Narvik–A Forgotten Battle

In Narvik, a war drama inspired by historical events, we witness Hitler’s first defeat: in a small town in Norway called Narvik.  Although sparsely populated, Narvik is strategically situated as a northern Norwegian coastal port that supplies iron ore to both Germany and the Allies.  In April 1940, at the start of  two months of fierce winter warfare,  the Germans unilaterally seize a hotel for their center of command.    The Nazis rely upon Narvik for 85% of their iron ore supply.  However, Narvik considers itself a neutral supplier of iron ore to both German and British forces and they are determined their port will remain open to both.

Narvik  centers on a Norwegian soldier, Gunnar Tofte, and his wife, Ingrid,  a waitress at the town’s major hotel.  They are a loving couple who share the joys of parenting their young son, Ole, when the battle begins.  During a major assault on the railroad bridge used to transport iron ore, the Norwegian troops, plot to dynamite the bridge to prevent a Nazi takeover.  However,  Gunnar  is unaware that Ingrid and Ole are on that bridge, planning their journey to leave Narvik, at the same time the dynamite is hidden. 

The Nazis soon take over the hotel, and  draft Ingrid into being their translator since she speaks German.  Conflicted, Ingrid also secretly helps the British consul, Ross, hiding him and a few others in a mountain cabin.   Faced with an untenable situation involving her young son, Ole,  her neutrality is tested.  Meanwhile Gunnar becomes a POW.

Narvik is a tour-de-force war saga raising questions of moral dilemma and the fight to survive in order to save one’s family.  There are no simple answers, more a morally agnostic query into the hostile bulwarks surrounding the well-intentioned individual’s attempts at survival.  Narvik is also about hoping that the future will be less cruel than the past.

Highly recommend!

Availability:  Netflix streaming

Note:  Narvik  still functions as an important iron-ore harbor for the EU.