'War Sailor' Ending Explained: Traumatized by war and betrayal, Alfred reunites with his family after years
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: 'War Sailor' dropped on Netflix today and provided the audience with a great cinematic experience. The movie-turned-series revolves around the story of two best friends Alfred and Sigbjørn, as they become irreversibly changed by the war. The series is separated into chapters, segregated by time jumps that are often fast-forwarded by a year. There is intensity in the script, the fear of war, and living with the idea that their next mission will be their last.
The lead character, Alfred was directly based on a real person whom the writer and director, Gunnar Vikene met years earlier and never forgot. Understandably, Vikene has spent years collecting these untold stories of violence and courage and transforming them into a cinematic masterpiece that narrates the story of more than 9,500 Norwegian citizens who died during WWII. The cast is phenomenal and the cinematography is noteworthy. The music score of the mini-series keeps you on your toes and the intensity of silences between the characters becomes delectable to watch.
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A tale of lost connection and rumored death
As Alfred and Sigbjørn set sailing the sea, they overcome many things, from violence to getting food from the people who attacked and sunk their ship. While these things happen in the background, Alfred tries to never lose his humanity and keeps on protecting teenagers from getting killed to help people to escape. One day, Alfred's wife gets false news that her husband is dead, his ship was torpedoed and so he is assumed dead. Cecilia keeps surviving and hoping for her husband to miraculously come back, while also living with the idea that one day she and her kids might die. When the story reaches the third and final episode of the mini-series, many questions are answered and the intensity of every character's emotions is quite tangible. The time jumps to 1947, the war has ended, and people are living in peace.
The camera turns to a little white house in the middle of the woods, and a woman who is later identified as Cecilia is seen working on a sewing machine. There is a knock at the door and Cecilia asks her daughter Hanna to see who it is. There is silence from Hanna's end, confused Cecilia walks towards the door to see Sigbjørn standing. He comes in, and everyone in the room is shocked, considering they thought both Alfred and Sigbjørn has died at sea. Sigbjørn starts to live with Alfred's family and tells Cecilia that he is in process of finding a job and as soon as he finds one, he'll be on his way.
One day, Sigbjørn gets a letter, and upon reading it, the facial expression on his face changes. Later, Sigbjørn tells Cecilia that Alfred has been found and is in Singapore and that he will be traveling there to bring him back. Sigbjørn sets on a journey and finds Alfred having melted into the opium dens of the Far East after hearing that Bergen, a city in Norway, had been bombed to blazes. Rescued by Sigbjorn, he finds himself not only unpaid and unrecognized by the Norwegian authorities but branded a deserter.
Norway’s most expensive film
By the end of the movie, Alfred is struggling to live each day, as it seems like his family despises him and wants Sigbjørn to be with them instead. As soon as you read the emotions on each character's face, another time jump transports the audience into the year 1978, a little boy gives his grandpa a birthday gift, while an old woman and a middle-aged woman decorate a cake. Upon further discovery, the old man turns out to be Alfred, and the women in the scene are Cecilia and her daughter Hanna, while the little boy is Hanna's son. The scene changes to Sigbjørn visiting Alfred one last time, while they discuss their lives and the atrocities they went through together. The film ends as Sigbjørn walks out the door, leaving a teary-eyed Alfred behind.
'War Sailor' is now exclusively available to watch on Netflix.
