War Sailor: The Series, a review: an alternative look at the horrors of war

The review of War Sailor: The series, an interesting work that was born as a film and then became a miniseries. Based on a true story, streaming on Netflix.

But what a strange story behind it War Sailor by Gunnar Vikene. Strange, because if it was the film chosen by Norway to represent the country at the 2023 Oscars, it is instead distributed by Netflix in the form of miniseries. Here a reflection would open, which coincides with the thorny issue of the necessary duration for a film. Here you are, War Sailor, in its complexity, lasts about three hours. An important duration for an interesting historical and human reconstruction operation, with livid colors and a suffocating atmosphere. But also a functional duration for Gunnar Vikene’s script, which made it the film with the highest budget in Norwegian history. Eleven million dollars. That same duration which, in film format, was relatively drier: 150 minutes. And, delving into the question, we discover that the project of War Sailor was born to be ambivalent right from the start, a bit like Marco Bellocchio did with Exterior Night.

The author, inspired by several true stories (one in particular), has structured the story to be applicable both to cinema and in the form of a series. In this sense, the “discarded” material for the feature film has been reassembled to become a turgid mini-series divided into three episodes, which powerfully convey the horror of war seen through the bewildered eyes of those who would not want to fight war. And it does so by making full use of all the senses we have: the acrid smell of oil, which mixes with the dry sea air, and then again a strong work of sound design, between the hum of Luftwaffe planes and the thud of bombs, up to the excellent aesthetic result, effective in being in line with the most typical photographic new wave (here we find Sturla Brandth Grøvlen, who also signed Another Round – Another Round), desaturated and filtered by a grain that reflects greens, blues, grays. Flawless on a technical level, and curious post-production re-distribution, War Sailor: To series it demonstrates, among other things, that streaming helps broaden viewers’ gaze towards other audiovisual industries, no less prepared than the Hollywood ones.

War Sailor: the plot of the series

Let’s get this straight: War Sailor it is not a “simple” vision. There is an invasive sense of drama and death, effectively stitched by the director both on the frame and on the protagonists. Seeing it, despite being another war, the comparison cannot help but go towards the nuances of Nothing new on the western fronthowever this film that became a series, due to the stories it tells, manages to be more effective and less obvious, net of the sacrosanct anti-war message. Essentially, the protagonist of War Sailor is Alfred Garnes (Kristoffer Joner), but his wife Cecilia (Ine Marie Wilmann) and his friend Sigbjørn “Wally” Kvalen (Pal Sverre Hagen) orbit around him who, at the request of the woman, will have the duty to supervise and report to Alfred house. Yes, because we are at the docks of Bergen, in 1939. Alfred and Cecilia are parents again (third child) and there is a need for work. Conflicting news arrives from central Europe, but he still decides to embark on a merchant ship with Wally, so as to be able to financially support the family.

The route? Around the world, up to Malta and then Liverpool, touching New York and Halifax, Canada. Shortly thereafter, war breaks out and, unarmed, they find themselves on a sort of front line on the high seas, fighting for survival as German submarines target civilian ships. The only goal is to get home, but they can’t until the conflict is over. Indeed, merchant ships like Alfred’s have been used – history books in hand – by the British navy for direct support, making them real instruments of war. On the other hand, if scenographic convulsion dominates the “marine” segments, the atmosphere becomes even more dramatic when the scene shifts to Cecilia, in a Bergen occupied and bombed (also) by Allied anti-aircraft fire. While Alfred and Wally suffer misfortunes and horrors, Cecilia seeks refuge with her children, putting aside her letters that she receives from her husband.

Several story lines for a good ending

Three full and dense hours, complicated and difficult in their obvious heaviness, both narrative and scenographic. It could not have been otherwise given the theme, yet War Sailor: The series, in addition to being a case of production restructuring, does not dwell too much on the spectacularization (even painful) of the War, but seems to portray the story starting from the details and cracks. A factor that could unbalance the series through a staging in search of minutiae, dwelling more or less quickly on various important moments and, as far as possible, trying to keep the different narrative lines elevated.

It is not easy, and in fact some reflections are exhausted quickly through the ultra-emotional exposition of the story (perhaps exaggerated more than necessary by the powerful soundtrack), except for the final re-connection which takes us – surprisingly – among the dens of oriental opium when the conflict is over, making Gunnar Vikene’s work (based in part on the epic of a real person known to the director) a much more multilayered series than its declared value. We don’t want to reveal too much to you, but the high point of War Sailor it is precisely the final examination, which brings together the humiliation, anger, traumas and post-traumatic stress disorders of those men who have become, despite themselves, heroes. Heroes exploited, debased and disfigured by a History which, news in hand, never stops making the same unjustifiable mistakes.