Flammen og Citronen/Flame & Citron — Interviews — Newspaper & Magazine

Mads Mikkelson interview: Mads about the boy

Published on Wednesday 25 February 2009 00:25

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Mikkelsen's next film will do nothing to reinforce his status as a heartthrob, and everything to boost him as a serious actor. Set in 1944, Flame & Citron chronicles the daredevil exploits of two real-life members of the Danish Resistance, Bent Faurschou-Hviid and Jrgen Haagen Schmith, code names Flame and Citron.

But these are no old-style heroics. Instead, the freedom fighters are shadowy, ruthless, treacherous (the film is strongly influenced by Jean-Pierre Melville's 1969 classic, Army of Shadows, which portrayed the French Resistance as a band of gangsters). As the shabby, bespectacled Citron, Mikkelsen is a bundle of neuroses permanently covered in stubble and nervous sweat. "He was a workaholic, an alcoholic and a drug addict," he says. "He took amphetamines just to keep awake and they made him sweat a lot. But I kind of liked him. He's a pretty cool guy. And I'm not doing films to be glamorous."

The film has shocked Danish audiences. "Flame and Citron are very famous. And, as with a lot of heroes, people tended to put them on a pedestal. This shows the Resistance in a murky light for the first time in Denmark. You must understand that we were not used to war. We were a very civilised nation and sneaking up from behind and shooting someone in the back of the neck is very different from shooting at someone who is shooting at you. Flame and Citron killed people who were not supposed to be killed.

"I never spoke to Citron's family. He had a wife and a daughter, and the daughter committed suicide. A lot of the Resistance kids did that. They had a very, very strange relationship with their fathers, and if they didn't commit suicide, their fathers did. They were living with too big a burden."

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Flame and Citron is released on 6 March

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Mikkelsen om troen og Citronen

FILM & TV 19.08.07 kl. 11:25, AF JAKOB VØLVER, JYLLANDS-POSTENS UDSENDTE MEDARBEJDER

Mads Mikkelsen om sin rolle som modstandsmanden Citronen i den hidtil dyreste dansksprogede film, om sin manglende trang til at udfordre sig selv – og om religion.

Bang, bang! Skudene knalder som fra legetøjspistoler, men skal nok komme til at lyde ægte i biografen. Modstandsmændenes ansigter er gravalvorlige. Baghold? Stikkere?

De lange frakker flagrer i vinden, mens Flammen og Citronen forsøger at nå hen til flugtbilen, før tyskerne dukker op.

»Hvad skete der?!«

Mads Mikkelsens figur, Citronen, ser beklemt ud, da han løber hen over de regnvåde brosten. De stikker af, og forsvinder i en osende bil ud på den anden side af kulisserne i Babelsberg Studierne i Berlin, hvor Niels Brocks Gade i København anno 1944 er bygget op i fuld størrelse.

Flammen og Citronen var to modstandsfolk, hvis egenrådige og idealistiske kamp for Danmarks frihed gjorde dem til legender i vort besatte land. Døde legender.


Selvmord i gråzonen

Sabotage og ildkampe var en del af den ubarmhjertige hverdag i modstandsgruppen Holger Danske, og da nettet blev for stramt, måtte Flammen tage gift for at undgå tysk varetægt, og Citronen sprængte sig selv i luften med en håndgranat, da han blev overmandet på sit sygeleje.

Legenderne vækkes til live i Ole Chris8tian Madsens spillefilm, der bærer deres navne videre.

Omdrejningspunktet i filmen er, at modstandsfolk ikke er rene helte, men at tiden under Besættelsen var et liv i moralske gråzoner. At man af og til måtte gøre forkert, for at gøre rigtigt. Mads Mikkelsen har klædt om og sidder nu i Flammens kælderværelse, hvor der er en seng, flasker med alkohol og brugte patronhylstre på gulvet. Kælderen var soveværelse og skydebane i ét.


Regler for krig

Hvad er det, krig gør ved Citronen?

»Krig er jo at slå et andet menneske ihjel. Når først du har gjort det, bliver du aldrig helt dig selv igen. Du skal leve med tvivlen, om det var det rigtige. Og det er en mærkelig gråzone at bevæge sig ind i som idealist. Og Citronen går ned på det – han går i zombieland med stoffer og alkohol i ekstrem grad. Måske fordi han vidste, deres liv var korte.«

Hvilket billede havde du af modstandskampen, før du blev involveret i ”Flammen & Citronen”?

»De fleste skænderier er gråzoneskænderier – derfor må de fleste krige også være gråzonekrige. Der er ingen tvivl om, at modstandsfolkene var befrierne, og vi takker dem for det. Men hvad de gjorde, var måske ikke altid lige rigtigt. Og jeg tror ikke, du kan finde en ren krig ét eneste sted i verden. Genève-konventionen er da fin at have, og vi skal prøve at overholde den, men vi skal nok lede længe efter nogen, der gør det. Det er absurd i sig selv at have regler for krig.«


Religion, nej tak

Din instruktør, Ole Christian Madsen, drager paralleller mellem modstandsfolkenes idealisme og nutidens terrorisme. Er du enig?

»Jeg ser det ikke helt på den måde. Dengang var der et land, der hed Danmark, som nogle besluttede sig for at tage, og nogle andre gjorde oprør. Det kan ikke helt parallelliseres med mennesker, der mener, at anderledes troende skal dø. Religion er et helt kapitel for sig i verdenshistorien. Religion er … ja, noget helt for sig … sådan har jeg det med alle religioner.

Du bryder dig ikke om religion?

