The 12th Man
This breathtaking action adventure tells an incredible true-life story of heroism and a man's unbreakable will to live. Norway, 1943: after a failed anti-Nazi sabotage mission leaves his eleven comrades dead, Norwegian resistance fighter Jan Baalsrud (Thomas Gullestad) finds himself on the run from the Gestapo through the snowbound Arctic reaches of Scandinavia. It's a harrowing journey across unforgiving, frozen wilderness that will stretch on for months—and force Jan to take extreme action in order to survive. With gut-punching realism and vivid psychological immediacy, director Harold Zwart pays tribute to one man's extraordinary courage—and to the everyday heroes who helped him along the way. Jonathan Rhys-Meyers costars.
Finally @glassteat
This film is based upon one of my favorite books, (English translation) We Die Alone. I read it years ago—my boyfriend at the time had an old paperback copy. It was out of print, so he xeroxed the entire book so I could have a copy as well. Lost the boyfriend, but I still have it, 34 years later. I’ve been hoping for a film of this incredible story. I knew it would be hard to film in a compelling way, because the protagonist is helpless through much of the events. I even wondered if it was filmable. The 12th Man does not disappoint. This film succeeds by playing up the cat and mouse search for Jan and the drama of the angry and incredulous Kurt Stage in his search. The director uses flashbacks, hallucinations that seem convincingly real, and he follows the actions of those patriots who put themselves at great risk to help Jan. All these choices keep us interested. The cinematography is beautiful, and the acting wonderful. The landscape of Norway becomes a character itself. The true story and the film remind us that ordinary people can be extraordinary. The film is not emotionally overwrought. One of the best moments in the film is conveyed with only the flicker of a smile. Thank you to all those who brought this amazing story to film.
my pulse can come back down now @offmymeds
this is a simply amazing story. it's so well done and structured so well, you are on edge through the entire movie. and on top of that, you know this actually HAPPENED to this man. see this movie. if i could give it more stars, i would.
Wow.. @Chuck812
Wow..incredible true story of survival against overwhelming odds when the Nazis were looking night and day for him. Beyond endurance... watch this!
Beautiful independent film! @Autopilot210
I enjoyed this movie very much. You feel attached to each of these actors especially the main character it feels as if you where there each step of the way telling him keep going.
An unbelieve tale from actual events, magnificently portraid on film @crumb collector
Not for the faint, or a short attention span. This is based on actual events – one of the most grueling, unbelievable survival stories, like The Revenant was. NRK also did a series retracing Baalsrud's every step which you might be interested in digging up on NRK.no. In a sense, it's a remake of Ni Liv (Nine Lives), an older (1957) Norwegian film of the same story. The textures and atmosphere are visceral and intense. If you're familiar with the slow-build and understated elements of Scandinavian film, there's much to appreciate here. If you're here for popcorn cinema, it might be a bit too lengthy for you. Personally I think it was made extremely well, and was very moving.