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Director's Statement
We believe Max Manus’ story is important. It tells us about the value of fighting for something you believe in with everything you’ve got. But the film doesn’t hide that such a fight can scar your soul for the rest of your life. Max saw his friends die, one after the other, and every time he lost a piece of himself.
In a time where videogames instantly give you a new life after you die, and war is usually something remote on TV from far away lands, we believe this movie has an important message to the audience: violence is gritty, and has serious consequences both physically and mentally. We wanted to emphasize how our lead characters are being worn down as human beings by what they go through.
But this is also a celebration of the things Max Manus and the “Oslo-gang” he belonged to achieved. Because some things are worth fighting for - and some things are worth dying for. It is also a story of how important friendship, hope and love is in the darkest hours and that those values that will carry us through the night and into a new day. The film has been seen by a quarter of the Norwegian population and sold to more than 30 countries. That is of course extremely gratifying, but to us, our greatest achievement was that it proved a favourite among young people - including the girls! The serious story we wanted to tell communicated with a generation who usually relates only to American mass entertainment.