Kampen om Tungtvannet (2015) - Review in english

Recieving great reviews and being a success among the public, setting the new record for drama series when it premiered on national TV network in Norway on January 4, 2015, winning the live audience of about 1.2 million viewers on Sunday night (about 24% of the Norwegian population was watching the season premiere), the Norwegian TV mini-series Kampen om Tungtvannet (original title) or The Heavy Water War: Stopping Hitler's Atomic Bomb (in English) depicts a true story of World War II. Narrated in three angles the Norwegian production of 6 episodes follows the trajectory of the Nazi nuclear program, the fight of the Allies to stop them and the management of Norsk Hydro, the company that owns the heavy water plant, a key substance for the German plans.

The TV mini-series begins slowly, developing the characters and their dilemmas and also exploring the reasons Allies and Nazis fight for the heavy water. Why it was so important and where it would be possible to get it? Over the first episodes this whole plot is made clear.

The Nazi research program is shown through the eyes of Werner Heisenberg (played by Christoph Bach, known for Shirley: Visions of Reality - 2013), German scientist who in 1933 won the Nobel Prize in Physics for his contribution in quantum mechanics. Heisenberg devoted his life to science, abdicating social and family life. In 1939 he began working for the German government, conducting the research for the development of nuclear energy. He sees the atomic bomb as a nuisance, but a necessary means for the development of science. The war would be at the service of science.

The Norwegian scientist and professor Leif Tronstad (played by Espen Kloumann Høiner, known for Reprise - 2006) was one of those responsible for the construction of the chemical factory Norsk Hydro, in the Vemork plant on the outskirts of the town of Rjukan in Norway. By joining the Allies in England, he was essential to prevent the success of the Nazi plans, since he was a member of the Norwegian Resistance and still stayed in touch with them. He also was aware of the building plan and the site procedures. To Tronstad the lives of employees and other inhabitants of the area should be preserved in the conflict.

The director of Norsk Hydro, Bjørn Henriksen (played by Dennis Storhøi, known for Zwei Leben - Two Lives - 2012), runs the facility in Rjukan, unique in the world to produce heavy water. As it was a byproduct of fertilizer production, its production was limited and on a small scale. While the Norwegians remained neutral in World War II, France made an agreement with the company to acquire the entire stock of heavy water. But with the invasion of Norway by the Germans, on the morning of April 9, 1940, Norsk Hydro started to meet the Nazi interests in obtaining the precious liquid. To Henriksen the war would be something temporary, so it would be important to keep the jobs and company's business intact.

To give more excitement and make the story more dramatic some fictional characters were drafted, but that did not come to interfere significantly in the actual events that occurred. Among them we can mention Bjørn Henriksen, which was created from three real directors of Norsk Hydro, and his wife, Ellen Henriksen (played by Maibritt Saerens, known for Sykt Lykkelig - Happy Happy - 2010), who also was not part of the original plot, but was responsible for addressing some dilemmas of the couple apart from the moral issues of the war.

Another fictional character is Julie Smith (played by Anna Friel, known for the TV series Pushing Daisies - 2007-2009), who gives life to a British official responsible for the British Special Operations. Here we have to highlight a historical mistake, because in real life the role was played by Scottish Colonel John Skinner Wilson. At that time there were no women occupying the position of command in the army. Despite the good performance of Friel, it would be more appropriate to stick to historical and real facts (put a man) instead of opting for the politically correct of the current times.

The film's director Per-Olav Sørensen depicts in a chronological and historical way the events surrounding the dispute by heavy water. It is noted along the mini-series all the characterization work of an era: uniforms, clothes, cars, equipments and weapons. One bright spot was the maintenance of the three native languages ​​of the countries involved in the plot: Norwegian, German and English. Sørensen also knew how to choose the cast, who gave convincing performances.

The photography is very beautiful and the soundtrack fits well in the plot. However, the director of the mini-series does not do enough to explore more some action scenes and he also could have created more suspense. The rigorous living conditions to which the members of the Norwegian resistance were submitted in missions due to the harsh climate of Norway, as hunger and cold, as well as other difficulties faced when fighting the enemy would have been better dramatized.

This story was also dramatized in a Norwegian docudrama called Kampen om Tungtvannet (Operation Swallow: The Battle for Heavy Water - 1948), in a British production The Heroes of the Telemark (1965), with the participation of Kirk Douglas (citing some of his films: Ace in the Hole - 1951, Paths of Glory - 1957, The Vikings - 1958 and Spartacus - 1960) and Richard Harris (known for A Man Called Horse - 1970) and a Canadian TV mini-series (A Man Called Intrepid - 1979). The Swedish power metal band, Sabaton, also honored this episode through the music called Saboteurs.

Original title: Kampen om Tungtvannet

English title: The Heavy Water War: Stopping Hitler's Atomic Bomb

Director: Per-Olav Sørensen

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3280150/

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Kampen om Tungtvannet (1948) - Review in english

World War II had several important episodes, but over the years many of them were forgotten or not had due recognition. Besides the famous invasion of Normandy by the Allies, operation known as "D-Day", The Battle of the Heavy Water also played a key role in the outcome of that war. Directed by Titus Vibe-Müller and Jean Dréville in a French-Norwegian co-production, Kampen om Tungtvannet (original title) or Operation Swallow: The Battle for Heavy Water (in English) is a docudrama (documentary drama) that dramatically presented the reconstitution of these events that marked the history of the world and Norway.

The film begins by an introduction to the war and the reasons that led France and Germany to become interested in the heavy water produced only in the chemical factory Norsk Hydro, in the Vemork plant on the outskirts of the town of Rjukan in Norway. The first country was seeking it to do research in laboratories on its effectiveness, while the second was aimed at getting it to build a secret weapon. As the heavy water was a byproduct of fertilizer production, its production was limited and on a small scale, which meant that any amount obtained become of paramount importance. While the Norwegians remained neutral in the war, the Allies were able to catch the first batch of the precious liquid. But with the invasion of Norway by the Germans, on the morning of April 9, 1940, the Nazis ordered the Norsk Hydro plant to increase its production. Realizing the threat that the plant had the British Intelligence in London with the Norwegian Resistance came together to take preventive measures and sabotage Nazi Germany's plans involving heavy water.



Shot in black and white and without the aspects of large productions such as extravagant action situations and melodramatic approach, Kampen om Tungtvannet uses archival footage and reconstructs the other scenes with the participation of real life counterparts. This gives the movie plenty of realism and authenticity, as well as historical and educational features. Among the counterparts actors we can quote the scientists Frédéric Joliot-Curie and Lew Kowarski and most of the Norwegian saboteurs. So few characters were played by professional actors and the four native languages ​​of the countries involved in the plot were kept: Norwegian, French, German and English. And it is exactly by the common aspect that this film stands out, especially when we remember what was at stake at that time. These are not synthetic heroes we find in American blockbusters, they are just ordinary men who risked their lives to prevent the victory of the Nazi Germany.

The photography explores the mountainous region and the harsh climate of Norway through open shots. The rigorous living conditions to which the members of the Norwegian resistance underwent equate to the size of the challenge that was ahead: prevent the Germans build their secret weapon. They faced hunger, cold and also the enemy.

This story was also dramatized in a British production called The Heroes of the Telemark (1965), with the participation of Kirk Douglas (citing some of his films: Ace in the Hole - 1951, Paths of Glory - 1957, The Vikings - 1958 and Spartacus - 1960) and Richard Harris (known for A Man Called Horse - 1970), and two TV mini-series, a Canadian (A Man Called Intrepid - 1979) and a Norwegian (Kampen om Tungtvannet - The Heavy Water War: Stopping Hitler's Atomic Bomb - 2015). The Swedish power metal band, Sabaton, also honored this episode through the music called Saboteurs.

War is not only won in the trenches or in the battle fronts, being fought by artillery fighting, but by the economic, social and mental mobilization in the rearward. It is won by the adopted strategies and resilience, bravery and wit of all its fighters.

Original title: Kampen om Tungtvannet
English title: Operation Swallow: The Battle for Heavy Water
Directors: Titus Vibe-Müller and Jean Dréville
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0040504

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Nordic Movies List

Nordic movies list (more than 230 titles).


http://www.imdb.com/list/ls073134456/

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