World War II · Film · 2008
Max Manus
Back from the Winter War, Max Manus joins the resistance in occupied Oslo, escapes the Gestapo, trains with the British and returns to sink German ships in the harbour with his friends of the 'Oslo Gang'.
Where it happened
Follow the story across 5 places.
Stop 1: Occupied Oslo
Printing illegal newspapers, Max is cornered by the police, jumps from a window and plans his escape from the hospital.
Stop 2: SOE training, Scottish Highlands
In Scotland Max and Gregers Gram learn sabotage, explosives and the use of limpet mines.
Stop 3: Oslo harbour
Paddling into the harbour at night, Max and Gregers fix mines to German ships and become the Gestapo's most wanted men.
Stop 4: Stockholm
In neutral Stockholm Max meets Tikken, a contact at the British legation, as the losses among his friends mount.
Stop 5: Oslofjord
Key location
In the last winter of the war, Max goes after the biggest target yet: a transport packed with German troops.
What really happened
Max Manus was one of Norway's most famous saboteurs. Arrested in 1941, he escaped from Ullevål hospital and made his way to Britain, where he trained with the Norwegian Independent Company 1, known as Kompani Linge. From 1943 he and Gregers Gram led limpet-mine attacks on German shipping in Oslo harbour, and he later worked with Gunnar Sønsteby in the Oslo Gang.
His most spectacular success came in January 1945, when mines placed with Roy Nielsen sank the troop transport Donau in the Oslofjord. The film follows his memoirs closely; its portrayal of Gestapo officer Siegfried Fehmer and of Manus's survivor's guilt compresses events, but most of his comrades and missions are real.
Where to watch
Checking streaming services…
Full details
- Original title
- Max Manus
- Directed by
- Joachim Rønning, Espen Sandberg
- Countries
- Norway
- Languages
- Norwegian, German, English
- Released
- 2008
- Period
- –
- Theaters of war
- Western Europe
- Themes
- Resistance
- Biography
- True story
