Operasjon V for vanvidd

Norwegian crime-thriller from the glorious 1970s, made on an ostensible big budget compared to domestic standards, but still looking quite amateurish from the action sequences to the many rambling power struggles in high offices. The slight nerve the film has in its early segments is quickly lost when we move into denouement territory and it becomes apparent that this cast belonging to an old theatre tradition cannot carry the characters' supposed complexity and naturalness, and the script cannot escape its radio drama quality. Norwegian theatre diva Wenche Foss still is a delight as the Minister of Justice.

If I'd seen this movie before I would have changed my thesis to be about Rolf Clemens and his filmography because this was a great thriller dripping with inspiration from British and Italian crime thrillers of the 60s. Unlike any Norwegian movie I've seen. This guy is so criminally underrated, an assured director with crisp style and we never mention him.

I expected it to be a mainly about the plane hijacking but that's merely the set up for an exciting crime thriller. Dripping with style and with a clear feminist undertone, both the lead detective and the minister of justice are women. We see the behind the scenes of the investigation cross cut with news reports of citizens complaining about the lack of arrests and blaming it on women being in charge.

Excellent Norwegian 70s thriller that deserves to be rediscovered.