A “fictionalized” true story.
The fucking Nazis. And here is another slice of them. And how many times do I tell myself, “Never Again”. But not in the way one is supposed to.
There are things we are watching here we have no real understanding of at all. After all, even those who were participating were often on a need to know basis. There are those who know [and manufacture] the big picture and those who do not. And we [like them] are never, ever sure of the part that politics is playing. Or the “personal” stuff.
Really, with so much at stake: WHO CAN YOU TRUST?!
Orders countermanding additional orders as agendas [in conflict] are played out. And everyone basically on the same side. Or so they will tell you. And the “beautiful and mysterious woman”—the femme fatale? Yeah, she’s in this too.
Then there is war with and without a family. With and without children.
But sometimes war has nothing to do with that.
IMDb
[b]Based on actual events that occurred in Denmark during World War II.
The movie is named from the nicknames of the two main characters. Flammen refers to the colour of Bent Faurschou-Hviid’s copper red hair, after a failed attempt to dye it blond. Citron (Danish for Lemon) got his nickname because, while working for the Citroën motor-car company in Copenhagen, he sabotaged German cars and trucks.[/b]
trailer:
youtu.be/qJnfNAEwQ8U
FLAME AND CITRON [Flammen & Citronen] 2008
Written and directed by Ole Christian Madsen
[b]Flame [after shooting a man dead]: You often asked me why. Why? One good reason. The Schalburg Corps. Danes in German uniforms. Traitors. They are…vermin.
…
Flame [voiceover]: Who else would celebrate 3 killings in a place swarming with Germans?
…
Flame [voiceover]: Karl Heinz Hoffman. Head of Gestapo. He’s the one hounding us. Make no mistake. He’s the biggest mass murderer Denmark has ever seen. But you already knew that.
…
Flame: I need to know how you know my name.
Ketty: Someone must have let it slip.
Flame: Yes, but the question is who.
Ketty: Don’t worry. We’re on the same side.
Flame: We are? Is it Winther?
Ketty: Don’t ask me about that or anything else. Don’t come here again. It’s the last thing I need.
…
Flame: I forgot that we are not killing people, but Nazis.
…
Gilbert: A partisan. A soldier without a front. Are you a good soldier? Are you prepared to pay the price?
Flame: What price?
Gilbert: What do you think? Your life. You see, there can only be three reasons for fighting in a war. Firstly, career opportunity. It’s widespread but does not produce good soldiers. You have a fear of dying and only think of peace. Secondly, ideology. Love of the mother country. That is much more intriguing, but the dreamer breaks down. He doesn’t have the strength. He’s shallow. The frivolous and presumptuous nature of youth. Unless he’s passionate. Fanatical, if you will. That makes for a good soldier.
Flame: And thirdly?
Gilbert: Hatred of your enemy. Hate seduces you into doing things you never thought yourself capable of. Unless the hatred is caused by a personal neurosis.
Flame: What are you saying?
Gilbert: The neurotic is intelligent and he has doubts. If he is beterayed his hatred fades and doubt sets in. War does nothing for the neurotic. The gentle, loving father is not to be found in war. Your cause, Christensen, is legitimate. Now you must become a good soldier.[/b]
Flame puts the gun to his head. But, instead of shooting him, he turns and walks away. He’s played. Or is he?
[b]Resistance leader: Three days ago, the Gestapo retaliated for the attacks on German officiers. Stopped a streetcar and threw 8 grenades at the 29 passengers. You can imagine the consequences.
…
Flame: We can bring it to Japan. When we’re done with the Germans. We can go to Japan with the Americans.
Citron: Flame and Citron in Japan?
…
Flame [voiceover]: Where were you? Where were you when the uprising started? Where were you on June 26th when Copenhagen resisited? At long last, people had had enough. At long last, they’re doing something. It’s getting close. Real war…But we’re just waiting.
…
Ketty [to Flame]: Hoffman just named you the No. 1 enemy of Germany. He raised the reward to 20,000 and you break into my room?
…
Ketty: But why kill at all?
