"The Norwegian tankers are as important to the Battle of the Atlantic as the Spitfires were to the Battle of Britain."
- Sir Philip Noel-BakerWow, this surprised me a lot.
Excellently directed drama about the challenges met by the 30.000 members of the Norwegian Merchant Fleet under WW2 and the repercussions faced afterwards. It also highlights what growing up in occupied Bergen must’ve been like.
The first half plays out adjacent to
Dunkirk and the second half is really introspective and almost Bergman-esque in its direction. The camerawork, especially the handheld long shots are spectacular and the editing was superb - a level of realism I admire and that these stories deserve, a truly brutal depiction. The pacing is really good for a movie with this long of a runtime and the set designs are really good for the budget. For a Norwegian production it’s surprising how well made it is.
The acting might be the best past.
Kristoffer Joner who might just be the best Norwegian actor working today puts on an incredibly powerful performance.
Pål Sverre Hagen as well, incredible. Same for the rest of the cast.
Some nitpicks..The cgi isn’t what you would call great.. it lacks especially under the more battle heavy scenes, not that many of those thankfully. The Bergen dialect is really distinctive, in the same way the Boston accent is too Americans,I suppose. And for a Norwegian audience Pål Sverre Hagen doesn’t fool anybody with that accent.. an international audience will probably not notice that though.
Overall,This is an all time Great War movie but also a truly amazing look into the parallels between family, camaraderie and mental illness.
Highly recommend this. 
