For any Norwegian familiar with the major events of the 20th century in the country's History, the battle of Narvik is all but an obscure reference. It is already a widely famous event even before films like this one. As such, Kampen om Narvik could not even claim to tell the story of a very obscure, yet how decisive battle for a Norwegian audience: the Norwegian audience is very much aware already! It cannot pretend either it was not intending to be the new national blockbuster following the great "Max Manus" (2008), having seen its release postponed over and over again for 2 years, undoubtedly so as to ensure an optimal attendance (its budget was approximately 80 million NOK, about 8 million US dollars, which is A LOT for a film in a language spoken by only a little over 5 millions).
The result? A disappointing film where it is unclear if the goal was to tell the story of the historical event or a local family's story and dilemmas. Either way, none of these goals was achieved as the movie doesn't seem to be doing either fully.
For starter, the events and chronology of the fierce battle were heavily truncated, oversimplified and illustrated in a way that truly couldn't hide the budget limitations. We get to see half a dozen of French soldiers in the tiny, messy and uncoordinated skirmishes depicted but where are the remaining 25994 soldiers of the Allied expeditionary troops? Where are the Germans, retreating nearly to the Swedish border, close to a total collapse at the moment of the sudden troop withdrawal (Operation Alphabet) caused by the news of the invasion of France, with the German commander fleeing to a tiny house just a couple kilometers away from the Swedish border, which they would have had to cross soon enough and surrender? That's the kind of stories worth telling. And guess what, that battle was full of them, and they are not even expensive scenes.
Last but not least, the film's main characters: the Tofte family. Here too, we have a problem. Several bold choices were made, but none of them was fully assumed. Interesting dilemmas (collaboration for one's family's sake, active resistance, the impossibility to forgive a terrible act committed by someone dear...) were erased and rendered null by nextcoming scene. Difficult, also, to really feel concerned by some of these characters' wherabouts and misadventures as very little emotion transpires on the actors' faces, which can maybe be true to the Northern Norwegian fierce attitude at the time, being used to having to deal with a very harsh lifestyle, but is also certainly truly difficult to relate to for the audience.
Bottom line, I had great expectations for this historical event many books have been written about and knew its potential for film adaptation. Alas, I must say that a good depiction of the events still remains to be made to this day.
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