»Nej, det kan man ikke sige! Jeg har meget svært ved at forstå det. Altså, hvis man siger, man tror på Odin og Thor i dag, så er folk ved at dø af grin. Men det er helt ok, at tro på en mand, der lavede vand om til vin og gik på en sø. Nu må vi klappen hesten og komme videre. Religion har været fint for at lave nogle strukturer i samfundet og lave nogle politiske spilleregler, så tingene fungerede. Nu er vi kommet videre og kunne godt droppe at være fuldstændigt absurd naive – og i øvrigt bekrige hinanden i dets navn. Vi kunne komme lidt videre – også i Danmark. At tro på noget mere end livet, kan sagtens lade sig gøre, men det har intet med religion at gøre. Religion er menneskeskabt, og Gud er guddommelig, så det hænger ikke sammen.«

Tror du på noget?

»Jeg har ikke et bestemt efterlivsbillede, men jeg tror på, at man får det bedre af at opføre sig ordentlig i livet. Og verden bliver et bedre sted.«


Måske filminstruktør

Du har fået internationalt gennembrud. Hvilken rolle går du efter næste gang?

»Ej, det kan jeg ikke selv vælge! Der dumper forhåbentlig et eller andet ned, som er spændende.«

Men du går ikke og tænker: Næste gang vil jeg f.eks. være en klovn?

»Nej, jeg har aldrig arbejdet ud fra, at jeg skal prøve at spille noget nyt. Jeg er ikke interesseret i udfordringer, jeg er interesseret i at lave gode film. En udfordring er … ja … jeg kan jo bare kravle op ad et bjerg og lade være med at filme, hvis det var. Men det interesserer mig slet ikke. Hvis historien er fed, vil jeg da gerne spille transvestit, og det kunne sikkert også være udfordrende, men det er ikke den anden vej rundt – det er ikke mig, der skal tilfredsstilles.«

Ser du på det som et 8-16 job?

»Absolut ikke. Det er total passion, men det er historien, der er det vigtige. Mange andre skuespillere siger: Det kunne være skideskægt, hvis jeg gjorde sådan her eller snakkede sådan her – men så kan historien pludselig forsvinde, bare fordi en skuespiller havde lyst til at prøve noget nyt.


Udfordring

Hvad kan så udfordre dig?

»Jeg udøver en masse sport, og det er altid en udfordring at se, om knæene kan holde en time eller en sæson mere.«

Når du er så passioneret om at formidle gode historier, kunne du så finde på at instruere?

»Ja, sagtens. Men jeg skulle have en god historie først. Jeg vil ikke gå i gang med at instruere bare for at prøve et eller andet.«


Mikkelsen on faith and Citron

FILM & TV AT 19.08.07. 11:25, BY JAKOB VØLVER, JYLLANDS-POSTEN PUBLISHED EMPLOYEE

Mads Mikkelsen on its role as a resistance man Citron in the most expensive Danish-language film about his lack of desire to challenge themselves - and about religion.

Bang, bang! Shoots lumps as from toy guns, but will come to sound true to the movies. Resistance men's faces are dead serious. Ambush? Assemblies?

The long coats flapping in the wind, while Flame and Citron trying to reach the getaway car before the Germans appear.

"What happened?!"

Mads Mikkelsen's character, Lemon, looking anxiously out when he runs across the rain-soaked cobblestones. They run away and disappear in a smoky car out on the other side of the scenes in the Babelsberg Studios in Berlin, where Niels Brock Street in Copenhagen anno 1944 is built in full size.

Flame and Citron were two resistance fighters, whose headstrong and idealistic struggle for freedom of Denmark made them legends in our occupied country. Dead legends.


Suicide in the gray zone

Sabotage and firefights were part of the relentless everyday in the resistance group Holger Danish, and that the network was too tight, had to flame take poison to avoid German custody, and Citron blew himself up with a grenade when he was overpowered on his sickbed .

The legends come alive in Chris8tian Ole Madsen films that bear their names forward.

At the heart of the film is that resistance fighters are like heroes, but that the time during the occupation was a life of moral gray areas. That you sometimes had to do wrong to do right. Mads Mikkelsen has dressed and now sits in The Flame basement room where there is a bed, bottles of alcohol and spent shell casings on the floor. The basement was sleeping and shooting range in one.


Rules of war

What is it that war does to Citron?

"War is of course to kill another human being. Once you've done that, you never quite yourself again. You must live with the doubt whether it was the right thing. And it is a strange gray area to move into the idealist. And Citron goes down on it - he goes in zombie land of drugs and alcohol in the extreme. Perhaps because he knew their lives were short. "

What image did you have of the resistance before you became involved in "Flame & Citron"?

"Most quarrels are gray bickering - therefore the most wars also be gray wars. There is no doubt that resistance fighters were liberators, and we thank them for it. But what they did was perhaps not always true. And I do not think you can find a clean war one only place in the world. Geneva Convention is as nice to have, and we should try to respect that, but we'll look far for someone who does. It is absurd in itself to have rules of war. "


Religion, no thanks

Your director Ole Christian Madsen, draws parallels between the opposition Peoples idealism and contemporary terrorism. Do you agree?

"I do not see it quite that way. At that time there was a country called Denmark, as some decided to take, and some others rebelled. It can not quite parallelliseres with people who think differently believers will die. Religion is a whole chapter in world history. Religion is ... yes, quite something ... how I feel with all religions.

You do not like religion?

"No, it can not be said! I find it very difficult to understand. So, if you say you believe in Odin and Thor today, people are dying of laughter. But it is quite ok to believe a man who turned water into wine and walked on a lake. Now we flip the horse and move on. Religion has been fine for making some structures in society and make some political game, so things worked. Now we've moved on and could drop to be completely absurd naive - and also fight each other in its name. We could go a bit further - also in Denmark. To believe in something more than life, can easily be done, but it has nothing to do with religion. Religion is man-made and God is divine, so it does not hang together. "

Do you believe in anything?

"I do not have a specific life after picture, but I think that to get the better of to behave properly in life. And the world will be a better place. "


Perhaps filmmaker

You have received international breakthrough. What role are you looking for next time?

