History Film / MaxManus

* VoiceOfTheResistance: The importance of propaganda to counter that of LaQuisling government is discussed on several occasions.

* SurprisinglyGoodForeignLanguage: the German actor playing the German Gestapo officer Siegfried Fehmer did not speak a word of Norwegian when he was hired. Undeterred, he decided to teach himself Norwegian for his participation in the film.

* TickertapeParade: Max serves as part of the King's honor guard at the end of the movie.

* ExpectingSomeoneTaller: "Tikken"'s first meeting with Max Manus.

* OlderThanTheyLook: Kjakan.

* WarIsHell

* AnyoneCanDie - played straight and foreshadowed: in the beginning of the film, it is made clear to Max that chances of survival in the commando unit is minimal. The scene where the group plans their first raid, operation Mardonius, is notable in this regard because [[spoiler: out of all the people in the scene, only Max survives the war]].
* BasedOnATrueStory - though with a few notable exceptions, such as overplaying Max's role in Finland, where it is not certain if he saw any action at all. Though Maximo Manus himself was not alive when the movie was released, his widow stated that she found it an accurate portrayal.
* BalconyEscape - Max Manus. ''Twice in a row''.
* BittersweetEnding - the film ends with the death of Hitler and the liberation of Europe. However, [[spoiler: Max Manus is pretty much a mental wreck at this point, having lost countless close friends and blaming himself for their deaths, and feeling obsolete and worthless without a war ("nothing is more pathetic than a soldier no one has a use for"). He's also [[DidNotGetTheGirl given up on ever getting Tikken to fall in love with him]]. Although he does end up marrying Tikken, the 'conclusion text' before the end credits reveal that he will [[ShellShockedVeteran struggle with depression and alcoholism for the rest of his life]].]]
* BreakTheCutie - Max Manus himself, as well as [[spoiler: Tallak when he is captured by the Germans]].
* ExpectingSomeoneTaller - "Tikken"'s first meeting with Max Manus.
* ForeignLanguageTirade - at one point, a disillusioned and possibly slightly delirious Max delivers a heartfelt monologue about his resistance fight to a German soldier who appears to not understand his language. [[spoiler: Fortunately, reality does not ensue here -- he really doesn't understand Norwegian]].
* LightIsNotGood - Fehmer is blond, courteous, cultured and loves the country he is helping occupy - so much, in fact, that he does not balk at torture and killing to get rid of the resistance fighters.
* MacGuffin - Max Manus is obsessed with sinking the "Donau", a huge and heavily armed German cargo ship shipping supplies and prisoners between Norway and Germany on a daily basis.
* MeetCute - Max and his love "Tikken", one of the women in Sweden helping the Allied resistance fighters.
* ThoseWackyNazis - Fehmer being an example of the cultured one.
* OlderThanTheyLook - Kjakan.

* RealityEnsues - there are several scenes which fans of action films would expect to turn out differently than they do. [[spoiler: For example, when Max Manus jumps ''through'' a closed window, several stories over a cobblestone street, he is heavily injured both by the cuts and the impact with the ground, and ends up bedridden in a hospital. There is also a scene where two of his comrades meet with an alleged Nazi informant in a cafe, only to realize they've walked into a setup and that they are surrounded by heavily armed Nazis. Perhaps surprisingly to fans of Hollywood flicks, they ''don't'' miraculously win the ensuing firefight.]]

* SurprisinglyGoodForeignLanguage - the German actor playing the German Gestapo officer Siegfried Fehmer did not speak a word of Norwegian when he was hired. Undeterred, he decided to teach himself Norwegian for his participation in the film.
* SurvivorGuilt - one of Max's biggest weaknesses is that he seems to [[ItsAllMyFault blame himself]] every time one of his comrades dies.

* RealityEnsues - there are several scenes which fans of action films would expect to turn out differently than they do. [[spoiler: For example, when Max Manus jumps ''through'' a closed window, several stories over a cobblestone street, he is heavily injured both by the cuts and the impact with the ground, and ends up bedridden in a hospital. There is also a scene where two of his comrades meet with an alleged Nazi informant in a cafe, only to realize they've walked into a setup and that they are surrounded by heavily armed Nazis. Perhaps suprisingly to fans of Hollywood flicks, they ''don't'' miracoulously win the ensuing firefight.]]

A 2008 Norwegian film about the eponymous World War II resistance fighter Maximo "Max" Manus, who after a short deployment fighting Russians in Finland returns to Norway to find it occupied by the Germans, and ends up joining a British special forces unit to conduct commando missions around Norway. Notable as one of the highest-grossing Norwegian films ever, as well as sparking much domestic debate about the glorification of the resistance movement.

* Narm - the end of the hospital sequence. [[spoiler: Max Manus gets help from a nurse, who asks him to hit her so that the Germans won't think she was an accomplice. Max passionately kisses him out of the blue -- for then to pull back and, equally suddenly, punch her hard in the face. Cut to her standing in front of the Germans with a black eye.]] Audience members typically laugh here, but WordOfGod is that the sequence wasn't meant to be funny.

* Narm - the end of the hospital sequence. [[spoiler: Max Manus gets help from a nurse, who asks him to hit her so that the Germans won't think she was an accomplice. Max passionately kisses him out of the blue -- for then to pull back and, equally suddenly, punch her hard in the face. Cut to her standing in front of the Germans with a black eye.]] WordOfGod is that it wasn't meant to be funny.

* RealityEnsues - there are several scenes which fans of action films would expect to turn out differently than they do -- most of the time, in the villains' favour. [[spoiler: For example, when Max Manus jumps ''through'' a closed window, several stories over a cobblestone street, he is heavily injured both by the cuts and the impact with the ground, and ends up bedridden in a hospital. There is also a scene where two of his comrades meet with an alleged Nazi informant in a cafe, only to realize they've walked into a setup and that they are surrounded by heavily armed Nazis. Perhaps suprisingly to fans of Hollywood flicks, they ''don't'' miracoulously win the ensuing firefight.]]

* WarIsHell -

* BittersweetEnding - the film ends with the death of Hitler and the liberation of Europe. However, [[spoiler:Max Manus is pretty much a mental wreck at this point, having lost countless close friends and blaming himself for their deaths, and feeling obsolete and worthless without a war ("nothing is more pathetic than a soldier no one has a use for"). He's also [[DidNotGetTheGirl given up on ever getting Tikken to fall in love with him]]. Although he does end up marrying Tikken, the 'conclusion text' before the end credits reveal that he will [[ShellShockedVeteran struggle with depression and alcoholism for the rest of his life]].

* BittersweetEnding - the film ends with the death of Hitler and the liberation of Europe. However, [[spoiler:Max Manus is pretty much a mental wreck at this point, having lost countless close friends and blaming himself for their deaths, and feeling obsolete and worthless without a war ("nothing is more pathetic than a soldier no one has a use for"). He's also [[DidNotGetTheGirl given up on ever getting Tikken to fall in love with him]]. Although he does end up marrying Tikken, the end credits reveal that he will struggle with depression and alcoholism for the rest of his life.]]

A 2008 Norwegian film about the eponymous World War II resistance fighter.

Notable as one of the highest-grossing Norwegian films ever, as well as sparking much domestic debate about the glorification of the resistance movement.

* BasedOnATrueStory

* MeetCute - Max and Tikken

* OlderThanTheyLook - Kjakan
* ProtagonistTitle

* AnyoneCanDie - played straight.

* BreakTheCutie - Max himself, as well as [[spoiler: Tallak when he is captured by the Germans]]