Flame & Citron

Released Jul 31, 2009

2h 12m

History

Drama

War

Mystery & Thriller

List

86%

70 Reviews

Tomatometer

82%

5,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

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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Critics Consensus

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

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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

Louis g

The story is, frankly, heavy and sad. And at least as a prerequisite for a proper understanding of the film, you need to know the position of Nazi Germany in Denmark. In my opinion, this is Thure Lindhardt's best film and Mads, who plays Citron, is also excellent.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

11/19/22

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

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Ole Christian Madsen

Director

Thure Lindhardt

Flammen

Mads Mikkelsen

Citronen

Stine Stengade

Ketty Selmer

Peter Mygind

Aksel Winther

Mille Lehfeldt

Bodil

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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

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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: Bo Ehrhardt, Birgitte Hald, Morten Kaufmann
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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