Common Sense Media Review
By Barbara Shulgasser-Parker, based on child development research. How do we rate?
age 14+
Intense, tragic WWII drama has peril, violence.
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Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that The Bombardment (also known as The Shadow in My Eye) is a 2021 Danish drama about the 1945 mistaken bombing by British warplanes of a Catholic school full of young Danish children. Danish resistance fighters had requested that Brits bomb the nearby Nazi headquarters, even though their own people were being held there as human shields against Allied attack. Catholics ask themselves whether God can exist in light of the years of horrors, and kids witness shootings and worse. Bombs kill civilians during wartime. People who rush for cover to a bomb shelter die there when the building above collapses. A burning car is seen. The blood from the bodies inside splatters the windows. A boy who witnesses the bombing is traumatized into muteness. A man shoots a Nazi collaborator in the street as a 7-year-old girl watches. Members of the Danish resistance are brutally beaten and tortured by Nazis. In the supposed effort to heal a traumatized boy, a doctor screams at him and calls him a "wimp" and a "sissy." Sensitive viewers may find this too intense. A British flyer jokes about "Fokkers," German warplanes, referencing the similarity of the name to "f--kers." In Danish with English subtitles.
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Violence & Scariness
a lot
Bombs kill civilians during wartime. People who rush for cover to a bomb shelter die there when the building above collapses. A burning car is seen. The blood from bodies inside splatters the windows. A boy who witnesses the bombing is traumatized into muteness. A man shoots a Nazi collaborator in the street as a 7-year-old girl watches. Members of Danish resistance are brutally beaten and tortured by Nazis. In the supposed effort to heal a traumatized boy, a doctor screams at him and calls him a "wimp" and a "sissy." Young children buy pastries from a seller they consider scary, then pretend the food is poisonous until they dip it in the church's holy water. Children are told that God must be taking a nap to explain the unholy savagery of war. A woman pricks her finger to bring up blood, then uses it to pretend it's come from a bleeding statue of Christ on the cross. Planes flying low to avoid enemy detection crash.
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Language
a little
"Damn," "bastard," "hell," "sissy." A British flyer jokes about "Fokkers," German warplanes, referencing the similarity of the name to "f--kers."
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Sex, Romance & Nudity
very little
A virginal young nun who has lost her faith kisses a young Nazi collaborator to rouse the wrath of God, hoping God will punish her for consorting with evil and thereby prove God's existence. The youth tries to have sex with her, but she stops him.
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Positive Role Models
a little
A young nun loses her faith in the face of war horrors. A Danish youth becomes a Nazi collaborator in occupied Copenhagen but changes his mind and acts selflessly to prove his redemption.
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Diverse Representations
very little
Set in Denmark; cast seems mostly Danish and German. Someone asks why God isn't protecting innocent Jews from Nazi violence, and the answer from a nun is that it's because they don't accept Jesus Christ as their savior.
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Positive Messages
none
Deadly mistakes are made during war.
Where to Watch
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The Bombardment
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What's the Story?
THE BOMBARDMENT takes place toward the end of World War II, when a Danish boy named Henry (Bertram Bisgaard) sees a British bomber mistakenly shell a car containing three innocent girls in the quiet countryside. Traumatized by the sight of the burning bodies and the menace delivered from the open sky, he's rendered mute and fearful of open spaces. The British airmen, who thought they'd destroyed a Nazi officer's car, learn of their error just as they are sent on another mission in Denmark, to destroy Nazi headquarters, a large building in Copenhagen. In the meantime, Henry has been sent to stay in the big city, where the skies aren't as open and frightening, in the hopes that he'll regain his speech. He arrives in time to witness another well-meaning but disastrous British bombing error in which his Catholic school is repeatedly bombed instead of the Nazi HQ nearby. More than 120 were killed, among them nuns, teachers, and 86 children. When a stranger enlists Henry to help identify survivors, the emergency forces the boy to find his voice. At the same time, a young novitiate (Fanny Leander Bornedal) who lost her faith in the face of the horrors of war has shamed a young Danish Nazi collaborator (Alex Hogh Andersen) into finding his humanity. Some good comes of all the loss, but it provides little consolation.
Is It Any Good?
Based on true events, The Bombardment is a beautifully made piece about the atrocities of war. Many films about WWII allow viewers to feel better about horrors committed by the Allies because we rationalize death and destruction in the name of good. This film forces us to confront the full agony that results from any loss of human life. When friendly fire aimed at rescuing the Danish from their Nazi occupiers goes awry, the resulting death hurts no less than if the Nazis had committed it. The final minutes may be too intense for some teens, as injured and trapped people who have survived a blast wait for rescue.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the difference between a war crime and a war mistake. What makes one death murder and another death a supposedly fair and reasonable casualty of war? Who gets to decide?
Can any killing be described as fair? Why do you think wars continue even as so many people are against them?
How does knowing about the history of past wars help us understand conflicts between countries today? Do you think wars can be stopped? If yes, how?
Movie Details
- On DVD or streaming : March 9, 2022
- Cast : Fanny Leander Bornedal, Alex Hogh Andersen, Ester Birch Beck
- Director : Ole Bornedal
- Studio : Netflix
- Genre : Drama
- Character Strengths : Courage
- Run time : 107 minutes
- MPAA rating : NR
- Last updated : February 17, 2023
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The Bombardment
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