‘Max Manus’ is a biopic, on the real events of the Norwegian resistance fighter Max Guillermo Manus. After homecoming from the winter war against the Soviets, Max finds his country under the siege of the emerging German Third Reich. Initial attempts against the Nazi regime leads him to his arrest, however his escape to Scotland makes him legendary where he gets trained to carry out various sabotage missions to throttle the German war machine.
The movie exploits various sabotage operations orchestrated by Max & the formation of ‘Oslo Group’. Apart from the good old fashioned action, the movie manages to show his relation with his friend Gregers Gram & with Ida Nikoline who later on becomes his future wife.
Aksel Hennie as Max Manus brought great dynamism to the character, though his antagonist Gestapo commander Siegfried Fehmer enacted by German actor Ken Dunken had been less persuasive. Overall this is a fast paced action adventure with an engrossing storyline. Despite the fact that this is an European production, the technical qualities & visual effects are as par with any of today’s Hollywood makings.
My Rating : 7/10
Based on true story, Ji Jie Hao a.k.a ASSEMBLY recounts the Chinese Civil War through the eyes of a captain named Gu Zidi of the People’s Liberation Army, 1948.
The story can be divided into two segments; the first half narrates how under Gu’s command an infantry unit of 46 men from the 9th company was annihilated by the National Revolutionary Army, while defending the south bank of river Wen. Gu’s orders were to fight until the retreat assembly call was charged. Being the only survivor, long after the war some thoughts steamed up making him think that during the heat of battle he might have missed the retreat assembly call which led to the death of his entire company.
Troubled by the past he goes in search of truth & honor when he finds that his entire unit have been listed under Missing In Action even worse some as deserters by the government, instead of honoring them for their untimely sacrifice. Second segment shows how Gu returns to the site of the battle, determined to prove the existence of the 46 men who fought along his side till death.
Viewers familiar with ‘Saving Private Ryan’ & ‘Taegukgi’ will see a similar depiction of war with disturbing images of mayhem.
After thought : Intense battle scenes might make feeble spirit puke, slow pacing.
My Rating : 6.5/10
Loosely based on true story, this movie highlights the maneuvers carried out by the elements of the Danish Resistance group during World War II.
Bent Hviid alias ‘Flame’ & Jorgen Schmith alias ‘Citron’ were some of the deadly resistance fighters in the Holger Danske group. They systematically used to exterminate the Danish collaborators as well as high ranking Nazi officials. Things were running fine until Flame got the notion of deception among his own group who seemed to jeopardize everything & stop them from getting their hands on their final target, the dreaded Gestapo Chief Karl Heinz Hoffmann. Situation becomes more intricate when Flame falls for a femme fatale whom he believes to be a double agent.
Even though the story takes place in the backdrop of Second World War, most of the action takes place in small towns. Don’t expect to see a full scale Hollywood extravaganza. This does not follow the typical formula of espionage flicks, so expect to have some unpredictable twists which I found quite appealing. I was not familiar with the casts except few, like Christian Berkel (Der Untergang) & Mads Mikkelsen (Clash Of The Titans) still they did an amazing job to bring life to this nostalgic war noir.
Final Thoughts : Impressive, with intriguing plot
My Rating : 8/10
