'NUMBER 24' REVIEW: The Double Life of Norwegian National Hero Gunnar Sønsteby [3.5/5]
A Young Man Grows Into A Pillar of the Country's Resistance Against Nazi Occupation
[Rating 3.5/5] - dir. John Andreas Andersen - 2024 - Norway - 14A - 1h 51m - Historical Drama
An elderly man sits alone at a cafeteria lunch table and cries into his hands.
Later, he delivers a speech to a classroom of students. He explains, with grandfatherly gravitas, the period in which he grew up: The 1940s. In 1940 exactly, the Nazi wave crashed into his native Norway. He began with simple acts of resistence, through the most mundane of activities. Later, he and others began publishing a rebel paper. Ultimately, he sought greater responsibility, and became an agent of the Norwegian government resistance, taking orders from London, England.
The class listens, rapt.
Somehow Entertainment always finds a new stone to turn over. In this case, that stone is the story of Norwegian national hero Gunnar Sønsteby.
The film’s structure balances Sønsteby’s later life in public speaking and his early life in the Resistance. The present, interestingly, is shot in an aspect ratio that harkens back to an older era, whereas the past is shot in a more modern ratio.
If I have a real complaint, it’s that there’s too high a dose of sentimentality (a common issue with middling war films — not that this is that — who seek to romanticize war for the hundredth time rather than to work to reveal something new), and it unflatteringly makes me think of Lee (2024), which sagged under the weight of its bland colour palette, lead actor’s star reputation (and therefore high audience expectation) and mismatched daytime movie melodramatic tone, in roughly the same time period.
Number 24 avoids these criticisms mostly successfully. Its colour isn’t (too) drained, there’s no notable star (to this Canadian), and its tone is appropriate and uniform, making for a safer (?) viewing experience.
I don’t know if I’d call this a diamond in the rough, but relative to how wildly bad it can get on Netflix’s library, this is at least, like, a ruby in the rough. Besides, hating on Nazis never gets old.
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‘Number 24’ is out on Netflix (Canada).
Selected Movie Quote: “Do you feel secure?”
[Rating 3.5/5] - dir. John Andreas Andersen - 2024 - Norway - 14A - 1h 51m - Historical Drama