Flame: What else can you do? My father sent me to Germany in 1940 to train as a waiter and a chef. The hotel manager was a Nazi. The chef was a Nazi. Several of the waiters were Nazis. I served Nazis everyday. One of the girls at the hotel was Jewish, but no one knew. Then the chef found out about it. He turned her in. She was beaten to a pulp. I don’t want that to happen here. Sabotage makes no difference. The only thing you can do is eliminate them. One by one. Down to the last one.
Ketty: Was the Jewish woman your girlfriend?
…
Winther: I found the informer. Unfortanately it’s one of us. Mrs. Ketty Selmar Sjoberg. She is to be liqudated immediately.
Flame: You’re mistaken. I know her.
Citron: Then why hasn’t she informed on Bent [Flame]? Why inform on Carl and Brains, when Bent will get her 20,000?
Winther: You should ask Bent about that.[/b]
No, you should ask Winther. Or maybe not.
[b]Flame: Does Winther work for the Gestapo?
Ketty: No, he just erases his own tracks.
…
Flame: He was right. Winther has disappeared. He ran for it. We’ve been shooting innocent people. We’ve shot innocent…
Citron: Shut the hell up! Shut up. I sure as hell didn’t kill innocent people. I shot a German officier, and a German officier is not innocent. You come and tell me he was in the resistance. Are you stupid? Winther! What did you expect? That’s rich people for you! In a nutshell, they are greedy and full of shit. You should have shot her when you had the chance.
Flame: What are you saying?
Citron: She’s fucking with your brain. A girl knows your real name, you fuck her and “bam!” she’s an oracle.
…
Flame: Why didn’t I see it? He’s in Stockholm and we are being hounded by the Gestapo. Is that justice?
Citron: There is no just or unjust any longer. There is only war. From now on we choose our own targets and go after them. Hoffman.
Flame: Yes.
…
Hoffman: Tell me, Flame, do you really think you make a difference with all that shooting? Don’t you realize you’re just a tool for someone with less pure motives?
…
Spex: The incident with Mrs. Selmer was a mistake and has been explained. A simple misunderstanding.
Citron [slamming his glass to the table]: A misunderstanding…I’m sorry. A misunderstanding? And in a minute when I shoot you, it’s just a “mistake”. Can we agree on that?
…
Citron: The little boy is dead. He kept looking at me. I held him in my arms, and he kept looking at me. I could tell that he wanted to say something but he wasn’t able to.
…
Hoffman [handing Ketty an envelope]: The money order for the 20,000 kroner reward. You can cash it tomorrow. We also found a letter at his place. It’s for you.
[Hoffman leaves and Ketty opens the letter]
We hear the voice of Flame: “Do you remember when they arrived? Do you remember April 9th? I think you do. Everybody does. I’ve been thinking and thinking. No matter what they say, I don’t believe it was you. You’re not like that. Where do we go after this? When it’s all over. I don’t know. Can we ever go back? Can we ever go forward? Perhaps. Perhaps not. At this moment there is only The Flame.”[/b]
The rotten bitch?
[b]Titlecard: After the liberation, Flame and Citron received a grand funeral. In the days following the service, their coffins stood side by side. In 1951, Citron was awarded the U.S. Medal of Freedom. It was accepted by Citron’s mother. Flame received the same distinction.
After Flame died, Ketty Selmer moved to Stockholm. She then settled down in Majorca, where she died in the mid-nineties. She never spoke of Flame.[/b]
Here’s more on Ketty Selmer from an interview with the director by Diane Sippl at kinocaviar.com
DS: Who was Ketty, really? A fashion photographer? A courier for the Resistance? A double agent?
OCM: Ketty, who betrays Flame in the end, had affairs with the Gestapo, with Winther, with other Resistance fighters, as well as with women (she was bi-sexual). She operated as a Russian spy at the same time. She was brought up very poor in Copenhagen and became a “dancer” — in those days it was the term used for “stripper” — at the age of eighteen. She was a very active sexual woman.
DS: Is Ketty a classical femme fatale?
OCM: We dug up Ketty Selmer when we researched the film. She’d been there — people knew of her — but they didn’t suspect her at all. They had no idea of who she was. And she acted as she did toward Flame, I think, because she was under pressure. She was afraid of dying, because she was “between chairs,” as we say. She was way out of her league.