The Red Meadows
Encyclopedia
The Red Meadows is a 1945
Danish
war drama directed by Bodil Ipsen
and Lau Lauritzen Jr.
The film, starring Poul Reichhardt
and Lisbeth Movin
, is a suspense tale revolving around the memories of a Danish saboteur as he awaits his execution in a German war-time prison. Filmed in Denmark only months after the end of the German occupation during WWII, Red Meadows is a clear ovation to the Danish resistance fighters and considered a stylistic masterwork. The film received the Palme d'Or
at the Cannes Film Festival
.
Michael (Poul Reichhardt) sits in a Gestapo
jail and awaits his execution. His thoughts go back to the events that led to his capture. In a meadow in Jutland
, Michael and his comrades wait for a British airdrop of weapons and explosives to use for the resistance
. Afterward, while in his hideout, Michael is surprised by German soldiers. He shoots his way out and is able to slip free. On a country road, a car driven by a German Field Officer (Arne Hershold) stops. Michael overpowers the officer and shoots him. Dressed in the officer's uniform, Michael is able to reach Copenhagen
and find his girlfriend Ruth (Lisbeth Movin) at the hotel where she lives. Toto (Lau Lauritzen), the leader of the resistance group, is waiting for him. They are planning to sabotage a weapons factory
. However, there is suspicion that there is an informant
in the group, so the plan is delayed. One of the group's members, Dreyer (Freddy Koch), is arrested, so Ruth and Michael flee to her uncle's summer house. Ruth is frightened of losing Michael. She says, If you die, then everything is meaningless - then I'm not a person anymore - and the meadows aren't green anymore -- they are colored the red of your blood. Plans for the sabotage are completed and the group goes into action. But it is revealed that there has been an informant, when the group is surprised by soldiers lying in wait for them. During the firefight, Michael is wounded. However, he is able to blow up the factory before he is captured. Back in the Gestapo jail, the prison guard Steinz (Per Buckhøj) who hates the war and the Nazis, tries to help Michael in small ways, but is unable to prevent his torture
. Michal is able to resist during the brutal torture, but he is condemned to death. While in jail, Michael suspects who the informant is and through Steinz gets a message to his comrades: The apple is rotten. A trap is set and Prikken (Preben Neergaard) reveal himself as the informer. There is no other way but to kill him and it is not difficult to find members who will do it. While being driven to his execution, Steinz tells Michael that he has received a message—Steinz's entire family was killed during an Allied aerial bombardment that week. Michael asks Steinz to escape with him. Steinz declines and shoots himself in the car. Michael flees and seeks refuge in a bakery
where he is able to contact Toto. Both Michael and Ruth find transport to Sweden
where they can finally rest.
1945 in film
The year 1945 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* Paramount Studios releases theatrical short cartoon titled The Friendly Ghost, featuring a ghost named Casper.* With Rossellini's Roma Città aperta, Italian neorealist cinema begins....
Danish
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
war drama directed by Bodil Ipsen
Bodil Ipsen
Bodil Ipsen was a Danish actress and film director, and is considered one of the great stars of Danish cinematic history. Her acting career, which began in theater and silent films, was marked by leading roles in large folk comedies and melodramas...
and Lau Lauritzen Jr.
Lau Lauritzen Jr.
Lau Lauritzen, Jr., , was a Danish actor, screenwriter, and film director. As a director, he was a 4-time recipient of the Bodil Award for Best Danish Film. Lauritzen co-founded the Danish film studio ASA Film and served as the studio's artistic director and administrative director .-Career:Lau...
The film, starring Poul Reichhardt
Poul Reichhardt
Poul David Reichhardt was a Danish actor, well known for his roles in Danish 1940s/50s comedies. Later on, he also played more serious and varied roles; he has also starred in Huset på Christianshavn, Matador and as various minor characters in the Olsen Gang films.For almost thirty years...
and Lisbeth Movin
Lisbeth Movin
Lisbeth Movin was a Danish actress of stage and film best known for her role as Anne, the pastor's wife accused of witchcraft in the 1943 film Day of Wrath directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer. She also appeared as the widow in the 1987 screen adaptation of Babette's Feast, directed by Gabriel Axel...
