'War Sailor' Review: Compelling Norwegian tale depicts WWII and its everlasting psychological effect
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: There have been many historical dramas that perfectly describe the agony and distress people at war experienced. 'War Sailor' or 'Krigsseileren' in Norwegian is a portrayal of experience from many perspectives. The writer-director, Gunnar Vikene, has done a phenomenal job in creating a character drama that happens in the middle of war while focusing mostly on how the characters are changed by the atrocities over the years. The main theme might come out as the tale of two best friends stuck at sea in the middle of ongoing World War 2, but the actual theme is the idea of how the persona of the characters change through the years and how they get accustomed to life after WWII, living at sea and going through PTSD.
The best part of the movie is the back-and-forth between the battles happening at sea and the internal battle happening within their family back home. The general idea of Vikene seems like he wanted to show that a soldier isn't the only person suffering, but their family is suffering too. 'War Sailor' consists of Kristoffer Joner as Alfred, Pål Sverre Hagen as Sigbjørn, Ine Marie Wilmann as Cecilia, Henrikke Lund Olsen as Magdeli, and Armand Hannestad as William.
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Untold part of World War II history
The Norwegian war drama movie 'War Sailor' first debuted at the Norwegian International Film Festival in August 2022, then premiered at other international film festivals in the same year. Later, Netflix took the rights to the movie and created a limited series. The war movie premiered today on Netflix and is a phenomenal work of art that takes you through an untold part of World War 2 history. The story is of two Norwegian best friends and sailors - married stalwart Alfred (Kristoffer Joner) and free spirit Sigbjørn (Pål Sverre Hagen). The lead characters are seen struggling for work and want to make money for their family to survive. Keeping that in mind, the two best friends join merchant marine work in 1939. The movie is set between the years 1939 to 1947. The timeline is months before Nazis would occupy Norway, and although the duo knows the sea would be a risky business, they don't expect to get caught up in the fight.
If you've ever watched scenes from 1800s British war films, you might know that during the war, commercial ships were forced to become military ships and to fight with them. And this thing continued during World War II. Hence, as risky as it was to travel by sea during an ongoing war, the duo Alfred and Sigbjørn plan to join merchant marine work either way. While at sea, the duo gets forced to join the Allied Forces and transport explosives across the ocean.
Narrating the story of Alfred's family back home
War films often tell a story of an individual at war and how they change throughout the years. While the perspective never steers from the lead in some movies, 'War Sailor' narrates the story of Alfred's family who is going through a war of their own. Cecilia, Alfred's wife uses her husband’s wages to care for and raise their children, including a newborn. She tries to survive in hopes that Sigbjørn will keep his promise to her, to protect her husband. The narration is phenomenal, it's emotional, and frightening and perfectly keeps you in the shoes of the characters and makes you think about all those people who were at war and experience what all they went through while trying to survive each day.
While Alfred and Sigbjørn are in the middle of a war at sea, Cecilia and the kids are surviving in hopes of Alfred returning, while surrounded by dead bodies, gunfire, and violence. As the years pass, the bond between Alfred and Sigbjørn fades, and their personality changes from being hopeful to being mentally defeated. Alfred becomes more violent, while PTSD rules over him. And free-spirited Sigbjørn becomes a person in need of stability. With great cinematography and an even better music score, 'War Sailor' comes out as a tribute film to all Norwegians who lost their lives during WWII. The movie is segregated into 3 episodes, which will come out as slow, but is totally worth the watch. All in all, 'War Sailor' should be on your watchlist as it is now available to watch exclusively on Netflix.