Yes, War Sailor is based on a true story. The story was derived from accounts of second world war survivors.
War Sailor became the most expensive Norwegian feature film production in history. It has won the audience award at the Norwegian International Film Festival.
The director of this film Gunnar Vikene had to fight for decades to bring this film to life as the story is about the survival of two Civilian merchant sailors during the second world war.
The main lead of the film is Kristoffer Joner, Ine Marie Wilmann, and Pal Sverre Hagen and other war sailor movie cast include Henrikke Lund-Olsen, Tea Gronner Joner, and Siv Torin Knudsen Petersen, etc.
War Sailor is inspired by a real-life event from the year between 1939 to 1972, where civilians have to leave behind their families and serve in the war.
According to the filmmaker, the sailors are the unsung heroes of the war, they were there to rescue people who couldn’t make it out for themself.
Is War Sailor Based On A True Story?
Yes, War Sailor is based on a true story about two civilians in Norway. The movie tells the story of sailors and their families during the Second World War.
The film takes us back to the year 1939 when world war 2 started. The story revolves around Alfred, his family, and his best friend Sigbjorn.
Two friends named Alfred Garnes and Sigbjorn Kavalvag were finding a hard time making their living and decided to take the job of a sailor, which would pay them well.
Alfred confronted his wife Cecilia about his plans to sail around the world for eighteen months, fearful that she would be angry at him for abandoning them.
On the other hand, Cecilia was a very practical woman who knew that whatever her husband did would be the best for the family.
However, Alfred’s daughter was not ready to accept her father’s decision because she had read about how Norwegian ships were being blown up in the sea.
Later, Alfred left his wife and three children and started his journey, the dangers of which he and his family were well aware.
They worked really hard to save the people and fight for the country but eventually, Germany overpowered and took over Norway.
Alfred along with his teammate, got a notice that the ships were now under the command of the King. The two friends knew they were not trained for war, but they had no other choice and got involved in the mission.
For the crew of the ship, death has become their constant companion, so they try to live each day entertaining the mere possibility that it could be their last day.
Approximately 334 Norwegian ships had fallen in the attacks of the Axis forces by the year 1942. Alfred and his team also had a near-death experience when their ship suffered huge damage.
But somehow, their ship was able to survive despite all the chaos and reach the shores of Malta, and start getting proper treatment.
War Sailor Ending Explained
War Sailor ending reveals Alfred living with his family as Sigbjorn tries to reconnect with his friends. The conclusion is bitter-sweet for the characters.
For all the survivors, it was difficult to adjust to normal life after what they had been through. They still had nightmares, and they knew that it was going to leave them for a long time.
On the other hand, Alfred learned that all his family members were killed in the bombing, but the fact was his family was still alive as they had escaped the city before it was bombed.
Alfred was unaware that his family was still alive, so he wrote a note for his friend Sigbjorn and left the hospital without notice.
After that, Alfred’s friend decided to return to his country and eventually found Cecilia and the children. He showed them the letter Alfred had left for him.
Sigbjorn had decided to stay with Cecilia until he could find a stable job. Both Alfred’s friend and wife were going through their loneliness and were craving companionship.
They both started developing feeling for each other and had a wonderful relationship with her children as well. But soon after, Alfred was found alive and came back to his family with the joy of living life together.
However, Alfred soon realizes that nothing will ever be the same. His own child was more attached to Sigbjorn than to him.
The youngest son, Olav had never seen his father, and he treated him as if he were a stranger.
Alfred couldn’t deal with the fact that his own family didn’t feel the same way about him, and it had become an obligation for them to stay together.
The war had changed the entire world, including Afred’s family. They still lived under the same roof and pretended to be one big happy family, but deep down they know that no one was happy.
Alfred was dealing with a pile of issues and traumas, and he knew there was no getting away from them which was making his life miserable.
At the end of the story, Sigbjorn decides to visit Alfred on his 70th birthday, but the meeting does not go as planned, there are silences and Alfred has nothing to say to his friend.
War Sailor Netflix Review
The film War Sailor has received great reviews from critics as well as viewers. The audience loved the War drama, which was inspired by a real-life story.
The film was released in the form of a three-part limited series, and it has set a new example despite being a film outside of Hollywood.
War Sailor movie reviews are mostly positive. The fans have claimed that the story and the character feel real and appreciate the actors.
The film was originally scheduled to shoot in 2020, but they had to postpone for a year due to the pandemic. It was shot between March and October 2021 in Norway, Malta, and Germany.
The war sailer directed by Gunnar Vikene has a total running time of 2 hours and 30 minutes. The story is narrated from Alfred’s point of view so that his character bears the entire weight of the storyline.