Nine Lives

Ni liv

Norway

1957

96 Min

Black and White

Norwegian

Currently 3.8/5 Stars.
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SCR David Howarth, James L. Shute, Arne Skouen

CAST Jack Fjeldstad, Henny Moan, Alf Malland

Synopsis

The movie takes place during World War II and depicts the true story of Jan Baalsruds amazing escape from the German army from the coast of Northern Norway and across the border to the neutral country Sweden. Jan Baalsrud is on a sabotage mission from England to Norway together with 11 other soldiers in the winter of 1943 in a fishing boat when they are attacked by a German patrolboat. Jan Baalsrud is the only one who manages to escape and sets off towards Sweden through the enormous amounts of snow and the steep mountains of Norway. The local communities where he passes through help him despite the danger of being arrested and killed. Jan Baalsrud, snowblind and having to cut off his toes because of frost-damage survives alone in the mountains for weeks. The locals are constantly trying to get him over to Sweden, but German patrols and the winter storms delay their departure. —IMDb

Director

Arne Skouen

Arne Skouen (b. 1913, Oslo) is a legend of Norwegian cinematography. He started out in the 1930s, first as a journalist and dramatist. As a director he debuted in 1949, and over the next twenty years shot 16 more features, many of which had a major influence on the development of Norwegian film. Selected filmography: Street Kids (Gategutter, 1949), Fire in the Night (Det brenner i natt, 1955), Cold Tracks (Kalde spor, 1962), About Tilla (Om Tilla, 1963), An-Magritt (1969). Skouen’s Nine Lives (Ni liv, 1957), proclaimed in 1991 as the best Norwegian film ever made, is one of the country’s few movies to be nominated for an Oscar. An-Magritt is a film adaptation of a Norwegian national work which features an outstanding performance by Liv Ullmann in the title role, and picturesque camerawork by Swedish director of photography Sven Nykvist. —KVIFF