Atlantic Crossing

My Review- Atlantic Crossing. SBS on demand My Rating 9/10

This splendid 8 part series is a fascinating account of Norway's World War 11 experience and sacrifice . It's a very touching and personal look at the role that the Norwegian Royal family played in that dramatic and terrible chapter of history.

The eight part series was co-produced by the Norwegian independent production company Cinenord, Norway's public broadcaster NRK and the US Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). Most of the scenes were filmed in the Czech Republic, and in Norway.

The series pays special attention to interactions between Crown Princess Martha of Norway and President Franklin Roosevelt during the period when Martha was a war refugee in the United States after fleeing the 1940 Nazi Invasion of Norway.

A princess steals the heart of the president of the United States in an epic drama based on the World War II relationship of Franklin Roosevelt and Norwegian Crown Princess Martha. Kyle MacLachlan (Twin Peaks, Sex and the City) stars as Roosevelt, opposite Swedish star Sofia Helin (The Bridge) as the beautiful Martha, who flees the Nazis with her three young children and lives under Roosevelt's protection. The eight-part series co-stars Tobias Santelmann as Crown Prince Olav and Harriet Sansom Harris as First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt.

There are many fine performances in Atlantic Crossing especially the Star Sofia Helin who gives a beautiful and dignified performance as Crown Princess Martha the film is in 2 languages Norwegian with subtitles and English this adds to the atmosphere of authenticity .

Two other standout performances that impressed me greatly were from Kyle MacLaclan as President FD Roosevelt a very complex man who reluctantly but eventually had to involve America in the War against huge opposition.

His wife in name only and protector Eleanore played to perfection by Harriet Sanson Harris has a key role in the film .

An incredibly strong and independent woman with power and influence eventually realises The Crown Princess is as strong willed as herself and helps her greatly in her quest to help her country under siege from Hitler's tyranny.

Atlantic Crossing is a perfect companion prequel to the superb 2016 Award winning film Kongens Nei or "The Kings Choice ."starring Jesper Christensen as King Haakon V11 of Norway . It's set in April 1940 King Haakon VII, the royal family and government have fled into the interior of the country. The German envoy to Norway, Curt Brauer, tries to negotiate a peace. Ultimately, the decision on Norway's future will rest with the King.

Both these historical films are interesting and I highly recommend both.

The historical accuracy of Atlantic Crossing is debatable but comments that there was no TV in the U. S. in 1939 and 1940 are dead wrong. During the 1939 World's Fair David Sarnoff, president of RCA, unveiled the first commercial publicly accessible television broadcast. I know because I was there. During the opening ceremonies of the Fair on April 30th, FDR became the first president to be televised. TV sets went on sale to the public the next day and were featured in NYC store windows.

From May through December 1939, NYC NBC station (W2XBS) of RCA broadcast twenty to fifty-eight hours of programming per month, Wednesday through Sunday of each week. The programming was 33% news, 29% drama, and 17% educational programming, with an estimated 2,000 receiving sets by the end of the year. The coverage area for reliable reception was a radius of 40 to 50 miles (80 km) from the Empire State Building. In June 1940, W2XBS covered the Republican National Convention for 33 hours during a five-day period. W2XBS also began transmitting NBC News with Lowell Thomas on February 21, 1940.

There has been a lot of controversy with this series about whether the events are historically correct. What was said between the princess and Roosevelt is not known. Most of the series is based on rumors and speculation. The Norwegian royal family was related to the English royal family when Haakon's wife was an English royal. It was therefore natural that they would support England, but the Norwegian people were more divided on whether they should support Germany or England. Most chose to be indifferent. As a historical series, I think it is exciting and emotionally engaging. Much better than others Norwegian series that have described the war, which are mostly heroic epics. We could need more World War II series about those who sided wrong, and why they acted as they did?

This could have been a masterpiece of historical storytelling with a script that focused on the Norwegian peoples' suffering under Hitler and the Royal family's many efforts to free them. But after the first riveting episode, the script becomes stuck inside Sweden's politics, Buckingham Palace and Washington DC with boring storylines that go nowhere. Honestly, I was insulted for the brave Norwegians and their Royal Family. They deserved far better, especially from Masterpiece Theater.

Beautifully filmed. Historical movies try to cram 5-10 years into a 90-minute movie. They are all sensationalized. Many historical books are filled with icing covering half-baked cakes. How many people take the Bible at it's word? Humbug. This Masterpiece depiction at least gave six hours to the story instead of a measly ninety minutes. Of course there are likely to be some mischaracterizations and misrepresentations. After all, no one knows the entire truth of the story. Just as there is a zero percent chance that the Bible story is true to fact. It ain't.

I say humbug to the historical snobs. Folks will gain a far better knowledge of the Princess's story than they would by watching any stupid reality show on TV. Get over yourselves and give Masterpiece their due for a lovely production. And to all who watch this story, if you have further interest in learning some more of the truth of the story, along with what I'm sure will be more icing covering a half-baked cake, do some further reading and studying.