When World War II broke out, over 30,000 Norwegian merchant marines were roped into serving the allied forces- though without the benefit of ammunition, infrastructure or combat training.
The film Krigsseileren—War Sailor—illustrates through narrated letters the agonizing struggles of a working-class sailor and his family as they are separated during the war.
Kristoffer Joner, previously in The Wave, stars as Alfred “Freddy” Garnes. His best friend Sigbjørn “Wally” Kvalvåg is played by Pål Sverre Hagen, known for portraying Thor Heyerdahl in another watery picture, Kon-Tiki. Ine Marie Wilmann, appearing as Alfred’s wife Cecilia, recently starred in the Netflix original film, Troll.
Freddy initially takes a job to support his growing family, but once conscripted, he and buddy Wally have two goals: to evade German submarine attacks and make it home alive. At the same time, Cecilia is embattled in occupied Norway with three young children, wondering as missiles rain on Bergen whether her husband will ever return.
Within the Norwegian dialogue, there are a variety of coastal accents from the Bergen, Stavanger and Sunnmøre areas. Choose from captions in Norwegian bokmål, English or several other languages. Be forewarned: this is not an easy watch. It is a movie showing the violence of war, and since these are sailors, there will be swearing! The series is rated TV-MA for mature audiences.
Director Gunnar Vikene says that War Sailor is about the consequences that warfare has on everyday people, a universal narrative in which war is the antagonist. After meeting several krigsseilerne as a teenager and hearing about their traumatic experiences followed by scant recognition for their efforts, Vikene decided to bring their tales to the screen.
This movie about bravery, friendship and adversity was a hit in Norwegian theaters and became a mini-series for its American Netflix debut. Though the characters are fictional, the storyline is a distillation of true accounts by Norwegian war sailors and their families.
The heroics of the war sailors were largely overshadowed, but decorated war veteran Gunnar Sønsteby was quoted as saying that the war sailors’ efforts truly made a difference in the duration of the war. Sir Philip Noel Baker, the 1959 Nobel Peace Prize recipient stated that “Without the Norwegian merchant fleet, England and the allies would have lost.”
War Sailor is Norway’s most expensive film production to date, costing 110 million kroner (10.5 million dollars). Dagbladet.no calls the film a “Must-see,” p3.no gave it a dice roll 5 and IMDB.com gave it 7.5 out of 10 stars.
Watch the trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7d8XrBtTRE4
View War Sailor on Netflix in North America: https://www.netflix.com/title/81643922