Max Manus: Man of War
All actors and roles (10)
All team (31)
Short description
Max Manus: Man of War is a Norwegian biographical war film about the real resistance fighter Max Manus. After volunteering to fight on the Finnish side in the Winter War against the Soviet Union, he returns to a Norway occupied by German forces in 1940. Refusing to remain passive, he joins the resistance, first printing and distributing leaflets, then taking part in sabotage operations against the German occupiers. He becomes a leading member of the Oslo group, and the film follows him through the war years until the peace of 1945.
The film was directed by Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg, their second feature after Bandidas and the second entry in the directing partnership's filmography. Aksel Hennie plays Max Manus, with Agnes Kittelsen as Ida Nikoline Lindebrække, Nicolai Cleve Broch as Gregers Gram, Christian Rubeck as Kolbein Lauring and Kyrre Haugen Sydness as Jens Christian Hauge. Thomas Nordseth-Tiller wrote the screenplay, and the film was produced across Norway, Denmark and Germany on a budget of about 7 million USD.
Audience response has been solid: on IMDb it holds 7.3/10 from around 31,000 votes, while on TMDB it stands at 7.1/10 from roughly 289 votes. A critics' rating of 6.6/10 from 34 reviews places it somewhat below the audience scores, indicating a more reserved professional reception than the broadly positive viewer reaction.
What's left behind the scenes
- The plot of the film is based on the story of Max Manus, one of the prominent figures of the Norwegian resistance movement, who was awarded the highest Norwegian state honors. He was born on December 9, 1914, in Bergen, Norway, and died on September 20, 1996, in Spain. The film is based on two of his autobiographical books, recollections of other eyewitnesses, and other historical documents.
- With a budget of over 50 million kroner (almost $8 million), the film became the most expensive project in the history of Norwegian cinema. In its opening weekend, it broke the record for Norwegian films in the national box office, eventually becoming the first such film to be seen by over 1 million viewers in Norway.
- More than 1800 extras and approximately 2000 members of the film crew and other support staff were involved in the filming. For greater realism, certain districts of the Norwegian capital were transformed to resemble the mid-1940s, and several other large sets were built in Stockholm, Sweden.
- The premiere of the film, held in a solemn atmosphere, was attended by King Harald V of Norway and 90-year-old Gunnar Sønsteby, one of the members of the Resistance movement – the only member of Max Manus’ group to live to see the film premiere, whose role was played by Knut Jøner. Both Gunnar Sønsteby and Max Manus’ widow, Tikken Manus, spoke very warmly about the film and its authenticity.
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