"Oh, I can not choose! There dump hopefully some down, which is exciting. "

But you do not go and think: Next time I will for example. be a clown?

"No, I've never worked on that I should try to play something new. I'm not interested in challenges, I am interested in making good movies. A challenge is ... well ... I can just climb up a mountain and not to shoot if it was. But it interests me not at all. If history is bold, I'd like to play transvestite, and it could certainly be challenging, but it's not the other way around - it's not me to be satisfied. "

If you look at it as a 8-16 job?

"Absolutely not. It is a total passion, but it is history that is important. Many other actors say that it could be great fun if I did like this or talked like this - but then the story suddenly disappear just because an actor wanted to try something new.


Challenge

What can then challenge you?

"I carry a lot of sports, and it's always a challenge to see if your knees can hold an hour or more a season."

When you are so passionate about communicating good stories, could you find to instruct?

"Yes, certainly. But I should have a good story first. I will not begin to instruct just to try something."

Mads Mikkelsen: Tvivlen gør os til mennesker

27. marts 2008 kl. 11:16 • René Fredensborg

Alle burde vide, hvem de er, siger Mads Mikkelsen om modstandsfolkene Flammen og Citronen. Skuespilleren er stærkt optaget af datidens moralkodeks, for også hans morfar har vist sig at være en del af modstandsbevægelsen.

Han sveder, han tvivler, han skyder, han fortryder. Og dog.

I den aktuelle Flammen & Citronen har Mads Mikkelsen sine kvaler i rollen som den autentiske modstandsmand Citronen, der stod for at henrette danske stikkere under tyskernes besættelse af Danmark.

Eller rettere, Citronen havde sine kvaler i rollen som såkaldt likvidator, og det er dét, Mads Mikkelsen gerne vil have frem i sit spil. At folk som Flammen og Citronen i dag og dengang fremstår som hårdkogte helte, men at de også kæmpede med anger og tvivl.

Derfor fik skuespilleren sit velkendte fjæs smurt godt ind i glycerin, så mishagets sved kunne perle ekstra hedt på panden, og derfor har Mikkelsen sat sig særligt godt ind i sin første autentiske rolle.

»Det er den eneste rolle, jeg nogensinde har lavet, hvor det handler om ting, der virkelig er sket. Det har givet mig et andet indblik i den her tid, og jeg har brugt masser af kræfter på at forstå karaktererne. Deres moralkodeks. Deres tvivl,« forklarer han.

»De gjorde, hvad de gjorde, men det er klart, at hvis konen til den stikker, der skulle likvideres, begyndte at skrige alt for højt, fik hun sgu også en kugle i lampen. Sådan var det. Men jeg kan love dig for, at da de kom hjem, var der noget at tænke over,« påpeger Mads Mikkelsen/Citronen, da N2 møder ham på en café i hovedstadens midte.

Den franske løgsuppe får lov at køle af, mens stjernen speedsnakker om modstandsbevægelsens legendariske makkerpar og den film, der nu skal sørge for, at skolebørn i dag præcis ved, hvad Flammen og Citronen stod for.

»Alle burde vide, hvem de var. Det er forunderligt, at der er så mange, der aldrig har hørt om dem. Alle skolebørn skal altid have en temauge med Knud Rasmussen og noget med Nordpolen, men hvis jeg må være helt ærlig: ’Hvad gjorde han så?’. Kørte med en hundeslæde hen over noget sne - for egen vindings skyld. Det var sikkert en fin tid med opdagelsesrejsende, men de her drenge, Flammen og Citronen, de gjorde noget for vores land.«

Forsinket hyldest

I instruktør Ole Christian Madsens udgave af besættelsesdramaet, ender Citronen i en gigantisk shoot-out med et helt kompagni af tyske soldater. En scene, man kunne tro, har fået drysset lidt ekstra krudtslam på toppen, men det afviser Mads Mikkelsen pure.

»Den er god nok. Jeg tror, han slog 18 eller 19 tyskere ihjel i den ildkamp. De kan ganske enkelt ikke få ham ud. Der er 200 soldater derude ved det hus. Og en kampvogn. Men de kan ikke få ham ud,« udbryder Mads Mikkelsen med slet skjult begejstring over den person, han har vakt til live på det store lærred.

»Havde de her modstandsfolk ikke været der, så havde englænderne ikke gidet at befri Danmark før russerne. Så havde vi været en del af Polen. Også derfor vil jeg gerne være med til at bringe historien ud nu. Jeg kan ikke lige umiddelbart komme i tanke om andre nationalhelte, der har gjort mere for Danmark, end de to plus de andre modstandsfolk fra den tid. De har måske gjort den største gerning for at bevare vores demokrati, og alligevel er de ikke rigtig blevet hyldet for det,« mener skuespilleren.

Modstands-morfar

Men Flammen & Citronen er ikke bare et helteepos. Understreger han.

»Det er en film, der skildrer nuancerne og gråzonerne, og hvad krig gør ved mennesker. Krig er jo det mest vanvittige, det mest umenneskelige og det mest psykopatiske, man kan være vidne til. Man forsøger, men man kan ikke lave regler for krig. Så også dengang skete der ting, som alle, også heltene, havde meget svært ved at leve med bagefter,« bemærker Mads Mikkelsen.

»Især de her likvideringer. Man kan sagtens mene, at de gjorde det rigtige på et moralsk plan, men stadig er de ting, de foretog, så grænseoverskridende for et normalt tænkende menneske. Man er en helt, hvis man tør være i tvivl og gøre det beskidte arbejde alligevel. For det er tvivlen, der gør os til mennesker.
Den 42-årige skuespiller har således selv gravet frem, at hans egen (nu afdøde) morfar var med i modstandsbevægelsen.

