritty but also thrilling when it wants to be. The script can be a little shaky in parts where really the acting can suffer, I didn't care too much for any of the off shoots this story develops where the resistance storyline is put on hold for a little while. One unnecessary off shoot is really the whole plot surrounding Bent and Ketty Selmer (Stine Stengade), a lady whose mysterious arrival in a bar frequented by Bent and associates is seen as suspicious from Bent's point of view. The movie is maybe not for all I mean this is not exactly a movie that is going to give you roses, it stays dark throughout but that is really what makes this stand out more. The pace of the movie is nicely done too mixing fast scenes where maybe a killing is done with scenes of true dramatic dialogue that is important to understanding the plot. A scene which for me really stands out is one with Bent and a German officer he pays a visit to, the scene is full of smart dialogue between the two and some things said are very nicely written and this scene is one that makes up just a little for the script I talked about a little before. So overall Flame & Citron is a movie I would recommend, for those who maybe want a lot of action then maybe give this a miss but it can't be said this lacks in exciting and thrilling scenes. This is a big film for Danish cinema, a film industry very much not looked at much from a worldwide point of view, but Flame & Citron manages to make not only a movie that is a good little piece of work and shows off Danish cinema, but it also shows us the history of the country in WW2, and what problems they had that drove them to resist. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/16/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Flame & Citron

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Movie Info

Synopsis Gunman Flame (Thure Lindhardt) and his partner Citron (Mads Mikkelsen) assassinate Nazi collaborators for the Dutch resistance. Assigned targets by their Allies-connected leader, Aksel Winther (Peter Mygind), they relish the opportunity to begin targeting the Nazis themselves. When they begin to doubt the validity of their assignments, their morally complicated task becomes even more labyrinthine. Though Flame romances enigmatic Ketty Selmer (Stine Stengade), Citron may be his only ally.
Director
Ole Christian Madsen
Producer
Lars Bredo Rahbek
Screenwriter
Lars Andersen, Ole Christian Madsen
Distributor
IFC Films
Production Co
Nimbus Film ApS
Genre
History, Drama, War, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language
Danish
Release Date (Theaters)
Jul 31, 2009, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Jan 19, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA)
$145.1K
Runtime
2h 12m
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