Following my discussion recently of the 1997 U.S. film
Air Force One, I call my readers attention to the 2016
Norwegian film The King’s Choice. Whereas many of
the assumptions of the former have not aged well, the
latter film, whose real life events occurred 75 years
ago, seems to have embraced values which resonate
today.
The King’s Choice takes place primarily in the 72-hour
period beginning on April 9,1940 when Nazi Germany
invaded then-neutral Norway. In justaposed scenes,
the film shows an almost hour-by-hour glimpse into the
reactions and private activity of the Norwegian king, his
family, the Norwegian government, the German resident
envoy and arriving Nazi military, the Norwegian army
inside and outside the capital Oslo — and glimpses of
the Norwegian people as they grapple with the sudden
crisis. With general faithfulness to historical detail,
stunning cinematography, a brilliant and moving musical
score and extraordinary acting performances, the film
maintains an exquisite tension and suspense
throughout.
Although a fictional Air Force One occasionally employed
not-quite credible melodrama and special effects, The
King’s Choice, while its dialogue is fictional, relies on the
inherent drama of what actually happened to give the film
so much of its authentic power.
Since I am not a film critic, I will leave the assessment
of all the cinematic details of this film to others. My
purpose in discussing it, as I did with Air Force One,
is to evaluate the social and political values it displays.
The brief black-and-white opening documentary scenes
show the actual arrival of the young Danish prince, his
wife and baby boy in Oslo after Norway separates from
Sweden in 1905, and elects him to be their constitutional
monarch. Renaming himself Haakon VII, this younger
brother of the king of Denmark assumes the ceremonial
Norwegian throne. The film then flashes forward 35
years in full color to the wintry day in 1940 when the
German fleet is reported heading to Norway with an
invasion force.
The Nazis hoped Norway would surrender without a
fight, but a feisty Norwegian colonel sinks the advance
German destroyer in the Oslo harbor, the Norwegian
cabinet and parliament, with the royal family, flees Oslo
toward the still neutral Swedish border. The German
envoy, hoping to avoid bloodshed, tries to ignore the
coup d’etat of the notorious local fascist Quisling, but in
a phone call to the foreign ministry in Berlin, Hitler
himself breaks in and orders the envoy to negotiate a
surrender directly with the king.
This sets up the film’s climactic moment when the envoy
travels to the remote area where the king, his family and
the Norwegian government have fled. Haakon VII has no
actual power to decide Norway’s fate, but his brave and
principled refusal to kow-tow to Hitler inspires the
floundering government officials to likewise resist.
A few days later, the king, his young adult son Crown
Prince Olav and the government fled to London.
The crown princess and the royal grandchildren
went to Washington, DC until the war’s end.
The Nazi invaders soon crushed the small Norwegian
army, and Quisling (whose name became universally
synonymous with “traitor”) ran the country until the end of
the war.
The film closes wIth an eloquent brief scene in London
where the king is reunited with his grandson, whom as a
little boy he had played with in the snow in the movIe’s
opening 1940 scene. That boy became Norway’s current
King Harald V in 1991. Harald’s son is named Crown Prince
Haakon.
Haakon VII’s son, Crown Prince Olav, became king in 1957
when Haakon VII, after 52 years on the throne, died.
So The King’s Choice is also about continuity, and despite its
hero being a king and not a president, it is not so much about
an institution as it is about character and courage.
Another case of recent exceptional royal courage had a
different ultimate outcome. Spanish constitutional monarch
King Juan Carlos unexpectedly and bravely resisted a fascist
coup d’etat in Madrid in 1981, and thus saved the nation’s
new democracy. He became a much-beloved national hero.
Unfortunately, a series of subsequent personal scandals
undid his popularity and stature, and he was forced to
abdicate years later in disgrace..
The enduring message seems to be that courage alone is
sometimes not enough, but that character also is necessary.
Kings and other political figures might make brave choices,
but as this Norwegian film reveals, a leader’s principled life
counts, too.
The film, with English subtitles, can be seen for free on the
internet, or on other venues, Very recommended.
_________________________________________________
Copyright (c) 2023 by Barry Casselman. All rights reserved.
No comments:
Post a Comment