»Jeg har aldrig fået at vide præcist på hvilket plan, han var med. Han ville ikke snakke om det. Men ad omveje har jeg fået en kasse med ting, der har stået på hans loft. Fyldt med papirer og flyveblade fra den tid - identitetspapirer, der minder om Flammen og Citronens. Han var kommunist, så han har helt sikker været BOPA-mand (BOPA var en af datidens største modstandsbevægelser - red),« fortæller Mads Mikkelsen.

»Det var også det, der interesserede mig ved den her rolle. Det der mærkelige, maskuline forhold, hvor Flammen og Citronen slet ikke snakker om, hvad de går igennem. Men alligevel altid ved, hvor de har hinanden. Man ved jo ikke, hvordan det er at slå et andet menneske ihjel, før man selv har prøvet det. Men selvfølgelig har man lyst til at kaste op, drikke eller bare gå i et sort hul bagefter. Det synes jeg, filmen viser. Hvor grænseoverskridende det hele var.«


Mads Mikkelsen: Doubt is what makes us human beings

27th March 2008. 11:16 • René Fredensborg

"Everybody ought to know who they are,” Mads Mikkelsen says when talking about the resistance fighters Flammen and Citronen.

The actor is intensely concerned about the moral code of the time because his maternal grandfather was a part of the resistance movement.

He sweats, he doubts, he shoots, he regrets. And yet…

In the current "Flammen & Citronen," Mads Mikkelsen has his agonies in the role of the real-life member of the resistance, Citronen, whose job it was to execute Danish informers under the Germans' occupation of Denmark.

Or more correctly, the Lemon had his agonies in the role as the so-called liquidator, and it's this that Mads Mikkelsen would like to bring out in his performance. That people like the Flame and the Lemon, today and at the time, appear like hard-boiled heroes, but also battled regret and doubt.

That’s why the actor managed to oil his well-known mug well into glycerol so the agonizing sweat could sparkle extra hotly in the pan, and that’s why Mikkelsen has fit particularly well into his first authentic role.

"It's the only role I have ever taken where it's about things which really have happened. That has given me another insight into this time, and I have used lots of energy on understanding the values. Their moral code. Their doubt,” he explains.

“They did what they did, but it's clear that if the wife to the informer who was to be liquidated started to scream far too high, she bloody well also got ‘a ball in the lamp.’ That was that. But I can promise you that when they came home, there was reflection,” Mads Mikkelsen/the Lemon points out when N2 meets him at a café in the capital's center.

The French onion soup gets time to cool off while the star speed-talks about the resistance movement's legendary duo and the film which will now make sure that school children today know exactly what the Flame and the Lemon stood for.

“Everybody ought to know who they were. It's strange that there are so many who have never heard of them. All school children have always had a theme week with Knud Rasmussen and something to do with the North Pole, but if I must be completely honest, ‘What did he do?’ Drove a dog sled across some snow for his own selfish interest! It probably was a fine time to be an explorer; but these boys, the Flame and the Lemon, they did something for our country.”


Late Tribute

In director Ole Christian Madsen's version of the occupation drama, the Lemon, faces his end in a gigantic shootout with a whole company of German soldiers. A scene, you would think, that most directors would drag out with a little extra violence to push it over the top (think of most Hollywood action flicks), but that turns Mads Mikkelsen off completely.

“It's good enough. I think he thumped to death 18 or 19 Germans in that duel. They simply cannot take him out. There are 200 soldiers out there at that house. And a tank. But they cannot take him out,” Mads Mikkelsen bursts out with uncontainable enthusiasm over the person he has brought to life on the big screen.

“If these resistance fighters had not been there, the English would not have cared to liberate Denmark before the Russians. Then we would have been a part of Poland. For this reason, I wanted to participate in bringing our history out now. I cannot immediately think of any other national heroes who have done more for Denmark than these two as well as the other resistance fighters from that time. Their actions were maybe the largest in preserving our democracy, and still they haven't been paid proper tribute for it,” thinks the actor.


Maternal Grandfather

But "Flammen & Citronen" isn't just a heroic epic. The emphasis is on man.

"It is a film which describes the nuances and the gray zones of what war does to human beings. War is the most insane, the most inhuman, and the most psychopathic thing you could witness. One tries, but you cannot make rules for war. Things happened at that time which everybody, including the heroes, had a very hard time living with afterwards,” notices Mads Mikkelsen.

“Especially these liquidations. You can easily think that they did the correct thing on a moral level, but still there are those decisions they made which crossed the line for a normally thoughtful human being. One is a hero, if one dares to be in doubt and do the dirty work anyway. Because it's the doubt which makes us human beings.”

The 42-year-old actor has himself discovered that his own (now deceased) maternal grandfather was involved in the resistance movement.

“I have never learned exactly on which level he was involved. He didn't want to talk about it. But by searching, I just found a box with things which were stored in his attic. Filled with papers and flyers from that time - id-papers which resemble the Flame and Citronen’s. He was a communist, thus he was completely safe being a BOPA-man (Bopa was one of that time’s largest resistance movements ),” Mads Mikkelsen reports.

“It was, also, what interested me in this role. That strange, masculine condition where the Flame and the Lemon do not talk at all about what they experience. But anyway, always know that they have each other. They do not know what it's like to kill another human being before you actually try it. Of course, you have to throw up, drink or just go into a black hole afterwards. This is what I think the film shows. How borderline it all was.”

Translated by monalisa66

'Flammen og Citronen' snyder os, Madsen

Af Kasper Vedsmand [Es ist nur Administratoren erlaubt, diesen Link zu sehen]
Mandag den 14. april 2008, 14:58 Updated: Onsdag den 19. september 2012, 02:29

Modstandsmand Gunnar Dyrberg går i rette med instruktøren bag 'Flammen & Citronen'. De to titel-rollers tidligere kampfæller mener, at filmen fordrejer virkeligheden.

På rekordtid har biografhittet 'Flammen & Citronen' trukket mere end en kvart million danskere i biografen. Filmen har dog samtidig givet anledning til heftig debat om, hvor meget fup og fiktion der er blandet ind i historien om de to virkelige modstandsfolk.

Tidligere har pårørende til Flammen kritiseret filmen for ringe dokumentation, og nu melder også en tidligere kampfælle til de to helte sig i koret.

- Filmen giver et godt billede af baggrunden for det, vi lavede. For det VAR virkelig risikabelt. Men det der skete, var i virkeligheden så spændende, at det ikke er nødvendigt at digte noget.

- Jeg kan ikke forstå det, siger 86-årige Gunnar Dyrberg, der arbejdede tæt sammen med Flammen, Bent Fauerschou Hviid, og Citronen, Jørgen Haagen Schmith.

Instruktøren af filmen, Ole Christian Madsen, ønsker ikke at deltage i en krig på ord. Han understreger dog, at filmen aldrig har foregivet at være den endegyldige sandhed om Flammen og Citronen.

- Når det er sagt, er det en film, der er researchet meget, meget grundigt. Vi har fundet dokumenter og spor, som ingen andre har fundet frem til. Det er ikke bare grebet ud af den blå luft, forklarer han.

Her på siderne kan du se, hvilke punkter i filmen de to er uenige om, og hvor Ole Christian Madsen har pyntet på virkeligheden.

Scroll ned og se, hvor de to er enige og uenige

Ingen bestilte likvideringer
Peter Mygind spiller rollen som den ledende modstandsmand Winther – baseret på visumdirektør Vilhelm Leifer. I filmen giver han ordrer til Flammen og Citronen.

Gunnar Dyrberg:

- Det er ikke korrekt. Flammen fik ikke ordrer fra nogen – det var der ingen af os der gjorde. I filmen skælder Winther Flammen ud, fordi han ikke lystrer. Det har intet med virkeligheden gøre. Hvis en velorienteret kilde fortalte om en stikker, bestemte vi selv, om den pågældende var så farlig, at han skulle likvideres.

Ole Christian Madsen:

- Inden Winther i 1944 flygtede til Stockholm, fik Flammen en liste med navne på folk, der skulle likvideres. Senere i Stockholm havde Flammen igen et møde med Winther hvor 'ordren' blev gentaget.

Overdrevne Flamme-drab
I filmen likviderer Flammen en lang række stikkere.

Gunnar Dyrberg:

- Der bliver givet indtryk af, at der var tale om næsten daglige likvideringer. Men Flammen var 'kun' med til syv drab over en periode på otte måneder.

Ole Christian Madsen:

- Efter Flammens død tillagde Gestapo ham og hans gruppe at stå bag 150 politiske mord. Det er en af grundene til hans meget mytiske likvideringsstatus. Der er næppe nogen, der kender det præcise antal – jeg har hørt tal fra 14 og helt op til 42. Når jeg regner sammen via mine kilder, ender vi på 11.

'Fædrelandet' - noget pjat
Når modstandsfolkene mødes bliver der i filmen skålet og sagt farvel med ordet: 'Fædrelandet'

Gunnar Dyrberg:
- Det er det rene pjat. Selvfølgelig gjorde vi, hvad vi gjorde, for Danmarks skyld. Vi brød os dog ikke om at sige sådan noget højt – det ville lyde højrøvet. Vi holdt heller ikke møder på offentlige steder – vi var jo ikke interesseret i at omkomme.

Ole Christian Madsen:

- Nogle gange blev der sagt 'For Danmark', men jeg ved godt, at det ikke er dækkende for, hvordan man tog afsked. Jeg valgte at gøre det for at få et ritual omkring det. Modstandsfolkene mødtes dog af og til på en bestemt beværtning til festivitas – et sted der også kom tyskere.

De rigtig barske cyklede da
På vej til en række aktioner benytter Flammen og Citronen sig af biler som transportmiddel.

Gunnar Dyrberg:
- I virkeligheden cyklede vi jo – det var farligt at køre rundt i bil. Kun læger og Gestapo-folk gjorde det. Men jeg forstår godt, at de ikke lader de barske folk køre rundt på cykel – det ville være fuldstændig latterligt at vise på film.

Ole Christian Madsen:
- Flammen og Citronen kørte temmelig meget i bil, fordi de var ude på mange specialaktioner. Men selvfølgelig var der da også tidspunkter, hvor de ikke gjorde det.

Kun Citronen havde uniform
Flammen og Citronen kører på et tidspunkt af sted klædt i politiuniformer, da tyskerne pludselig anholder dem.

Gunnar Dyrberg:
- Det er rigtigt, at Citronen blev stoppet i en bil i politiuniform, men Flammen var slet ikke med. Det var i stedet Flammens vært, Helmer Bomhoff, som sad ved siden af – uden uniform. Derfor kunne Bomhoff også liste væk i forvirringen, da Citronen forsøgte at flygte.

Ole Christian Madsen:

- Gunnar har ret. Flammen og Citronen lavede også aktioner hver for sig. Jeg har gjort det for at forstærke deres skæbnefællesskab og skildre det følgeskab i liv og død, de havde.

Pistol eller giftpille
Da Flammen opdages af tyskerne, løber han ned i en kælder. Foran ham ligger tre pistoler, men han beslutter sig for at tage en giftpille.

Gunnar Dyrberg:

- I virkeligheden løb han op ovenpå i huset. Han tog gift, da han indså, at han ingen chancer havde. Han var helt ubevæbnet, fordi han havde lagt alle sine våben hos Citronen i Århus.

Ole Christian Madsen:

- Jeg har ladet Flammen have tre pistoler, fordi det slutter ringen fra starten af filmen. Det samme med kælderen, som er et sted, man i filmen forbinder med følelser.


'Flame and Citron' cheating us, Madsen

By Kasper Vedsmand [Es ist nur Administratoren erlaubt, diesen Link zu sehen]
Monday, 14 April 2008, 14:58 Updated: Wednesday, 19 September 2012, 02:29

Resistance fighter Gunnar Dyrberg go in right with the director behind 'Flame & Citron'. The two title-rollers former comrades think that the film distorts reality.

In record time, the cinema hit 'Flame & Citron' dragged more than a quarter of a million Danes. The film has also given rise to heated debate about how much trickery and fiction are mixed into the history of the two real fighters.

Earlier, relatives of flame criticized the film for poor documentation, and now also reports an earlier battle companion to the two heroes in the choir.

- The film gives a good picture of the background to what we were doing. For it WAS really risky. But it happened was in fact so interesting that it is not necessary to compose something.

- I can not understand it, says 86-year-old Gunnar Dyrberg, who worked closely with flame, Bent Fauerschou Hviid, and Citron, Jørgen Haagen Schmith.

The director of the film, Ole Christian Madsen, do not want to participate in a war of words. He stresses, however, that the film has never pretended to be the final truth about Flame and Citron.

- That said, it is a film that is researched very, very carefully. We have found documents and tracks that no one else has found. It's not just plucked out of thin air, he explains.

On these pages you can see which points in the film the two disagree, and where Ole Christian Madsen has whitewashing reality.

Scroll down and see where the two agree and disagree

No ordered killings
Peter Mygind plays the role of the lead protagonist Winther - based on visa director William Leifer. In the film, he gives orders to Flame and Citron.

Gunnar Dyrberg:

- It is not correct. The flame did not take orders from anyone - it was that none of us did. In the film scolds Winther flame out because he did not obey. It has nothing to do with reality. If an informed source told of a stick, we decided even if he were so dangerous that he had liquidated.

Ole Christian Madsen:

- Before Winther in 1944 fled to Stockholm, got flame a list of names of people to be eliminated. Later in Stockholm had flame again a meeting with Winther where 'order' was repeated.

Excessive Flash-killing
In the film liquidates flame numerous assemblies.

Gunnar Dyrberg:

- There are given the impression that there was almost daily killings. But the flame was 'only' to seven murders over a period of eight months.

Ole Christian Madsen:

- After Flame's death gave the Gestapo him and his group to stand behind 150 political murders. It is one of the reasons for his very mythical liquidation status. There is hardly anyone who knows the exact number - I've heard numbers from 14 and up to 42 When I count together through my sources, we end on 11th

'Fatherland' - nonsense
When resistance fighters meet will be in the movie toast and said goodbye with the words: 'Fatherland'

Gunnar Dyrberg:
- This is nonsense. Of course we did what we did, for Denmark's sake. We broke us not to say such things out loud - it would sound swagger. We held no meetings in public places - we were not interested to perish.

Ole Christian Madsen:

- Sometimes it was said 'For Denmark', but I know that it is not adequate for how parted. I chose to do it to get a ritual around it. Resistance fighters met, however, and to a certain tavern for festivities - a place that also came Germans.

They really tough cycled as
On the way to a series of actions using Flame and Citron care of cars for transport.

Gunnar Dyrberg:
- In fact we cycled the - it was dangerous to drive around in the car. Only doctors and Gestapo people did it. But I understand that they do not let the harsh people riding bikes - it would be completely ridiculous to show the film.

Ole Christian Madsen:
- Flame and Citron drove pretty much in the car because they were out on many special operations. But of course there were indeed times when they did not.

Only Citron had uniforms
Flame and Citron is running at a time of place dressed in police uniforms, when the Germans suddenly arresting them.

Gunnar Dyrberg:
- It is true that Citron was stopped in a car in a police uniform, but the flame was not with. It was instead Flame host, Helmer Bomhoff, who sat next to - out of uniform. Therefore Bomhoff also list away in the confusion, as Citron tried to escape.

Ole Christian Madsen:

- Gunnar right. Flame and Citron also made actions separately. I made it to reinforce their common destiny and portray the companionship of life and death, they had.

Pistol or poison pill
When the flame is detected by the Germans, he runs into a basement. Before him is three guns, but he decides to take a poison pill.

Gunnar Dyrberg:

- In fact, he ran upstairs in the house. He married when he realized he had no chance. He was completely unarmed, because he had put all his weapons at Citron in Aarhus.

Ole Christian Madsen:

- I have let the flame have three guns, because it ends ring from the beginning of the film. The same with basement, which is a place you in the movie connects with emotion.

Mads Mikkelsen und der Nazi-Widerstand

29.08.08, Von Peter Zander

In "Casino Royale" spielte er den Bösewicht. Jetzt kommt Mads Mikkelsens neuer Film "Tage des Zorns" in die Kinos, der von dänischen Widerstandskämpfern im Zweiten Weltkrieg handelt. Im WELT-ONLINE-Interview spricht er über die Nazibesatzung. Seine Landsleute kommen dabei nicht gut weg.

WELT ONLINE: Ist "Tage des Zorns" eine dänische Variante von "Walküre"?

Mads Mikkelsen: So würde ich das nicht bezeichnen. Ich weiß, wie die Amerikaner Filme machen, das würde doch leicht anders werden.

WELT ONLINE: Wie bekannt sind die dänischen Widerstandskämpfer Flammen und Citron im heutigen Dänemark?

Mikkelsen: Meine Generation weiß von ihnen, aber nicht sehr viel. Unsere Kinder dagegen wissen gar nichts mehr. Die wissen von anderen, die nach Grönland aufgebrochen sind, mit nichts als Hunden und Schnee. Aber sie wissen nichts von diesen Menschen, die die Geschichte vielleicht verändert haben. Oder doch daran teilgenommen haben. Deshalb ist es wichtig, dass die Diskussion wieder aufkommt und die junge Generation sich damit auseinandersetzt.

