The 12th Man is a 2017 Norwegian historical drama directed by Harald Zwart.. Thomas Gullestad stars as the protagonist Jan Baalsrud, who escapes from Germans in Rebbenesøya, via Lyngen Fjord and Manndalen, to neutral Sweden in the spring of 1943. The film, which is based on historical events, was adapted from the book Jan Baalsrud and Those Who Saved Him, written by Tore Haug and Astrid Karlsen Scott. Producer Veslemoey Ruud Zwart secured the film rights for this book in 2004. The book and its film adaptation have the same protagonist as Arne Skouen's Oscar-nominated film Nine Lives, in which Baalsrud's courage and stamina were also emphasized. Jan Baalsrud's story was also told in We Die Alone by David Howarth. Unlike the book it is based on, The 12th Man emphasizes the efforts of those who helped Baalsrud escape, which is in line with Baalsrud's own statements about the local population's courage. The plot also details the pursuit of Baalsrud from the Sicherheitsdienst leadership's perspective, depicting the escape as a cat-and-mouse game between SturmbannführerKurt Stage and Baalsrud. According to German documents, the Nazis believed that the resistance group had perished in a blast. There are no reports indicating that the Germans knew to hunt for Baalsrud, who claims that he killed two German soldiers in the fight.
Plot
The 12th Man tells the dramatic story of Jan Baalsrud's escape from the Nazis during the Second World War. In Shetland, 12 Norwegian resistance fighters board a fishing boat with eight tons of TNT and cross the North Sea to Operation Martin a plan to sabotage German military facilities. The mission gets into trouble soon after reaching Norway, where their local contact is long dead and their identity is compromised by a German sympathiser who immediately informs the Germans about their arrival. A German warship locates the fishing boat and opens fire. The resistance fighters ignite the TNT and jump into the water near the fjord. Eleven of the fighters are rounded up by the Germans on the beach. One is shot on the spot and 10 are captured. Two die from torture while being interrogated, the other captive fighters are executed on Tromsøya, after the German officers interrogate and torture them about their mission. The 12th resistance fighter, Jan Baalsrud, manages to escape by hiding and swimming across the fjord, in sub-zero temperatures, to the nearest shore. He receives assistance from locals who risk their lives to help Baalsrud, who manages to escape from Rebbenesøya to Sweden, via Lyngenhalvøya and Manndalen.
Production
In March 2004, producer Veslemøy Ruud Zwart secured the film rights to the book Jan Baalsrud and Those Who Saved Him. Filming began by April 2016. Thomas Gullestad went on a diet to play the lead role.
On review aggregatorRotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 86%, based on 21 reviews with an average rating of 6.52/10. Metacritic gives the film a weighted average score of 70 out of 100, based on ten critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Aftenposten observes that the film emphasizes Baalsrud's helpers and the struggle of the Resistance in a completely different way than in Arne Skouen's film Nine Lives ; The 12th Man offers a nuance to the Baalsrud legend. Morten Ståle Nilsen, in Verdens Gang, refers to The 12th Man as "a solid, but predictable film". While complimenting the amazing scenery of Norway, VS said its magnificent nature couldn't save the film from being monotonous, overlong, and too focused on suffering. Nicolai Berg Hansson, from Film Magasinet, said the film was successful as an action movie, but if one is to criticize it for something, "it may feel a bit… hollow. It might have said much more about human psychology, survival instinct and trauma". Sigurd Vik, from P3's Film Police, believed the film was playing with clichés, especially in the depiction of the SS officer Kurt Stage. The review complimented director Zwart's influence of Nils Gaup, "when combining magnificent coastal and mountain scenery, and the insolence of the wilderness with dense and tough action sequences". The review also said that turning a serious Norwegian Resistance struggle into an action film works well.
