I'm not sure where to start but my anticipations for this film were sky-high, and boy were my prayers answered! I have difficulty seeing how the story of Norwegian resistance fighter Max Manus could be told in any other way. The friendship in the tight-knit group of saboteurs and resistance fighters in Nazi-occupied Oslo is portrayed with great warmth, comedy and boyish charm (most of these guys were basically just kids!), and the original and very special relationship between Max and his future wife Tikken is both credible and beautiful. Together with some intense action-scenes this all makes for a great WW2-film that takes you through every emotion.
Almost refreshingly it's told in a straightforward manner, none of those new fashionable gimmicks where a storyline is suddenly turned on its head just for cheap effect. The fact that this film is very close to reality - according to both Manus' widow Tikken and Gunnar Sønsteby, one of the legendary resistance fighters portrayed in the film - makes this even more fascinating.
An honest sweeping war drama deeply rooted in reality and history, that should interest any fan of WW2-stories, anywhere in the world.
And why watch fictional heroes like gladiator Maximus Decimus Meridius when you can enjoy real life ones like Maximo Guillermo Manus? :)
