''Pakten'' ( English title: ''Waiting for Sunset'' (USA) or ''The Sunset Boys'') is a 1995 Norwegian film directed by

Leidulv Risan Leidulv Risan (born 1948) is a Norwegian screenwriter, film director and professor at The Norwegian Filmschool at Lillehammer. Since 2005 he has been the leader for the screenwriting program at the Film School. Risan is educated at Dramatiska Inst ...

. It made headlines in Norway as it was the first Norwegian film to star several respected

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

stars, namely veteran actors

Robert Mitchum Robert Charles Durman Mitchum (August 6, 1917 – July 1, 1997) was an American actor. He is known for his antihero roles and film noir appearances. He received nominations for an Academy Award and a BAFTA Award. He received a star on the Holl ...

(whose mother was Norwegian), and

Cliff Robertson Clifford Parker Robertson III (September 9, 1923 – September 10, 2011) was an American actor whose career in film and television spanned over six decades. Robertson portrayed a young John F. Kennedy in the 1963 film ''PT 109 (film), PT 109'', a ...

. It also boasted some of the biggest acting names from

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

(

Erland Josephson Erland Josephson (; 15 June 1923 – 25 February 2012) was a Swedish actor and author. He was best known by international audiences for his work in films directed by Ingmar Bergman, Andrei Tarkovsky and Theodoros Angelopoulos. Life and career ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

(

Hanna Schygulla Hanna Schygulla (; born 25 December 1943) is a German actress and chanson singer associated with the theater and film director Rainer Werner Fassbinder. She first worked for Fassbinder in 1965 and became an active participant in the New German ...

and

Ernst Jacobi Ernst Gerhard Ludwig Jacobi-Scherbening, professionally called Ernst Jacobi (; 11 July 1933 – 23 June 2022), was a German actor. He was known for serious character roles, especially in the 1979 film ''The Tin Drum (film), The Tin Drum'' (''Die ...

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

(

Nadja Tiller Nadja Tiller (16 March 1929 – 21 February 2023) was an Austrian actress in film, television, and on stage. She was one of the most popular German-speaking actresses in the international cinema of the 1950s and 1960s, receiving international re ...

) and Norway. It was directed and co-written by

and shot on location in

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

(Norway) and the German cities of

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

and

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; ; ) is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fifth-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with a population of about 163,000, of which roughly a quarter consists of studen ...

. Its budget of 5,000,000

USD The United States dollar (symbol: $; currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introduced the U.S. dollar at par with the Spanish silver dollar, divided it int ...

was above average for a Norwegian movie at the time. The movie received mainly fair reviews although many seemed to agree that the Nazi-subplot was too melodramatic and got in the way of its feel-good nature.

Plot

Aging Norwegian

doctor Doctor, Doctors, The Doctor or The Doctors may refer to: Titles and occupations * Physician, a medical practitioner * Doctor (title), an academic title for the holder of a doctoral-level degree ** Doctorate ** List of doctoral degrees awarded b ...

Carl (

Espen Skjønberg Espen Henrik Skjønberg (7 April 1924 – 26 August 2022) was a Norwegian actor of stage, screen, and television. Career Skjønberg made his first movie appearances as a child in the 1932 film '' En glad gutt'' and in the 1937 Norwegian classic ...

) collapses in an Oslo street, and awakens in the hospital. To his great surprise he finds himself surrounded by his old buddies Ernest (Mitchum), Ted (Robertson) and August (Josephson). Taking matters into their own hands, they "kidnap" the dying Carl and embark on an emotional journey back to Heidelberg, where they met studying medicine before

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Their plan is to fulfill Carl's final wish but they soon find their cheerful trip overshadowed as they reveal a plot dating back to the pre-war

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

era.

Cast

as Ernest Bogan *

as Ted Roth *

as August Lind *

as Carl Berner *

as Eva Loehwe *

as Gertrude Boman *

Trine Pallesen Trine Pallesen (born 19 June 1969) is a Danish actress, best known for her work in Danish TV series '' Rejseholdet'' and ''Forbrydelsen''. Pallesen was born in Denmark, daughter of Per Pallesen and Kirsten Peüliche. Filmography Films * ''Ball ...

as Nina * Bodil Kjer as Marianne Haas *

Ingrid van Bergen Ingrid van Bergen (; born 15 June 1931) is a German film actress. She has appeared in 100 films since 1954. She was born in Free City of Danzig, today Gdańsk, Poland. Career Since 1954, Ingrid van Bergen appeared in more than 170 film and tele ...

as Wenche Haas *

as Leonard Haas *

Ulrich Wildgruber Ulrich Wildgruber (18 November 1937 – 30 November 1999) was a German actor. He started working on stage in 1963 and is best known for playing Othello in the Deutsches Schauspielhaus in Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hansea ...

as Reverend Berger *

Kai Wiesinger Kai Wiesinger (born 16 April 1966) is a German actor. Life and work Wiesinger began taking private acting lessons as a teenager. After his civil service, he became an acting student in Munich. He has been active on German television and in film ...

as Fritz Becker * Joachim Kemmer as Johannes Christof *

Ellen Horn Ellen Horn (born Ellen Stoesen, 1 February 1951) is a Norwegian actress, theatre director, and politician for the Labour Party.Rossiné Career Horn started as a puppet actor at Oslo Nye Teater (1969–70), and was educated at the Teaterhøy ...

as Nurse *

Oliver Nägele Oliver may refer to: Arts, entertainment and literature Books * ''Oliver the Western Engine'', volume 24 in ''The Railway Series'' by Rev. W. Awdry * ''Oliver Twist'', a novel by Charles Dickens Fictional characters * Ariadne Oliver ...

as Paul Zeppelin *

Sven Nordin Sven Audun Nordin (born 6 February 1957) is a Norwegian actor. He was hired by Oslo Nye Teater in the autumn of 1981 and had his debut in the play "Vikinger" by Johan Borgen. He is best known for his roles as Nils in the situation comedy '' Mo ...

as Dr. Sunde *

Armin Rohde Armin Rohde (born 4 April 1955) is a German actor and voice actor. He was born in Gladbeck. Filmography Audiobooks * 1999: Roger Graf: Philip Maloney – ''Auf der Flucht'', ''Die Armbanduhr'' and ''Der Mörderhai'', publisher: Tandem Ver ...

Trivia

While he had a supporting role in a 1997 TV movie, this was Hollywood-legend Robert Mitchum's last starring role on the big screen. It was the only time he worked on a Norwegian movie (Mitchum's mother was Norwegian).

External links

Pakten at Internet Movie Database
1995 films 1990s Norwegian-language films English-language Norwegian films 1990s German-language films Films directed by Leidulv Risan Films set in Germany Films set in Heidelberg 1990s English-language films {{Norway-film-stub