The War Sailor
A bruising epic of WWII conflict and its lingering psychological toll
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Original title
Krigsseileren
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Year
2022
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Country
Norge, Tyskland, Malta
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Duration
150 min.
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Language
Norsk
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Director
Gunnar Vikene
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Screenwriter
Gunnar Vikene
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Cast
Kristoffer Joner, Pål Sverre Hagen, Ine Marie Wilmann
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When German submarines attack their merchant ship at the outbreak of WWII, two Norwegian sailors try to survive, hoping to see their families ever again.
Alfred Garnes is a working-class sailor, who has recently become the father of a third child. He and his childhood friend Sigbjørn Kvalen (Wally) are working on a merchant ship in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean when World War II breaks out.
They are unarmed civilians on the front lines of a war they never asked to join. The two men struggle for survival in a spiral of violence and death, where at any moment German submarines may attack their valuable vessels. The war sailors have one goal: to survive – and to return home.
Meanwhile, Alfred’s wife Cecilia struggles through the war alone in Bergen, raising three children on her own, not knowing whether she will ever see Alfred again. When British aircrafts attempt to bomb the German submarine bunker in Bergen, they instead hit the primary school at Laksevåg and civilian homes at Nøstet, resulting in hundreds of civilian deaths. When the news reaches Alfred and Wally in Canada, they wonder if they have anything left at home to return to.
«Krigsseileren er en vond og viktig film som har både det gode manuset, det solide skuespillet og den visuelle gjennomslagskraften til å matche sine intensjoner.»
«Krigsseileren er en fantastisk flott film, som på alle vis står seg godt på egne bein.»
«Det lammende, klaustrofobiske og ødeleggende blir naturlig nok visuelle "høydepunkter" underveis. Samtidig er ikke Vikene redd for å hvile ved det intime, ved dialogen og til og med det humoristiske og det dagligdagse i de stille lommene i tiden som naturlig oppstår selv i en krig.»