'Flame & Citron' review

Mads Mikkelsen and Thure Lindhardt (Credit: IFC)

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Danish secret agents Flame (Thure Lindhardt) and Citron (Mads Mikkelsen) are Resistance fighters against their country’s Nazi occupiers. They carry out their orders to kill Nazi supporters without a second thought, until they encounter someone who makes them reconsider everything they thought they knew. When Flame learns he may have reason to believe that his girlfriend, Ketty (Stine Stengade), is a double agent, the two men work to uncover the truth in a web of lies.

The buzz: One of the most expensive Danish movies ever—and it looks it. Production values as high and action scenes as elaborate as those found in “Flame & Citron” are rare in foreign language dramas. The film is inspired by true events and both Flame and Citron are based on real people.

The verdict: Director Ole Christian Madsen brings a lot of style to this large scale prestige project, and his film is a consistently serious, well-acted effort. It’s also, at 130 minutes, a bit of a slog at points and somewhat underwhelming in the story department (but you can say the same for “Public Enemies,” and chances are general audiences would actually find this film more compelling than Michael Mann’s artful epic). While the melodramatic twists are engaging enough, “Flame & Citron” ultimately winds up too traditional to make a significant impact. It’s both a compliment and a condemnation to say the movie feels like high class Hollywood Oscar-bait—something that’s easier to admire than adore.

Did you know? Both Lindhardt and Mikkelsen were nominated for Best Actor at last year’s European Film Awards for their performances here. 

[“Flame & Citron” is also available through “IFC In Theaters,” a video on demand service from select cable providers.]

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