Den 12. mann (2017)

After a less than impressive recent career making bad (and light) films, Zwart goes back to his native Norway to do something heavier. Does he succeed? Well, yes. But he does show a few shortcomings as well.

Let's start with Thomas Gullestad as he has to carry this flick, appearing in almost every single scene, and a lot of them alone. He went for broke here by losing dangerous amounts of weight to look the part. And he absolutely does. He excels at looking broken down, yet defiant and his deadpan deliveries along with his gritty smile in the face of hopelessness and endless enduring pain is pitch perfect. He lacks a bit at the outer edges of pain, and as he cuts off his own toes, you think of Ian McShane and how horrid that scene would have been with him in it.

There is no real supporting cast to speak of as most of the other characters have short parts, hence falling short of being interesting. None of them bad, some quite good, but still in too short periods of time to be of strong interest. By casting an Irishman as a German SS-officer, Zwart takes an unnecessary risk, but Rhys-Davies is quite all right. Here, however, Zwart's lack of quality shows. He provides no real meat for any of the characters, no apparent motivation. We're supposed to take it all on faith, which is fine, but it leaves a gaping hole where there should be some substance. And in that respect, some of the scenes suffers greatly. Particularly problematic for the part of Kurt Stage.

Where he makes Norwegians, and likely Baalsrud who died in 1988, proud, is in the portrayal of the selflessness of the population that Baalsrud encounters. With a real possibility of being shot as traitors for aiding him, all are willing to help, whether it be individuals or the community as a whole. Norwegians are quite proud of this part of history, and it will be an easy sell here.

He also excels at his portrayal of the sheer endurance of pain afflicted to our protagonist, making use of different filters, and slow-motion rather brilliantly. It's mesmerizingly horrible to think of the amount of strain put on Baalsrud throughout this ordeal, both physically and mentally. There is also lots of tension, particularly at the beginning and as a whole this is a rather excruciating film to watch. And I like to feel a bit exhausted after a film. It shows involvement.

So though hardly a classic it is the best movie Zwart has ever made, and it gives a sad little people forgotten in snow (Norwegians) a huge dose of national pride. And I suppose that will do.

7/10