Gold Run - Le convoi de l'impossible

I am shocked by the negative reviews here and I'm wondering whether we watched the same film! I was on the edge of my seat throughout, the characters were excellent and I could feel their pain, frustration and joy. It opened my eyes to a piece of history that I knew very little about and it left me feeling so grateful for the comfort we live in today.

The characters were relatable and human. I felt a connection to each one, in particular Haslund. The cast did an excellent job in bringing them to life and within minutes I was truly rooting for each character. They are both likeable and yet fallible, and I think it is the characters that really make the film great.

I'll admit that the plot is simple, but I don't think that this is a bad thing. It was still filled with drama and emotion and it was thrilling and engaging throughout. The simpler plot also allowed for the characters to be explored more, and this they did well so I never felt bored.

This may not technically be the best film ever made, but this is still one of my favourites. I felt drawn into this film and I felt the highs and the lows of the characters and their journey. Perhaps it could have been more complex, perhaps it could have been deeper, but I don't think it needed to be. It was engaging, emotional and exciting, and I don't think a film can be anything more than that.

This movie is based on real events (Flight of the Norwegian National Treasury) that is not that well known among most people and as a story it works fine. I didn't originally know the details of the actual event so I wasn't sure how much is true. One thing I did look up was the female character Nini who looked like a modern invention to add some women to an otherwise male war. She fought in Spain during the civil war and here she suddenly helps out her secretary brother rescuing the gold from the Germans. Nini Gleditsch is for real indeed, and even the flamboyant Norwegian poet Nordahl Grieg was on this journey. It is otherwise well-known that he died in an air raid over Berlin.

(For good measure they could even have included Norway's legendary prime minister Einar Gerhardsen in the film, but they have left him out.)

All in all, it's a good and uncomplicated movie about Norway in WW2 and one of the few highlights in the defence.

It's a primarily fictional David and Goliath story of the historical transport of Norway's gold reserve away from the advancing German army in April-May 1940.

Fredrik Haslund (Jon Oigarden), the secretary of the Labor Party's parliamentary group in Norway and a historical figure, leads the effort to get 50 tons of gold out of Oslo to British ships for transport to England. His sister, Nini (Ida Elise Broch), also becomes deeply involved.

The film follows Haslund and the gold as they go north narrowly ahead of the Germans. Other primary film characters are the real-life poet Nordahl Grieg (Morten Svartveit), Bank Manager Andreas Lund (Gard B. Eidsvold), Major Bjorn Sunde (Elvind Sander), and two fictional ordinary men, Odd Henry (Sven Nordin) and bank clerk Ingvar Berge (Axel Boyum). Major Otto Stoltmann (Anatole Taubman) leads the German pursuit.

"Gold Run" is mostly a fun action picture, with humor provided by Odd Henry and Ingvar Berge, who offer contrasting perspectives throughout. Haslund is meticulous to a fault, much to the dismay of Major Sunde. As expected, Norwegian creativity prevails over dogged German efforts.

"Gold Run" exaggerates events and lifts tension beyond the believable too often for my satisfaction. Thus, it's entertaining but far from historical accuracy.

The transport of the Norwegian gold and silver which started on the day Norway got occupied by the German war machine April 9th 1940 is an amazing story, but the story seem to be over dramatized.

The film is well made, with solid effects and good quality, and this is in fact the mot expensive Norwegian move made for streaming ever, made by Viaplay for their streaming services all across.

A solid A-team of Norwegian actors are doing well in the movie, but it's sad that a couple of them, especially Axel Bøyum is acting this as it was a comedy. Why?

Well, that said. Apart from this the film is rather entertaining, and it does what it should; Make you read about the true story.

The story sounds risky as a movie but rather early in the film solid characters are established and as much drama and fun as possible is generated from the events that actually took place. The best bits are, rather unlikely, entirely true, like the presence of the poet.

The suspence is constantly turned up as the reality of invasion becomes more and more serious. The action parts are spectacular and very well directed, always cranking up the emotional investment and describing civilian angst in a nation that hadn't seen war for over 100 years.

This was an very enjoyable movie, only held back by some slighter predictabilities with character developments.