Inspired by the true world war II story.
2012-03-09
N/A
104 min
Based on a true story. On 27 April 1940, Luftwaffe pilot Horst Schopis' Heinkel 111 bomber is shot down near Grotli by an RAF Blackburn Skua L2940 fighter, which then crash-lands. The surviving German and English crew members begin to shoot at each other, but later find themselves huddled up in the same cabin. In order to survive the harsh winter in the Norwegian wilderness, they have to stand together. An unlikely, lifelong friendship blossoms.
I started watching this with some trepidation. It really does smack of a made-for-television movie with a production that is very heavily reliant on some not very distinguished CGI. The narrative, though, is quite strong and the acting delivers well enough as we discover the true story of a dogfight that sees both crews stranded in the snowy Norwegian wilderness. Forced to share an handily located log cabin, the initially hostile crews have to learn to tolerate and co-operate with each other as the hostile Arctic winter creates a perilous and claustrophobic environment for all. I was probably half way in before I realised that "Gunner Smith" actually was Rupert Grint, and he is probably the only cast member I had heard of, but David Kross ("Schwartz") and Florian Lukas ("Schopis") also work quite well to create an effective atmosphere as they vie for the best end of their hut. Their arguments about the merits of the war gradually start to become replaced by the realisation that they have much more in common than keeping them apart and in the end - and that denouement is never really in doubt - we see a fitting conclusion. This is a story about human endurance, but it is also about just how ordinary people can be indoctrinated, and equally how by association, they can use their own common sense and decency to over-ride this catechesis. This punches somewhat above it's weight, and is a great deal better than I was expecting. Maybe a bit too long, but worth a watch.
