War Sailor | |
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Norwegian | Krigsseileren |
Directed by | Gunnar Vikene |
Written by | Gunnar Vikene |
Produced by | Maria Ekerhovd |
Starring | |
Cinematography | Sturla Brandth Grøvlen |
Edited by |
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Music by | Volker Bertelmann |
Production companies |
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Release dates |
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Running time | 150 minutes |
Countries |
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Language | Norwegian |
Budget | $11.1m |
War Sailor (Norwegian : Krigsseileren) is a 2022 Norwegian war drama film directed by Gunnar Vikene. [1] [2] It is the most expensive Norwegian film ever made.
Based on the true stories of the 30,000 Norwegian civilian sailors who participated in the Allied convoys during the Second World War, it follows two best friends from Bergen, one married and the other unmarried, who, in 1939, join the Norwegian merchant marine and are forced to stay at sea for the duration of the war without any ability to communicate with their families in occupied Norway. In the meantime, the married sailor's wife and their three children endure a harsh life in occupied Bergen, which is also bombed by the Allies. The British politician and Nobel Peace Prize laureate of 1959, Philip Noel-Baker commented after the war, "The first great defeat for Hitler was the battle of Britain. It was a turning point in history. If we had not had the Norwegian fleet of tankers on our side, we would not have had the aviation spirit to put our Hawker Hurricanes and our Spitfires into the sky. Without the Norwegian merchant fleet, Britain and the allies would have lost the war". [3]
The film stars Kristoffer Joner, Pål Sverre Hagen and Ine Marie Wilmann. It was Norway's entry for Best International Feature at the 95th Academy Awards. [4]
War Sailor is a co-production of Rohfilm Factory and Studio Hamburg, Germany, and Falkun Films, Malta. It is the most expensive Norwegian feature film, with a budget of $11 million. [4] [5]
On 2 April 2023, the film was released on Netflix in the form of a three-part miniseries with an additional 30 minutes of runtime. [6] [7]
Bergen, historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. As of 2022, its population was roughly 289,330. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway after the national capital Oslo. The municipality covers 465 square kilometres (180 sq mi) and is located on the peninsula of Bergenshalvøyen. The city centre and northern neighbourhoods are on Byfjorden, 'the city fjord'. The city is surrounded by mountains, causing Bergen to be called the "city of seven mountains". Many of the extra-municipal suburbs are on islands. Bergen is the administrative centre of Vestland county. The city consists of eight boroughs: Arna, Bergenhus, Fana, Fyllingsdalen, Laksevåg, Ytrebygda, Årstad, and Åsane.
The Norwegian campaign involved the attempt by Allied forces to defend northern Norway coupled with the resistance of the Norwegian military to the country's invasion by Nazi Germany in World War II.
Johan Nordahl Brun Grieg was a Norwegian poet, novelist, dramatist, journalist and political activist. He was a popular author and a controversial public figure. He served in World War II as a war correspondent and was killed while covering a bombing mission to Berlin.
The Norwegian Shipping and Trade Mission (Nortraship) was established in London in April 1940 to administer the Norwegian merchant fleet outside German-controlled areas. Nortraship operated some 1,000 vessels and was the largest shipping company in the world. It made a major contribution to the Allied war effort.
Jonas Gahr Støre is a Norwegian politician who has served as the 36th and current Prime Minister of Norway since 2021. He has been Leader of the Labour Party since 2014. He served under Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2005 to 2012 and as Minister of Health and Care Services from 2012 to 2013. Støre has been a Member of the Storting for Oslo since 2009.
Captain Sabertooth is a long running series that centers on the eponymous pirate Captain Sabertooth, who was created and was originally portrayed by the Norwegian singer, composer, author and actor Terje Formoe. The series comprises several stage plays, theatrical films, a television series, cartoons, and books, all of which are aimed at small children.
Den Nationale Scene is the largest theatre in Bergen, Norway. Den Nationale Scene is also one of the oldest permanent theatres in Norway.