, is a suspense tale revolving around the memories of a Danish saboteur as he awaits his execution in a German war-time prison. Filmed in Denmark only months after the end of the German occupation during WWII, Red Meadows is a clear ovation to the Danish resistance fighters and considered a stylistic masterwork. The film received the Palme d'Or
Palme d'Or
The Palme d'Or is the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival and is presented to the director of the best feature film of the official competition. It was introduced in 1955 by the organising committee. From 1939 to 1954, the highest prize was the Grand Prix du Festival International du...
at the Cannes Film Festival
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes International Film Festival , is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films of all genres including documentaries from around the world. Founded in 1946, it is among the world's most prestigious and publicized film festivals...
.
Plot
In German-occupied Denmark during WWII, the young Danish saboteurSaboteur
A saboteur is someone who commits sabotage.It may also refer to:*Morituri , a 1965 film also known as The Saboteur*Saboteur , a card game by Frederic Moyersoen, published in 2004...
Michael (Poul Reichhardt) sits in a Gestapo
Gestapo
The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler in his position as Chief of German Police...
jail and awaits his execution. His thoughts go back to the events that led to his capture. In a meadow in Jutland
Jutland
Jutland , historically also called Cimbria, is the name of the peninsula that juts out in Northern Europe toward the rest of Scandinavia, forming the mainland part of Denmark. It has the North Sea to its west, Kattegat and Skagerrak to its north, the Baltic Sea to its east, and the Danish–German...
, Michael and his comrades wait for a British airdrop of weapons and explosives to use for the resistance
Resistance movement
A resistance movement is a group or collection of individual groups, dedicated to opposing an invader in an occupied country or the government of a sovereign state. It may seek to achieve its objects through either the use of nonviolent resistance or the use of armed force...
. Afterward, while in his hideout, Michael is surprised by German soldiers. He shoots his way out and is able to slip free. On a country road, a car driven by a German Field Officer (Arne Hershold) stops. Michael overpowers the officer and shoots him. Dressed in the officer's uniform, Michael is able to reach Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
and find his girlfriend Ruth (Lisbeth Movin) at the hotel where she lives. Toto (Lau Lauritzen), the leader of the resistance group, is waiting for him. They are planning to sabotage a weapons factory
Factory
A factory or manufacturing plant is an industrial building where laborers manufacture goods or supervise machines processing one product into another. Most modern factories have large warehouses or warehouse-like facilities that contain heavy equipment used for assembly line production...
. However, there is suspicion that there is an informant
Informant
An informant is a person who provides privileged information about a person or organization to an agency. The term is usually used within the law enforcement world, where they are officially known as confidential or criminal informants , and can often refer pejoratively to the supply of information...
in the group, so the plan is delayed. One of the group's members, Dreyer (Freddy Koch), is arrested, so Ruth and Michael flee to her uncle's summer house. Ruth is frightened of losing Michael. She says, If you die, then everything is meaningless - then I'm not a person anymore - and the meadows aren't green anymore -- they are colored the red of your blood. Plans for the sabotage are completed and the group goes into action. But it is revealed that there has been an informant, when the group is surprised by soldiers lying in wait for them. During the firefight, Michael is wounded. However, he is able to blow up the factory before he is captured. Back in the Gestapo jail, the prison guard Steinz (Per Buckhøj) who hates the war and the Nazis, tries to help Michael in small ways, but is unable to prevent his torture
Torture
Torture is the act of inflicting severe pain as a means of punishment, revenge, forcing information or a confession, or simply as an act of cruelty. Throughout history, torture has often been used as a method of political re-education, interrogation, punishment, and coercion...
