Livestonth
I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible
AnhartLinkin
This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.
Hayleigh Joseph
This is ultimately a movie about the very bad things that can happen when we don't address our unease, when we just try to brush it off, whether that's to fit in or to preserve our self-image.
Robert J. Maxwell
Jan Baalsrud in 1943 was a Norwegian commando involved in running guns from the Shetland Islands to the Norwegian resistance fighters. His fishing smack was intercepted by a German patrol boat and sunk. All of his colleagues were killed, but Baalsrud managed to leap overboard, losing one boot, and swim through the icy waters of the fjord to land, pursued on sea and on land by enemy soldiers. After he climbed onto the shore, his uniform froze solid and encased his body in ice.It didn't get better for Baalsrud for months. If you can imagine any catastrophe associated with snowy mountains in brutal winter weather, he went through it -- snow blindness, avalanches, frostbite, gangrene. A manhunt was underway and Baalsrud became a symbol of the Norwegian resistance. He entered a kind of underground railway, the kind used to help slaves escape from the South before the Civil War, with lots of spots where the rails aren't connected and somebody has to schlepp him through the wilderness. .If I may, I'll just quote a summary of Baalsrud's tribulations from the New York Times Magazine, otherwise I'd just have to paraphrase it."What happened over those nine weeks remains one of the wildest, most unfathomable survival stories of World War II. Baalsrud's feet froze solid. An avalanche buried him up to his neck. He wandered in a snowstorm for three days. He was entombed alive in snow for another four days and abandoned under open skies for five more. Alone for two more weeks in a cave, he used a knife to amputate several of his own frostbitten toes to stop the spread of gangrene. He spent the last several weeks tied on a stretcher, near death, as teams of Norwegian villagers dragged him up and down hills and snowy mountains. By the end, Baalsrud was less a hero than a package in need of safe delivery, out of Nazi hands. For decades, his escape made him into a Norwegian national folk hero." It's an enthralling story of endurance. As a film it's virtues are mixed. There are stunning shots of snowy landscapes, blindingly white, with morbid black crags sticking out of them. The acting is passable, no more than that, although anyone who wants to take a peek at a generic Nordic face ought to check out Henny Moan as the wife of one of Baalsrud's helpers -- sharp-featured, determined, slope nosed, and pretty. The editing isn't so hot. There isn't enough sense of where we are or what's going on or how much time has passed. There are some images I still can't decode.You know what? This is a heroic tale, an epic story, and it needs to be remade by a sensitive and talented director. It wouldn't be simply the story of a lone man overcoming odds, a Scandinavian Hercules. It would be the story of an entire network, with the people at one end complete strangers to those at the other end, except for a dim spirit of national identity.
MARIO GAUCI
The first two Best Foreign Language Film Oscars ever awarded were both won by Italy, through Federico Fellini, for LA STRADA (1954; awarded in 1956) and NIGHTS OF CABIRIA (1957); the other nominees competing against the latter emanated from France (Rene' Clair's GATES OF Paris), two I plan on catching up with presently (from India, Mehboob's MOTHER India and, from Germany, Robert Siodmak's THE DEVIL STRIKES AT NIGHT) and, from Norway, the film under review. Incredibly enough, Ingmar Bergman's art-house phenomenon THE SEVENTH SEAL was unsuccessfully submitted for Oscar consideration! Incidentally, NINE LIVES was also entered in that year's Cannes Film Festival where it rubbed shoulders with (among others) Mikhail Kalatazov's eventual Palme D'Or winner THE CRANES ARE FLYING, Jacques Tati's MON ONCLE (1958) and prestigious Hollywood fare like THE BROTHERS KARAMAZOV (1958) and THE LONG HOT SUMMER (1958).While the film's title and heritage might suggest a historical chronicle of some tragic national expedition, the story actually deals with a real-life WWII manhunt for a Norwegian spy – engaged with the English forces on an obscure sabotage mission of which he is the only survivor – on his way to sanctuary in neutral Sweden. The film starts with the dispatching of Jan Baalsrud's ten comrades-in-arms during a skirmish with a German patrol boat. Soon enough, our protagonist is on the run from the Nazis while facing the harsh natural elements of the Norwegian snowscape. Despite the inherent danger to themselves, the local communities (especially a young family and an elderly schoolteacher) he comes in contact with all go out of their way to help the heroic fugitive. In fact, the title is a specific reference to Baalsrud's feline-like penchant for survival against all odds: going snowblind; hacking off his own frostbitten toes; being literally entombed in snow for several weeks, etc. For the most part, the treatment is pretty matter-of-fact (and no less effective for that) with the only stylistic flourishes on display being the intermittent fast cutting whenever impending danger ensues, the repeated panning suggesting the upward direction of the flight and a striking ellipsis that goes from a man picking up the receiver to 'rat' on the hero and his comrades to a ship's cannon firing at their boat; however, there is also some confusion here as well: they are shown being shot at as they reach land – presumably in a flashforward – followed by them still out at sea! For the record, this might well be the first Norwegian film I have watched and, as far as I know, the only other one I own is the intriguing horror film LAKE OF THE DEAD (1958)...
Erik
This movie is a true story!If you are a Norwegian and know your history, you know the enormous sacrifices ordinary Norwegians (sivilians) put them self through throughout the war, but you still may want to know more about Jan Baalsrud (search Wikipedia). MANY like him fought and died with the goal to free Norway.Another well known Norwegian story from WWII, is the sabotage mission against Norsk Hydro, manufacturing heavy water, to be used by the Germans. Two movies was made:Norwegian version: "Kampen om Tungtvannet" (1948). The actual saboteurs play the roles themselves. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0040504/American version: "The Heroes of Telemark" (1965). Starring Kirk Douglas. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059263/For you who may not know what kind of people these movies is about, I will try to explain:Norwegians has always been a proud population, and have always been known to fight for our freedom. We have our history with Denmark and Sweden, but that is another story. In WWII we were invaded by the Germans. It happened fast. But, we never would except this and civilians got together secretly, often called "Gutta på skauen", in English; "The boys in the woods" - The Resistance Movement", to start to fight against the Germans. Some did minor sabotage jobs and other went to England for further training, and bigger missions. This movie is based on one of those people, Jan Baalsrud, who went to England for training for missions in Norway.Directly related to this movie: He and many other Norwegian commandos was on a mission to destroy a German air control tower. Under this time they also tried to recruit for the Norwegian resistance movement. And, it's here the movie begins. One civilian they contact, betrays them, and contact the Nazi's. The mission fails because of this.Jan Baalsrud survives the failed mission and must escape to Sweden (a neutral country).This escape IS the movie, and he needs all the lives he can get to survive this trip (that's why it's called "Nine Lives").It is quite a fantastic and horrible journey, and we get a insight on how much these people are willing to sacrifice (pain/death) to save this man. Jan Baalsrud himself, goes trough as much pain a human being can stand.I will not tell the story, watch the movie. Just remember, it's a true story!Verdict:7/10 for the genuine performance. The movie is a little dated, but still quite watchable.
Sandra_D-2
Please remember, this is a true story!!!!!!!!!!! Great cast, but a lot of people don't want to see it because "it's sooooo old".................... Grow up, and you'll have the movie experience of your life!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And I mean every single one of these exclamation marks!
