Tis the season for big World War II pictures from Scandinavia, apparently, with Norway's big budget Max Manus following close on the heels of Denmark's massive hit drama Flame and Citron. Like Flame, Max is based on the life of an actual resistance fighter working against the Nazi occupation of his home country but while Flame took a very serious approach to its material - at times veering just a touch into history lesson territory - Max Manus is based on a series of novelizations about its character's life and so it appears to have felt free to take a bit more of an action-adventure approach to the material while still treating it with the respect it deserves.
The film is based on the true story of the resistance fighter Max Manus, and follows Max from the outbreak of World War II until the summer of peace 1945. After having fought against the Russians during the Winter War in Finland, Max returns to a Norway occupied by the Germans. Very soon he joins the active resistance movement, and becomes one of the most important members of the so-called Oslo Gang, led by Gunnar Sønsteby. Among other activities, they carry out spectacular raids against German ships in Oslo harbour. Maybe the most well-known attack was the sinking of the slave ship Donau.
Aksel Hennie, for my mind one of the finest actors of his generation in the entire world, takes the lead role and you can see him in action - and acting in English, local producers take note - in the brand new theatrical trailer. We've got it along with the earlier teaser in the ScreenAnarchy Player below the break.