WELT ONLINE: Wie stark wird denn die Zeit der Nazi-Besatzung überhaupt in Dänemark aufgearbeitet?

Mikkelsen: Wie in so vielen anderen Ländern ist das ein großes schwarzes Loch. Nicht nur, weil unser Land besetzt wurde, sondern auch wegen der Art, wie wir uns damals verhalten haben. Es gab 800, 900 Widerstandskämpfer, aber 7000 Dänen, die für die Deutschen in Russland gekämpft haben. Das sagt einiges über unsere Einstellung aus. Und die dänische Bevölkerung war durchaus nicht einverstanden mit dem, was die Widerstandskämpfer taten. Auf diesen Teil unserer Geschichte sind wir also nicht so stolz.

WELT ONLINE: In Deutschland haben viele von Nazi-Filmen genug. Und bei Ihnen?

Mikkelsen: In Dänemark gab es bislang nur zwei, drei Filme darüber, schon recht bald nach dem Krieg. Folglich waren alle Widerstandskämpfer edle Leute unter lauter bösen Nazis. Natürlich braucht eine Nation so was: Geschichte muss eine Geschichte von Helden sein. Aber wir wollten das mit zeitlichem Abstand ein wenig differenzierter darstellen. Es geht nicht darum, was richtig und was falsch war. Die Frage ist: was macht der Krieg aus Menschen?

WELT ONLINE: Glauben Sie, dass das Kino einer Nation helfen kann, zu seiner eigenen Geschichte zu stehen?

Mikkelsen: Ja, unbedingt. Natürlich nicht Film allein. Und natürlich gibt es Stellen, da kann man uns vorwerfen: Das ist jetzt aber Fiktion, so ist das nicht passiert! Aber wenn der Film eine Debatte anstößt und junge Menschen sich mit dem Thema auseinandersetzen, womöglich mit ihren Großeltern darüber reden, dann hat es etwas bewirkt.

WELT ONLINE: Es gibt also schon eine Diskussion in Dänemark?

Mikkelsen: Es gibt eine große Debatte. Die Zeitungen berichten, Schulklassen nehmen das im Unterricht durch. Und es gibt auch die klassische Diskussion über die Korrektheit des Films. Wir haben Millionen von Professoren, die alles darüber wissen. Die größten Experten sind aber der Regisseur und die Drehbuchautoren, die wissen sogar mehr als die alten Widerstandskämpfer. Die haben akribisch recherchiert, in Archiven, in denen noch keiner war. Viele Widerstandskämpfer behaupten etwa, die Doppelagentin Ketty habe nicht existiert. Hat sie aber. Sie wollen nur nicht drüber reden. Darüber hinaus maulen die Linken, der Film sei rechtslastig, und die Rechten, er sei linkslastig.

WELT ONLINE: Was spaltet die Lager?

Mikkelsen: Es ist die Frage des Blickpunkts. Die einen werfen uns vor, wir würden sie zu sehr zu Helden verklären. Andere sagen, sie hätten nie Fehler begangen, warum zeigen wir das? Es ist einfach ein heißes Eisen, an dem man sich immer noch verbrennen kann.

WELT ONLINE: Haben Sie je daran gedacht, wie Sie sich damals verhalten hätten?

Mikkelsen: Natürlich haben wir uns die Frage immer wieder gestellt, das bleibt nicht aus. Und das sagt sich schnell, ich wäre auch beim Widerstand gewesen. Tatsache ist, ich habe ein ziemlich gut entwickeltes Rechts- und Unrechtsbewusstsein. Und ich glaube, ich könnte in einem solchen Fall nicht nur da sitzen und warten, bis es zu Ende ist. Das hängt natürlich auch davon ab, ob man Kinder hat. Dann geht es nicht nur um dein eigenes Leben. Andererseits gibt es dann auch mehr, wofür man kämpft.

WELT ONLINE: Ist es eine Art Ironie, dass Teile des Films in Deutschland gedreht wurden?

Mikkelsen: Es war schon seltsam, wenn wir von Nazis verfolgt und gehetzt wurden und die Anweisungen der Crew auf Deutsch kamen. Aber nicht politisch, ganz im Gegenteil. Ich kann gar nicht betonen, wie wichtig es ist, dass dies eine dänisch-deutsche Koproduktion war. Dass wir uns von beiden Seiten dem Thema stellen.

WELT ONLINE: Rechtsextremismus ist auch 60 Jahre nach Kriegsende in Deutschland ein Thema. In Dänemark auch?

Mikkelsen: Es wäre schön, wenn wir davon erlöst wären. Immerhin ist es jetzt 60 Jahre her, dass wir einen europäischen Krieg hatten. Das hat unser Bewusstsein geschärft, wie man miteinander umgeht. In anderen Erdteilen ist man noch nicht so weit. Die Leute, die in die Twin Towers flogen, glaubten ja auch, im Recht zu sein.

WELT ONLINE: Es ist noch gar nicht so lange her, da wurden Deutsche in Dänemark nicht eben freundlich aufgenommen. Wie ist das heute?

Mikkelsen: Es ist wahr, als ich aufwuchs, waren die Deutschen immer noch die Bösen. Wenn man im Kino eine Zigarette rauchte, machte man es auf die "deutsche Art". Natürlich braucht es eine Zeit, bis die Wunden der Geschichte heilen. Aber heute erlebe ich die Deutschen als sehr viel offener und mehr wie die Dänen als etwa Franzosen.

WELT ONLINE: Vor dem Bond-Film wetteten Sie, Sie könnten auch danach über den Kurfürstendamm bummeln, keiner würde Sie erkennen. Haben Sie die Wette verloren?

Mikkelsen: Naja, dummerweise gibt es ziemlich viele Dänen in Berlin. Nein, die Leute erkennen mich jetzt schon. Aber lustigerweise hat das nicht nur mit Bond zu tun; es gibt überraschend viele Deutsche, die dänische Filme schauen und mich auch darauf ansprechen.