. Michal is able to resist during the brutal torture, but he is condemned to death. While in jail, Michael suspects who the informant is and through Steinz gets a message to his comrades: The apple is rotten. A trap is set and Prikken (Preben Neergaard) reveal himself as the informer. There is no other way but to kill him and it is not difficult to find members who will do it. While being driven to his execution, Steinz tells Michael that he has received a message—Steinz's entire family was killed during an Allied aerial bombardment that week. Michael asks Steinz to escape with him. Steinz declines and shoots himself in the car. Michael flees and seeks refuge in a bakery
Bakery
A bakery is an establishment which produces and sells flour-based food baked in an oven such as bread, cakes, pastries and pies. Some retail bakeries are also cafés, serving coffee and tea to customers who wish to consume the baked goods on the premises.-See also:*Baker*Cake...
where he is able to contact Toto. Both Michael and Ruth find transport to Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
where they can finally rest.
Cast
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Poul Reichhardt Poul Reichhardt Poul David Reichhardt was a Danish actor, well known for his roles in Danish 1940s/50s comedies. Later on, he also played more serious and varied roles; he has also starred in Huset på Christianshavn, Matador and as various minor characters in the Olsen Gang films.For almost thirty years... |
Micheal Lans |
| Lisbeth Movin Lisbeth Movin Lisbeth Movin was a Danish actress of stage and film best known for her role as Anne, the pastor's wife accused of witchcraft in the 1943 film Day of Wrath directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer. She also appeared as the widow in the 1987 screen adaptation of Babette's Feast, directed by Gabriel Axel... |
Ruth Isaksen |
| Per Buckhøj Per Buckhøj Per Buckhøj was a Danish film actor. He appeared in 36 films between 1942 and 1958.-Filmography:* The Vikings * Stof til eftertanke * Ellehammer-filmen * Gengæld... |
Prison guard Steinz |
| Gyrd Løfqvist | Gustav |
| Preben Kaas Preben Kaas Preben Kaas was a Danish film actor. He appeared in 55 films between 1943 and 1980.He was born in Aalborg, Denmark and died in Denmark.Preben Kaas was married to Anne Marie Lie and Lisbet Dahl... |
Erik |
| Kjeld Jacobsen Kjeld Jacobsen Kjeld Jacobsen was a Danish actor. He appeared in 45 films between 1945 and 1970.-Selected filmography:* The Red Meadows * The Invisible Army * Lise kommer til Byen... |
Hansen |
| Arne Hersholdt | German field marshal |
| Karl Jørgensen Karl Jørgensen Karl Jørgensen was a Danish stage and film actor.-Filmography:*Thummelumsen - 1941*Regnen holdt op - 1942*Alle mand på dæk - 1942*Damen med de lyse handsker - 1942*Når man kun er ung - 1943... |
German major |
| Lau Lauritzen | Toto |
| Preben Neergaard Preben Neergaard Preben Neergaard was a Danish stage and film actor.-Filmography:*Ungdommens rus - 1943*Vredens dag - 1943*Teatertosset - 1944*Elly Petersen - 1944*De røde enge - 1945*Diskret ophold - 1946... |
Prikken |
| Bjørn Watt-Boolsen Bjørn Watt-Boolsen Bjørn Watt-Boolsen was a Danish film actor. He appeared in 50 films between 1943 and 1998.He was born in Rudkøbing, Denmark and died in Denmark.-Selected filmography:* The Red Meadows... |
Tom |
| Preben Lerdorff Rye Preben Lerdorff Rye Preben Lerdorff Rye was a Danish film actor. He appeared in 92 films between 1941 and 1989.He was born and died in Denmark.-Filmography:* En ganske almindelig pige * Tante Cramers testamente... |
Alf |
| Freddy Koch Freddy Koch Freddy Koch was a Danish film actor. He appeared in 22 films between 1945 and 1976.He was born in Copenhagen, Denmark and died in Denmark.-Selected filmography:* Relax Freddie * Gøngehøvdingen... |
Dryer |
| Hjalmar Madsen | Hotel clerk |
| Bjørn Spiro Bjørn Spiro Bjørn Spiro was a Danish film actor. He appeared in 60 films between 1914 and 1972.He was born and died in Denmark.-Filmography:* Det hemmelighedsfulde X * 5 raske piger... |
German officer |
External links
- De røde enge at IMDb
- De røde enge at Den Danske Film Database
- De røde enge at Det Danske Filminstitut