This film is part of Free
Men of Norway
A shipment of dried cod bound for Germany is sprayed with kerosene by a young Norwegian in one of the more inventive acts of anti-Nazi sabotage from this gripping film.
Overview
A group of Norwegians stage a daring escape across the North Sea in the dramatic centrepiece of this Academy Award-nominated March of Time report from 1941. The sighting of a surfacing submarine provides a genuine moment of nail-biting tension. Various forms of resistance, from setting up of shortwave radio transmitters to digging up railway lines are shown in recreated sequences which vividly depict the inventiveness and bravery of the young people of Nazi-occupied Norway.
A perfectly pitched blend of reconstructed scenes and genuine footage combined with an informative commentary - characterised by the nonchalant humour of the Norwegian speaker - earned this March of Time issue a deserved Academy Award nomination. The depiction of a raid on a Nazi radio station and oil refinery features authentic film of Nazis being rounded-up and blindfolded, adding a note of real-life drama to the reconstructed sequences and boosting morale at the same time. One of the nicest features of the film is the prominence of Scandinavian knitwear featuring snowflakes, deer and trees: an unofficial uniform wholly in line with the self-deprecating bravery of the Norwegian resistance itself.
Related
Private Life of the Gannets Private Life of the Gannets
Documentary 1934 14 mins Location: Pembroke/Penfro
The marginal lives of a breeding colony of gannets on the isolated Pembrokeshire island of Grassholm
Giuseppina Giuseppina
Drama 1959 32 mins
Short film by James Hill about a girl who works in her father's rural Italian petrol station and her longing to escape.
London Can Take It! London Can Take It!
Documentary 1940 9 mins Location: London
Humphrey Jennings and Harry Watt’s famous GPO film is an enduring example of British self-mythology; a hymn to London’s resilience that helped persuade America to join the war.
Prelude to Victory Prelude to Victory
Documentary 1943 18 mins
Nominated for an Oscar, this film dramatically depicts the carefully plotted invasion which took Hitler by surprise and led to the defeat of Axis powers in Africa.
China O'Brien: The Reunion China O'Brien: The Reunion
Documentary 2024 60 mins
Cynthia Rothrock, Richard Norton and Keith Cooke reunite three decades on from the groundbreaking martial arts classic.
Women in Action Panel Discussion Women in Action Panel Discussion
Inside Film 2024 28 mins
Action Xtreme - the UK's leading action film studio - hosts this panel discussion with four leading women in action cinema - Soo Cole, Jo Rolison, Jadey Duffield and Ioanna Karavela.
Starve Acre - Exclusive Q&A Starve Acre - Exclusive Q&A
Short interview 2024 24 mins
Daniel Kokotajlo talks to Nia Childs about Starve Acre, his folk horror about a couple digging deep into grief in the heart of the Yorkshire Dales.
Sky Peals - Exclusive Q&A Sky Peals - Exclusive Q&A
Short interview 2024 30 mins
Sky Peals director Moin Hussain and lead actor Faraz Ayub talk to Tomisin Adepeju about their magic realist drama.
Inside the Archive: The Early Films of Michael Powell Inside the Archive: The Early Films of Michael Powell
Documentary 2024 42 mins
Documentary exploring the BFI National Archive’s role in rediscovering and remastering the early films of Michael Powell.
Inside the Archive: The Riviera Revels Inside the Archive: The Riviera Revels
Short documentary 2024 12 mins
Bryony Dixon, curator of silent film at the BFI national archive, explores the origins of a series of comic travelogues, and Michael Powell's involvement in making them.