Okay first of all: No, of course Erna Jensen doesn't look like a man. Foreby, I haven't read the book and I don't know if she has masculine features in the written story, but I really don't see the logic in it, if that's the case, that would have been unoriginal I feel.
BUT - if we see past that, we'll see that this movie is mainly about a woman who would do ANYTHING for her son Kalle, who she has sworn to protect for as long as she lives! A woman who keeps a promise she made a long time ago and worries about the struggles her son would have in war because of his mental disabilities. And yes, this should fail from the get go, but Erna does what she must and at first has the "protection" (but who are we kidding, he just wanted a place to put his sausage, if you know what I mean) of Meier, and has no choice but to trust this man, who she knows better than the rest of the batallion, because they are from the same town. When that fails, she finds that motherly superpower most mothers have, although her son ends up saving her. But, the main topic of this movie is: a mother's unconditional and unmeasureable love for her child! And yes, she doesn't look like a man, and most of the army knows it, (heck, she was SO CLOSE to being caught) but she does not want her son dead, and this period in time ( and much later too actually - speaking from family experiences) did not see this group(mental disabled people) as people, and in this case, they just needed every man who could stand and run and had arms to shoot with a gun.
But I feel it's wrong to judge the movie solely on the assumption that Erna is supposed to look like a man, or that this role was not meant for a certain actress. I think Trine Dyrholm is brilliant as always and so is Anders Berthelsen - they are excellent in this story. The only reason I give this movie 9 and not 10 stars, is because I am unsatified that we don't see her child get born, but I have researched online and Erling Jepsen has written another book, hopefully this one will also be turned into a movie, and we hear more about the next generation I hope :D.
BUT - if we see past that, we'll see that this movie is mainly about a woman who would do ANYTHING for her son Kalle, who she has sworn to protect for as long as she lives! A woman who keeps a promise she made a long time ago and worries about the struggles her son would have in war because of his mental disabilities. And yes, this should fail from the get go, but Erna does what she must and at first has the "protection" (but who are we kidding, he just wanted a place to put his sausage, if you know what I mean) of Meier, and has no choice but to trust this man, who she knows better than the rest of the batallion, because they are from the same town. When that fails, she finds that motherly superpower most mothers have, although her son ends up saving her. But, the main topic of this movie is: a mother's unconditional and unmeasureable love for her child! And yes, she doesn't look like a man, and most of the army knows it, (heck, she was SO CLOSE to being caught) but she does not want her son dead, and this period in time ( and much later too actually - speaking from family experiences) did not see this group(mental disabled people) as people, and in this case, they just needed every man who could stand and run and had arms to shoot with a gun.
But I feel it's wrong to judge the movie solely on the assumption that Erna is supposed to look like a man, or that this role was not meant for a certain actress. I think Trine Dyrholm is brilliant as always and so is Anders Berthelsen - they are excellent in this story. The only reason I give this movie 9 and not 10 stars, is because I am unsatified that we don't see her child get born, but I have researched online and Erling Jepsen has written another book, hopefully this one will also be turned into a movie, and we hear more about the next generation I hope :D.