''The Last Lieutenant'' () is a 1993 Norwegian film, directed by

Hans Petter Moland Hans Petter Moland (born 17 October 1955) is a Norwegian film director. Career Moland was born in Oslo. He had received awards for his commercials at major festivals, including Cannes, before he made his feature debut in 1993 with ''The Last Lieu ...

and starring

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 ...

. It was released in the

USA The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

with English subtitles.

Plot

The old sea-captain retires, but the next day, German World War II

invasion of Norway Invasion of Norway may refer to: *1033 invasion by Tryggvi the Pretender *1567 Swedish invasion during the Northern Seven Years' War *1658 Swedish invasion during the Second Northern War *1716 Swedish invasion during the Great Northern War *1808 S ...

begins. He then kisses his wife goodbye and is off to Regiment HQ. There, he finds a lack of leadership and morale that offends him. They laugh at him and his outdated uniform and discontinue the second lieutenant officer rank that he had earned years before. He is then sent with a few men to blow up a bridge. The young men laugh at him and ignore the old sea-captain's advice on how to destroy the bridge effectively. When it fails to collapse, he completes the job himself. He then returns to HQ to find that its officers have voted to surrender. He leaves the HQ with a few men; taking trucks and supplies to continue the fight. He later goes on to rebuild a small fighting unit with volunteers and draftees and achieves some battlefield success. Eventually, his men abandon him and he faces a German attack alone.

Historical context

The film is set during the early part of World War 2, and specifically around

Operation Weserübung Operation Weserübung ( , , 9 April – 10 June 1940) was the invasion of Denmark and Norway by Nazi Germany during World War II. It was the opening operation of the Norwegian Campaign. In the early morning of 9 April 1940 (, "Weser Day"), Ge ...

, the invasion of Norway and Denmark by Germany, beginning on 9 April 1940. This film is based, somewhat loosely, on the actions of 2nd Lt. Thor O. Hannevig, Norwegian Army (Reserve). He was a retired sea Captain who rejoined the Norwegian Army and fought with a force of 150 mostly reserve soldiers as the Telemark Infantry Regiment after his original regiment surrendered on 9 April 1940. The ad hoc regiment operated from 21 April 1940, around the town of Vinje in Telemark County, until 3 May when the regiment became aware that the 4th Division had also capitulated, dashing any hope of relief forces. Most of his men were discharged from service at this time and left the area in civilian clothing. On 8 May, Hannevig and the remaining three soldiers and six female auxiliaries of the regiment were taken as prisoners of war and the 28 German POWs Hannevig's force had captured were freed. Key differences between the actual events and those depicted in the film are the age of Lt. Hannevig, that he disbanded his unit instead of being abandoned by his soldiers, and a small staff remained with him until he surrendered to the Germans. In addition, the German POWs his regiment had captured were still held, and were handed over to the German forces directly.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Last Lieutenant 1993 films Norwegian war drama films 1990s Norwegian-language films World War II films based on actual events Western Front of World War II films Films directed by Hans Petter Moland 1990s war drama films Films scored by Randall Meyers Films about Norway in World War II