Mads Mikkelsen and the Nazi resistance

By Peter Zander, 08/29/08

In "Casino Royale," he played the villain. Now comes Mads Mikkelsen's new film "Days of Rage" in the cinemas, which is about Danish resistance fighters during World War II. In WORLD ONLINE interview, he talks about the Nazi occupation. His countrymen not come off well.

WELT ONLINE: Is "Days of Rage", a Danish version of "Valkyrie"?

Mads Mikkelsen: So I would not call. I know how the Americans make films that would be but slightly different.

WELT ONLINE: How well known are the Danish resistance fighters Flame and Citron in Denmark today?

Mikkelsen: My generation knows about them, but not very much. Our children on the other hand do not know anything more. Who know of others who have left for Greenland, with nothing but dogs and snow. But they know nothing of these people who have changed the history perhaps. Or have yet attended. Therefore it is important that the discussion comes up again and the young generation is and discuss in detail.

WELT ONLINE: How much for the time of the Nazi occupation is ever worked in Denmark?

Mikkelsen: As in so many other countries, is a big black hole. Not only because our country was occupied, but also because of the way we behave at that time. There were 800, 900 resistance fighters, but 7000 Danes, who fought for the Germans in Russia. That says a lot about our attitude. And the Danish population was not at all agree with what the resistance fighters did. In this part of our history so we're not so proud of.

WELT ONLINE: In Germany, many of Nazi films enough. And when you?

Mikkelsen: In Denmark, there has been only two or three films about it, very soon after the war. Consequently, all resistance fighters were noble people among nothing evil Nazis. Of course you need something a nation: history has a story of its hero. But we wanted to with a time interval representing a little more differentiated. It's not about what's right and what was wrong. The question is: what does the war from people?

WELT ONLINE: Do you think that a nation can help the movie to stand on its own history?

Mikkelsen: Yeah, absolutely. Of course not alone movie. And of course there are places because you can blame us: This is fiction, but now, this is not happening! But when the film triggers a debate and young people deal with the issue, perhaps talk to their grandparents about it, it made the difference.

WELT ONLINE: There is already a debate in Denmark?

Mikkelsen: There is a big debate. The newspapers report that by taking classes in the classroom. And there's also the classic discussion about the correctness of the film. We have millions of professors who know all about it. The greatest experts are but the director and the writers who know even more than the old resistance fighter. Who meticulously researched, in archives, in which no one had yet. Many resistance fighters say about the double agent Ketty did not exist. But if she has. You just do not want to talk about it. In addition, the left grumbling that the film is quite heavy, and the rights that he was left-wing.

WELT ONLINE: What divides the camp?

Mikkelsen: There is the issue of the viewpoint. Some accuse us, we would glorify it too much to heroes. Others say they have never made mistakes, why do we show it? It's just a hot topic, where you can still get burned.

WELT ONLINE: Have you ever thought how you would behave at that time?

Mikkelsen: Of course, we asked the question again and again, which is inevitable. And says quickly, I would have been in the Resistance. In fact, I have a pretty well-developed legal and wrongdoing. And I think I could sit in such a case not only there and wait until it's too late. This of course depends on whether you have children. Then it's not just about your own life. On the other hand, there are also more then what you are fighting.

WELT ONLINE: Is it a kind of ironic that parts of the movie were filmed in Germany?

Mikkelsen: It was strange when we were persecuted by Nazis and rushed, and the instructions of the crew were in German. But not politically, quite the contrary. I can not stress how important it is that this was a Danish-German co-production. That we put the issue from both sides.

NPQ is right even 60 years after the war an issue in Germany. In Denmark too?

Mikkelsen: It would be nice if we shall be free of it. After all, it is now 60 years ago that we had a European war. This has sharpened our awareness of how to deal with each other. In other parts of the world, we are still not ready. The people who flew into the Twin Towers believed, indeed, they are right.

WELT ONLINE: It's not so long ago, were not German in Denmark just a friendly welcome. How is it today?

Mikkelsen: It is true, as I grew up, the Germans were still the bad guys. If you smoked a cigarette in the movies, they made it to the "German way". Of course it takes some time to heal the wounds of history. But today I experience the Germans as much more open and more like the Danes than about French.

WELT ONLINE: In front of the Bond film You bet you could also then stroll along the Kurfürstendamm, no one would recognize you. Did you lose a bet?

Mikkelsen: Well, unfortunately, there are quite a few Danes in Berlin. No, people recognize me now. But funny enough, not only has to do with Bond, there are a surprising number of German, Danish films look and talk to me about it too.

Bond villain: Daniel can't play poker

By by KIERAN MEEKE - 8th March, 2009

Springing to fame facing 007 as the villain Le Chiffre in Casino Royale, Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen, 43, plays the hero in a local film, Flame & Citron, out today on DVD. Filmed in Germany and Prague, it is the story of two Danish Resistance fighters in World War II

(...)

How was it shooting an anti-Nazi film in Germany?

They still have the old-style streets and lights that look like Copenhagen in the 1940s. It was really weird to be on German turf, making a film about fighting the
Germans with everybody around us speaking German. Provoking, actually.

Isn’t it odd we are still making films about World War II?

It looks as if it takes one generation or so to face what really happened. It’s impossible to do it one week later.

Would you have been brave enough to join the Resistance?

If I did not have kids I’d hope I’d say yes. I boil for justice so I would not have been able to hide away but it’s easy to say that now. Everybody claims to have had a grandfather who was in the Resistance. That makes about 300,000 but the fact is there were only 1,000. And there were at least ten times as many from Denmark fighting for the Nazis. But we have to understand the time: there was an immense fear of the Communists and Europe needed a change from the Depression and unemployment. It was an ideology people could understand – and they didn’t know how it would turn out.

(...)