Prigionieri del ghiaccio

Norwegian director Petter Næss has gathered a fine acting crew in this true story about three German and two British war pilots meeting up in a remote hunting cabin during a harsh Norwegian winter storm up in the high mountains, after shooting each other's planes down during the Second World War.

Being forced to work together, with all doubts and mistrust, they after some days started off what was an unlikely friendship while the war was on it's culmination.

The film succeeds in telling a story of fright evolving into friendship, in a chamber like story. All the five main actors are doing a great job with this interesting story.

It's still in the last part of the movie we start really feeling there's a war going on. If the film is to be criticized, it's for not really making us get into the war feeling at the start of the film.

The landscape is beautiful, and the war is 70 years ago. Will everyone understand the situation. In the end, this is really clear, and the film functions here. I'd really like to get more of the war feeling in the start of the film. A shot down airplane and some soldiers doesn't do that in a winterly landscape. The film gets better the further it gets into the material.

That said, the film is really worth watching. Great acting. The German actors are actually the best. Stig Henrik Hoff is also convincing, and David Cross is doing a good role. Rupert Grint has some troubles getting into it in his first feature after seven Harry potters, or maybe it's me seeing that beyond the witchcraft?

In my opinion Petter Næss has nailed another great film. All of his filmography is worth seeing. Wanting to film this story for a long time, he's given us another epic story from the epic Second World War, giving us the hope that this will learn us to never get into another one.

Let me start by saying that this is my first attempt at writing a film review and that English is not my native language, so please bear with me.

The first thing that you need to know before watching 'Into the White' is that its not a war film, if you are expecting intense war scenes and action then this film is probably not for you. More specifically, its a drama film that focuses on the subject of friendship and survival. After a dogfight over the Norwegian mountains, three German pilots find themselves stranded in a harsh and inhospitable land during winter, their luck seems to turn when they discover an abandoned hunting cabin. Soon they will meet two British pilots who are pretty much in the same condition as they are in. In order to survive, they understand that they must work together despite their allegiances. What starts as a relationship formed from the forced conditions of the circumstances, develops into a relationship of true and lasting friendship.

Having said a few things about the movie's plot, i would like to say that the cinematography is truly great as well. The harsh and unforgiving nature of the Norwegian mountains is truly captivated well. While the white, snow painted terrain is beautiful its simultaneously terrifying since you will get the impression of fear and impending death, since life is almost completely absent from the scenery. The performance of the actors is very good as well, especially the one coming from the German side.

The actors manage to portray well the uneasiness of being trapped in a cabin in the middle of nowhere along with somebody you cant trust, since that somebody is your enemy. On the downside, i would like it if some particular scenes were more stressful. What i mean is that certain scenes develop kind of slow and don't transmit the feeling of stress and agony to the viewer, since solutions to the problems of the characters come almost immediately without many implications caused upon the characters, which is somewhat unrealistic concerning the circumstances, in my opinion.

To conclude with, 'Into the White' is a film about survival and friendship. Its a drama and not an action film, that immediately makes it a movie that is not for the average masses who are seeking cheap thrills and entertainment, if you are looking for something more, then you will probably enjoy it!

If you enjoyed this film also check:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0277327/

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1023114/

"Into the White" is similar to an old Frank Sinatra film "None But the Brave". Both are set during WWII and both are about a small isolated group of soldiers from both sides MUST work together to survive. In the case of "None But the Brave", it was a fictional story about American and Japanese soldiers. Here with "Into the White", it's about two groups of fliers--one German and the other British. However, instead of taking place in the nice, warm Pacific, this film is set in the frozen wastes of Norway. When both planes are shot down, five airmen all converge on a hut--and there just isn't enough food and fuel to keep them alive unless they can figure out something.

So, is this film worth seeing? For a guy like me who has taught history AND loves WWII airplane films, of course--I am the perfect audience. However, for the rest, it might be a tougher sell. But, if you let yourself watch the film and don't give up on it quickly because there isn't much action, I do think you'll appreciate and enjoy the film. Plus, it's a nice opportunity to see Rupert Grint (Ron Weasley from the Harry Potter films) in a VERY different role. All around, lovely acting, direction as well as a nice respect for real history. Based on what I've read, aside from inexplicably changing the names of the British fliers, it's a highly accurate representation of what really occurred--believe it or not!

INTO THE WHITE, also known as CROSS OF HONOR, is based on fact and in adapting the facts to the screen director Petter Næss along with co-writers Ole Meldgaard and Dave Mango have turned out a film that could easily have been a stage play, restricted for the most part as it is to the confines on one cabin. But then the vast beauty of the Norwegian landscape would have been sacrificed and it is that use of the bleak snow clad solitude that underlines the effects of isolation on the human response and survival under austere conditions.

On April 27, 1940, while the Germans and the British were struggling to gain control of Norway's vast natural resource to aid their war efforts two enemy fighter planes were shot down over the tundra of Norway. We meet the German soldiers first - Lieutenant Horst Schopis (Florian Lukas), Feldwebel Wolfgang Strunk (Stig Henrik Hoff) and the wounded Unteroffizier Josef Schwartz (David Kross) as they struggle for survival, sleeping in snow caves and finally fining a deserted one room cabin where they settle in without much food and little comforts. Next we meet the British crew of the plane that crashed in the conflict with the Germans - Captain Charles P. Davenport (Lachlan Nieboer) and Gunner Robert Smith (Rupert Grint). The Brits find the German held cabin and join the Germans in a hostile relationship: there is a constant struggle of who is in charge, the Geneva convention rules of prisoners of war etc. But gradually the friction diminishes as the five men cope with finding food, warmth, and the care of Josef's arm, which has turned gangrenous. The facades of their military personalities fade into the unique personal needs of each and the result is an improbable friendship laced with angst, philosophy, humor, and mutual caring: in the end we are all equals and 'enemies' morph into caring friends.

As the credits role at film's end we are informed of the fates of each of the five men. The story is solid, touching, humorous at times, and carries a strong message about what war does to men's minds and It is only when isolated from the 'badges of countries' that these unlikely men becomes bonded. A very strong film.

Grady Harp

I really liked this movie. It doesn't attempt to be a Hollywood blockbuster or anything like that. Just a good, smart, watchable film.

If you're reading these reviews, then you probably already know the basic story: several British airmen during WWII find themselves in a remote Nordic cabin with several German airmen. They must cooperate or perish.

There's a great scene where the group is drinking merrily, and find themselves outside, watching a spectacular display of the Northern Lights. Even in the midst of despair, the men are able to enjoy a total moment of solace.