Narvik: Hitler’s First Defeat (2022)

 

                Netflix recently offered this movie for streaming.  It has gotten some good word of mouth and managed to reach the top ten of Netflix’s streamed movies.  With the success of “All Quiet on the Western Front”, we can expect to see more foreign movies being offered by the streaming giant.  This is a good thing, but quantity does not always mean quality.  The film is a Norwegian production directed by Erik Skjoldbjaerg.  It covers the Battle of Narvik, which took place during the German invasion of Norway in April-May, 1940.  The Norwegians had little to be proud of in this campaign. One of the bright spots was the recapture of this important port.  As background, the movie explains that Norway was crucial to the German war effort because it got 85% of its iron ore from Sweden via Norway.  Much of those imports came through Narvik.

                It seems that Narvik was not aware of its importance and that it was a prime target because it was ill-prepared for an attack.  A Norwegian unit arrives the night before the attack, but there is no sense of urgency.  Corp. Gunnar Tofte (Carl Eggsgo) is allowed to go home for a quick visit because it is his son’s birthday.  He returns just in time for a Mexican standoff with recently landed German infantry on a pier.  His Norwegian commander, Col. Sundlo, avoids bloodshed by backing down.  Maj. Omdal is appalled and leads the unit out of town to a railway bridge which he intends to blow up.  Gunnar is put in charge of setting the charges.  Meanwhile, Gunnar’s wife Ingrid (Kristine Hartgen) is being forced to act as an interpreter for the Germans.  She is secretly aiding two British officials who were negotiating with the Germans until the Germans decided enough with the talking.  She manages to steal a map to let Maj. Omdal know where the German artillery positions are located.  However, she ends up as a collaborator.  Gunnar is captured, but is in the right place at the right time when a French force attacks the German trench that he has brought ammunition to.  He rejoins his unit and is heroic in the capture of a strategic hill.  He will be reunited with Ingrid when their home town is liberated.

                The movie takes a two-track approach by following Ingrid and Gunnar.  For you action lovers, be aware that 70% of the plot focuses on Ingrid.  Both characters battle adversity and they are clearly personifications of what Norwegian civilians and soldiers went through.  Well, Gunnar may not be a stereotype because he sees victory.  That’s more than most Norwegian soldiers could identify with.  Gunnar’s father plays a significant role as a Norwegian who greatly underestimates the Germans.  Major Omdal stands in for all the Norwegian leaders who refused to cave in to German demands to surrender without a fight.  He is definitely a fighter. The only German character who is developed is the man Ingrid interprets for.  Oddly, Consul Wussow is not a hissworthy Nazi.  He treats Ingrid well with only a hint of flirtation.  If this is the only movie you watch about the German invasion of Narvik, don’t assume he is a typical German. 

The Battle of Narvik was a rare bright spot in the defense of Norway.  It is no wonder it was chosen for a movie treatment.  Unfortunately, if you are not Norwegian, you will find it to be a very micro approach to the war.  The film leads with good background title cards about the situation before the war.  We learn the importance of Norway and specifically Narvik, but we learn little of what is happening in the rest of the country.  The title can be a bit deceiving because it implies the Battle of Narvik was the first victory of many.  In reality, the Battle of Narvik was virtually the only land victory for the Allies.  And the movie does not make it clear that it was a temporary victory.  It ends with a sappy, unrealistic conclusion to the rough few weeks that the Tofte family faced.

                The movie is dominated by Gunnar and Ingrid.  Ingrid’s is the more compelling story as she is faced to make a decision that will impact her family and friends.  It is a role that viewers can imagine themselves in her shoes and wonder what they would do.  I think most viewers won’t fault her decisions, although Gunnar does.  Gunnar’s arc is more of a standard war movie hero.  He risks his life to blow up the bridge.  He gets captured and enslaved.  He joins the French in clearing out a trench.  He sneakily takes out a German machine gun nest and a German artillery piece.  The combat scenes are good, but brief.  They are not graphic and do not attempt to immerse the viewer in the tumult of battle like many war movies since “Saving Private Ryan”.  The problem with Gunnar is we meet him as a soldier who goes AWOL and last see him as a deserter.  In between, he is heroic.  I think the screenwriter did not intend those bookends to be self-defeating, but the “happy ending” is whiplashing.  Eggsbo and Hartgen are satisfactory in their roles. 

                As far as history, the movie is too superficial and has too many time jumps of sometimes weeks to be good history.  In doing my research, I immediately determined that the real screen-worthy incidents associated with the Battle of Narvik were the ass-kicking naval battles between German and British destroyers.  The movie only alludes to these melees.  There was a Col. Sundlo who shamefully surrendered without a fight.  His unit did refuse to lay down their arms and proceeded out of the city to defend a railway bridge.  However, that unit was taken by surprise by the Germans and abandoned the position.  I saw no reference to blowing the bridge.  As far as the trench battle and the hill assault.  The Norwegians were joined by Allies, one of which was the French as seen in the film.  I found no information about the hill battle.  Gunnar is not based on a real person.  The city did fall fairly easily because the Allies had a force of over 24,000 facing only about 5,000 Germans.  The film has the Germans bombing the city, but it is a small force of German bombers.  In reality, the city is going to be bombed into rubble.

                I must admit I was disappointed in this movie.  It is nothing special.  The only thing I can recommend about it is it does have an interesting female character, so it is a decent war chick flick.  Fans of war movies should find it a decent time-waster.  It is more aimed at your average movie fan.  The same people who fawn over the new “All Quiet…”

GRADE  =  C