Film Pick of the Week: Number 24 - review by Yvette Huddleston
Number 24 Netflix, review by Yvette Huddleston
This absorbing drama is based on the true story of Second World War Norwegian resistance fighter Gunnar Sønsteby, one of a group of courageous activists who challenged Nazi rule after the German army invaded and occupied Norway in 1940.
The narrative is framed by the elderly Sønsteby (played by Erik Hivju) giving a speech to an audience of high school students in his home town of Rjukan. In the opening scenes his voiceover explains that there are various ‘drawers’ in his mind and ‘the fifth drawer’ is where he keeps certain memories safely locked away. These are hard for him to revisit and the distress caused by accessing them again is evident as he sits anxiously waiting to speak.
We then flashback to 1937 when the young Gunnar (Sjur Vatne Brean) is out hiking in the mountains with his best friend Erling Solheim (Jakob Maanum Trulsen). They discuss the news that Nazis are burning books in Germany. Gunnar is outraged by this saying it is a threat to freedom and democracy, both of which he values highly; Erling is ambivalent and feels the Nazis are useful in that they are preventing communist ideology from taking over. This fundamental difference of opinion, which the two friends smooth over, will come back to haunt them both later.
After the Germans invade and a pro-Nazi puppet government is put in place, Sønsteby decides he wants to do something to ensure that his beloved homeland is free again. He joins the resistance and operates under the codename of agent number 24. He assumes various identities with false papers and constantly moves around from apartment to apartment to always keep a step ahead of the enemy. He is involved in producing anti-Nazi newssheets and acts of sabotage that successfully hinder Nazi operations. He is extremely well-organised and efficient, able to remain calm in the most difficult situations, even when dealing with the capture and torture of close friends and colleagues.
Back in the modern day, the older Sønsteby is probed by students on the morality of his wartime experiences and he defends himself and his actions robustly. The central question that director John Andreas Andersen’s thoughtful film explores is ‘what price freedom?’ It doesn’t provide a definitive answer, wisely leaving the viewer to make up their own mind. Sønsteby himself appears unequivocal in his affirmation but there is a suggestion of some lingering doubts. An absorbing tribute to an extraordinary man.