2024 Motion Blur/Netflix
Rated: Not Rated
Length: 1 hr 52min
Biography ~ Drama ~ True Story ~ War
Directed by: John Andreas Andersen
Starring: Sjur Vatne Brean, Erik Hivju and Philip Helgar
“I have five drawers in my head. I closed the bottom drawer May 8th, 1945 and I haven’t opened it since.”
Sjur Vatne Brean (as the younger Gunnar) and Erik Hivju (as the older Gunnar) star as Gunnar Sønsteby in this Norwegian Film by Scandinavian Motion Picture Company Motion Blur. They also released the Movies Troll and Troll 2. It was released in October 2024 in Scandinavia, and released by Netflix worldwide January 1, 2025. It became the most popular film of 2024 in Norway at the time of it’s release, and it was viewed over 9 million times in it’s first week on Netflix. Number 24 is the True Story of Gunnar Sønsteby who was a young man in Oslo, Norway in 1940 when the Germans invaded. The movie is based on the autobiographical Novel by Gunnar Sønsteby ~ May 1, 2017.
The movie starts with the elder Gunnar getting ready to speak to a group of University students. He spent the rest of his life after the war giving lectures about his experience in WWII to pass on the lessons learned to future generations. “As long as I live, I will tell the important facts. The Historians can analyze, but I was there.” As he starts to recount his story, the movie flashes back to Gunnar in 1940 as the Germans invade Oslo. He was a 21 year old young man working as an accountant when Germany launched it’s Blitzkrieg on Norway. The movie flashes back and forth between the elder Gunnar giving a lecture, and the younger Gunnar in Oslo during WWII as he narrates the story.
When the Germans invaded Oslo, Gunnar made a very deliberate decision to fight no matter what. He joined the initial Norwegian Resistance fighters which was a very unorganized rag-tag group of young Norwegian Citizens determined to fight the Nazi’s. Gunnar quickly saw that they needed to be better organized, and rose to the forefront of the resistance as an organizer and leader. He was eventually recruited by the secret British Special Operations where he became known as “Agent 24”. An undercover agent largely responsible for a lot of the covert operations in Norway. He later became a member of the infamous “Oslo Gang”, a sabotage group responsible for halting German operations in Norway.
Gunnar Sønsteby is Norway’s most Highly Decorated Citizen, having been awarded several medals including the War Cross, Norway’s most prestigious medal for his war efforts. It is a somber but fascinating story and a great movie. The sadism and inhumane cruelty of The Nazi regime is hinted at in the movie. Most notably in one scene early on where the Nazi’s torture one of the resistance fighters with hot motor oil. Barbaric. I was completely transfixed by the story and the movie. Unbelievable what Gunnar went through and the risks he took to stop the Germans.
I only have one complaint, and it is totally a personal one. It has nothing to do with Gunnar nor the movie. I am not a big fan of foreign movies that are overdubbed or sub-titled, in fact I avoid them. I really get immersed in a movie, I like to transport myself into it. Really get lost in it, feel like you are right there with the characters. There is nothing like a sub-title to completely blow the illusion for me. Or really bad overdubbed voices that don’t match the physical movement of the actor’s mouth, that really gets me. I can’t watch, if it’s bad right off the bat, I’ll quit watching.
That being said, Netflix did a good job with this one. At first it bugged me because I’m such a snob about overdubbing, but they did a good job and the story quickly overcame any discrepancy in the dubbing. It is a fascinating look at a horrendous time in Norway and a young man who said no and took a stance. The courage, determination and bravery of Gunnar Sønsteby helped change the course of the war in Norway and saved his country.
Bravo to Gunnar Sønsteby and Number 24, a great man and a great movie!
Highly Recommended!
Two Thumbs up!
STREAMING MOVIE NIGHT 