Dark Woods is a 2003 Norwegian thriller/horror film directed by Pål Øie. The tagline—"De skulle holdt seg unna det vannet"—translates to "They should've stayed away from that lake".
Bjørn Floberg is a Norwegian actor of film, television and theatre. He is particularly noted for playing unsympathetic authority figures, but he has also had success playing other types of roles.
Tore Vagn Lid is a Norwegian theatre director, playwright, musician, academic researcher and artistic director of Transiteatret-Bergen. Tore Vagn Lid holds a professorship in Norwegian University of Science and Technology. and was professor in Directing and Dramaturgy at Oslo National Academy of the Arts (2012-2021). In 2018 Tore Vagn Lid was a guest professor in Dramaturgy at the Institute of Theatre- Film- and Media Science at Goethe University Frankfurt He earned a PhD from the Institute for Applied Theatre Studies in Giessen, Germany. Central in what is seen as a new political turn in the contemporary Norwegian theater. He has also written numerous articles, especially focusing on the relationship between theater and music, music dramaturgy, directing and artistic research.
Odd-Magnus Williamson is a Norwegian comedian and actor. He is known to Norwegian television audiences for his recurring appearance in commercials for the grocery chain ICA and his performance on the Norwegian version of The Man Show.
Gaute Storaas is a Norwegian jazz musician (bass) and composer, and the older brother of jazz pianist Vigleik Storaas.
Skomvær was the name of a steel-hulled barque built in 1890 for J. C. & G. Knudsen in Porsgrunn, Telemark, Norway. The ship, which was designed by naval architect Randulf Hansen and constructed at Laxevaags Maskin- og Jernskibsbyggeri in Bergen, was the first sailing ship constructed with steel in Norway and for a time the largest Norwegian sailing vessel ever built. However, the ship struggled to compete in the 20th century with the advent of the steamship, and in 1924 she was decommissioned and sold for scrap.
Margit Johnsen Godø,, nicknamed Malta-Margit, was a Norwegian sailor in the merchant navy. For her service on a merchant vessel in convoy to Malta in 1942 she was awarded the St. Olav's Medal with Oak Branch and several other gallantry decorations. Johnsen continued her work in the Norwegian merchant fleet until 1960. Her story is told in maritime and wartime history as an example of Norwegian women's effort during World War II.
Krigsseilerregisteret is a Norwegian website whose purpose is to create a register of all Norwegian sailors and ships that sailed in the period 1939 to 1945 for the neutral countries, for Nortraship, the Norwegian Domestic Fleet, the Royal Norwegian Navy, Allied and neutral merchant ships and in Allied navies. The website is still under preparation. The register/website is in Norwegian and English.
Nobel is a 2016 Norwegian television series that premiered on NRK on 25 September 2016. It depicts Norway’s military involvement in Afghanistan. It was produced by Monster Scripted for the Norwegian broadcaster NRK and was broadcast under the title Nobel – fred for enhver pris. The series under the title Nobel was made available on Netflix for streaming on 13 December 2016. Nobel was subsequently removed from Netflix in November 2020.
Anne Sewitsky is a Norwegian film director. Her 2010 film Happy, Happy was selected as the Norwegian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 84th Academy Awards, but did not make the final shortlist. In 2015, her film Homesick was one of three films shortlisted by Norway to be their submission for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film at the 88th Academy Awards, but it lost out to The Wave.
SS Hestmanden is a Norwegian steamer, which since 2017 is the travelling museum ship Norsk krigsseilermuseum. Hestmanden is the only preserved cargo ship that has sailed in convoys during both World War I and World War II. It is the only remaining ship of the more than 1,000 that were part of the Nortraship fleet during World War II, and therefore represents a central part of Norway's war history and maritime history. Called "the lucky ship", as it survived convoys in two world wars, Hestmanden is considered Norway's most valuable veteran ship.
Gunnar Vikene is a Norwegian film director and scriptwriter. His films include Falling Sky from 2002, and War Sailor from 2022. He received an Amanda Award in 2010 for the film Vegas, and a Gullruten award in 2018 for the television series Grenseland.