The King’s Choice (2016) ****

When a German naval force arrived off the coast of Oslo in April 1940 the message from Berlin was that the manoeuvre was to “protect” Norway from a British invasion. But in reality the Germans wanted to coerce Norway into submission, as had happened with Denmark — and get its hands on the country’s mineral resources. Though there was some initial defensive resistance from the Norwegian armed forces they were seriously outnumbered. Meanwhile, King Haakon VII and his family left the capital, slowly moving northwards with Nazi troops in pursuit. The resident German diplomatic envoy, Curt Bräuer, tried to persuade the Norwegians to accept the formation of a collaborationist government in order to avoid more casualties. The King refused to give his imprimatur to the deal, which would make Vidkun Quisling the nominal Prime Minister, instead with great dignity abdicating, later leaving for England where he sat out the rest of the War. Bräuer was deemed too soft by his Nazi overlords and was sent to the Eastern Front as a punihsment, ending up a prisoner of war in Soviet hands. Erik Poppe’s reconstruction of the first fortnight in April 1940 and the King’s dilemma, The King’s Choice (available on BBC iPlayer, in Norwegian and German with English subtitles, for the next fortnight) sticks pretty closely to the historical facts while focusing intimately on the King (Jesper Christen) and Bräuer (Karl Marcovics). Christen is particularly strong in his role. But for me the most impressive aspect of the film is it pace: while the crisis injects a dramatic urgency into the lives of the main characters the tempo of most of the action is deliberately slow and the snowy landscape further mutes the atmosphere and the colours. For Norwegians watching Th King’s Choice must be a national feel-good experience, but for the rest of us it gives a valuable insight into a less well known chapter in the history of the Second World War.