The true story of one of the greatest saboteur-actions of WWII is made with great attention to detail, but sadly with less attention to it's script and characters. The plot, which if had been handled correctly, could have been nerve-racking. However, the suspense, or rather, lack thereof makes this mini-series a rather tedious affair. The dialogue suffers from the same condition as the vast majority of Norwegian cinema and television; it's pompous, stiff and unnatural. The same can be said about the acting, where almost every character with a speaking part behaves as if they were on stage in a theater - the worst examples are Stein Winge and Frank Kjosås who are a downright painful to watch. The Heisenberg character is the only one really interesting one, but the show fails to really dig into him. A shame, really, because he had enormous dramatic potential. The other characters are pretty much one-dimensional and fails miserably to gain much, if any sympathy. The by far most useless character on the show is Julie Smith, a caricature of a Briton which seemingly only purpose to the plot is a dull romantic interest and pulling off political correct lines about the horrors of war, which seems out of place in a 1940' setting. A note about cinematography: There are a few shots which are pretty impressing, namely the ones in the skiing-scenes. Other than that, many shots are almost burned out, the London-scenes in particular. At the same time it's shot in digital HD, which in a period-piece makes the show look fake and constructed.
Summarizing, this show could have been really good with a better developed script, a better cast ensemble, and a director who could paint this picture with a steadier hand.
Summarizing, this show could have been really good with a better developed script, a better cast ensemble, and a director who could paint this picture with a steadier hand.