Betrayal

Eagle Entertainment

R4 DVD

German with English subtitles

When Germany conquered Norway in World War II it spent a lot of money developing the country’s infrastructure and strengthening its defences. There were profiteers on both sides and it is these that the film deals with.

Tor Lindblom is a nightclub owner who provides the Germans with luxury goods and services from the black market. In many ways his club resembles a crime den of the American Prohibition era with its rich and influential men making their deals. Is he truly betraying his country if he makes money out of the enemy? His partner in crime is SS Major Kruger, a German who is skimming money from the huge construction budgets. Kruger is definitely betraying his country. He is Eva’s ex boyfriend and is spying on her out of jealousy.

Eva is a singer at the club. She has a part-time day job at Gestapo headquarters as a clerk. She is also a British agent. Somewhat amoral, she has three lovers unknowingly providing information to her. She gives the information to her ex-boyfriend, another British agent, to get it to London.

A Dr Walter is sent to audit Kruger’s books, suspecting Kruger is making huge profits for himself. The game is up.

Finally the pressures build and Kruger is forced to act to cover himself. One by one the conspirators are shot and Eva realises it is time to get out. The film finally switches into full speed in her desperate race for the border with Kruger in hot pursuit.

Although the film is slow during the first half it manages to show the dangerous and slow methods of gathering intelligence in a hostile country. I would have liked a little more action here, but I can see why director Haakon Gunderson chose to proceed with care. Perhaps he could have used the time to develop the characters a little further, but since each of them is trying to hide their real motives what character should he have shown? It is hard to feel sympathy for any of the players. All are betraying their country or their friends, a point that is made laboriously during the slow moving first half of the film.

Gunderson makes up for the dark, shadowy nighttime scenes of the first part with a rather incongruous escape through the beautiful countryside. Death and betrayal against such a lovely background is definitely a surprise.

I suppose I must mention that the part of Eva is played by Lene Nystrom, lead singer of Aqua. Her voice is perfect for the part but I kept waiting for her to burst into a chorus of “I’m a Barbie girl”. Mercifully it didn’t happen.

You are going to love or hate this film. Its subtlety will not be to everybody’s liking.

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