Christian Rubeck Movies

A man who can't sort out the wreckage of his life wonders what sort of future he deserves in this drama adapted from a novel by Pierre Drieu La Rochelle. Anders (Anders Danielsen Lie) is a struggling writer from a successful family who stumbled into bad habits and is soon to be released from a treatment center for drug addiction. Describing himself as "a spoiled brat who (messed) up," Anders has pinned his hopes for the future on a job at a magazine in Oslo, and after being discharged he heads into the city. There he meets up with an old friend, Thomas (Hans Olav Brenner), who has turned his back on drug-fueled carousing and now looks after his children; their conversation makes it obvious Anders isn't feeling comfortable on the outside, and his job interview is little short of disastrous. As Anders wanders Oslo and crosses paths with former friends and acquaintances, most of whom don't seem especially happy to see him, he ponders the future that lies before him and contemplates taking his own life. Oslo, August 31st was directed by Joachim Trier, a cousin of noted filmmaker Lars von Trier; the film was an official selection at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

The Norwegian historical crusader Max Manus -- who lived from 1914 to 1996 -- retains household name status among Scandinavians for his acts of daunting courage during the Second World War, but curiously, few non-historians outside of Northern Europe have heard of him. This adventure epic from co-directors Joachim Roenning and Espen Sandberg (Bandidas) represents the first mainstream effort to dramatize Manus' efforts in feature form with elaborate re-creations of his heroic exploits. The bulk of the action spans April 9, 1940 through May 8, 1945, or the period of Nazi Germany's Norwegian occupation. Despite an almost complete lack of formal education, Max (Aksel Hennie) grows completely outraged when Norway falls to Germany and permits the presence of an occupying puppet government within two months. In response, Manus bands together with some other indignant Norwegians and promptly forms a resistance outfit known as the "Rognes Organization" -- a group dedicated to collecting weapons, disseminating anti-Nazi propaganda, and exuding a fighting spirit. Later, when Manus is captured by the Germans, he makes not one but two astonishing escapes from the clutches of the Nazis, with his life intact -- demonstrating, hands-down, that he has no fear. Following a period of saboteur training in Scotland, Manus -- incredibly -- slips right back into Norway, and commandeers a mission to sink Nazi supply ships in an Oslo harbor nighttime raid; though successful, it draws nasty acts of vengeance from a psychopathic Gestapo leader Sigfried Fehmer (Ken Duken) -- an event that turns Sigfried and Max into arch enemies with the bitterest hatred for one another. Manus' heroic efforts for the liberation of Norway continue undaunted, however. Thomas Nordseth-Tiller authored the screenplay, reportedly taking a slight degree of liberty with historical facts. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi