Max Manus

Year: 2008
Country: NORWAY, DENMARK, GERMANY
Run Time: 118 minutes

Max Manus was a real-life action hero, a Norwegian resistance leader who sank so many German warships, blew up so many German planes, and kept Norwegian spirits so high during the Nazi occupation in World War II that he became a Norwegian institution. MAX MANUS is a big-budget war thriller and Norway's most popular film in years. At 25, Max is the kind of restless adventurer who volunteers to fight with Finland against the Soviet Union in brutal hand-to-hand combat. After the Nazi occupation of Norway in 1940, the Norwegian government in exile recruits saboteurs to harass the 400,000 German occupation troops. Max Manus is their man. The targets of Max's gang are the German ships in Oslo Harbor, and one of their most spectacular feats is the sinking of the 17,000-ton transport ship Donau. Successful though he is, Max is shattered at seeing his friends die all around him. Bitter at still being alive when they aren't, he takes to drink. Though Norway owes her new freedom to Max's heroic deeds, it will be a long time until he can celebrate. Aksel Hennie is compelling as the brooding and restless Max. (In Norwegian, German, and English with subtitles) – B.B.

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