The King's Choice (Kongens nei/"The King's 'No'") is a 2016 film from Norway directed by Erik Poppe.
It recounts three tumultuous days in the history of Norway, April 8-11, 1940. King Haakon VII is unpleasantly surprised on April 8 to be told by his son, Crown Prince Olav, that the Germans are invading, based on reports of Nazi ships heading their way. On April 9 all doubt is removed as German troops begin landing in the country, while a German cruiser is sunk in Drobak Sound. The King and his family — which includes Crown Prince Olav, Olav's wife Märtha, and their three children — make a hurried departure north to stay ahead of the Nazis and captivity.
Meanwhile, the German envoy in Oslo, Curt Bräuer, is frantic. Bräuer, a career diplomat rather than a hardened Nazi, is desperate to avoid bloodshed. Bräuer hopes that Haakon VII will follow the example of his brother, King Christian X of Denmark, who capitulated within a couple of hours after the German entry into the country on April 9. However, his own country's brutishness makes Bräuer's job more difficult. A German bombing raid on Haakon VII's train makes him less willing to co-operate. Adolf Hitler's insistence that Haakon appoint Vidkun Quisling, a traitor and Nazi stooge, to the post of prime minister, also makes Haakon reluctant. But Haakon's ministers are willing to talk with the Germans in order to avoid bloodshed, leaving the king with a difficult choice.
A Spiritual Successor in effect to the NRK series Harry & Charles, which dealt with the decision of then-Prince Carl of Denmark to become King Haakon VII.
The 2020 miniseries Atlantic Crossing presents this and the rest of the war with an emphasis on Crown Princess Märtha.
For a much more lighthearted take on these same events, see the animated short film My Grandmother Ironed the King's Shirts.
Tropes:
- Advice Backfire: Before leaving to meet with Bräuer, Haakon tells his son that he's ready to be king, and that he should always have someone he loves close to him. Very sweet and touching, except that Olav's wife and children have fled into the unknown and his father is about to go to a meeting no one seems sure he'll return from... so, who does that leave? Downplayed.
- Alas, Poor Villain: Bräuer is working for the Nazis and something of a self-interested Jerkass on top of it, but he has a doomed assignment he absolutely did not want, and he's Reassigned to Antarctica when he fails. It's hard not to feel at least a little badly for him.
- Berserk Button: Don't tell Bräuer he's an ordinary Nazi soldier. Don't try using the King's family to manipulate his job, Mister Envoy.
- Butt-Monkey: Bräuer cannot catch a break from anyone or about anything. There's not one single person who sympathizes with him, including his own wife — and in her case, he brings it on himself, because of what he has to deal with.
- Casting Gag: Danish Jesper Christensen plays King Haakon VII of Norway, né Prince Carl of Denmark.
- Children Are Innocent: Bräuer's daughter, and Olav and Märtha's children. Harald just wants to go home. Also, the little kid in the snow Haakon tries to protect at the end.
- Cigarette of Anxiety: Bräuer is lighting up a cigarette with a shaking hand as he meets the German army officer in charge of Wehrmacht operations on the ground, who is making Bräuer's job more difficult by aggressively attacking the Norwegians.
- Distant Finale: Ends five years after the main story, with Haakon greeting his grandson Harald in London, right before they are to go home to Norway.
- Domestic Abuse: Bräuer hauls off and slaps his Norwegian wife Anneliese after she punctures his attitude of diplomatic superiority and calls him a soldier of Hitler. It ends up with her locking him out of the house and planning to leave him. She does stay, though he's soon sent to the Eastern Front — as a soldier for Hitler.
- The Dutiful Son: Crown Prince Olav, who still argues with his father (and others) to the point where he can start seeming like a Rebel Prince. See "Well Done, Son" Guy.
- Epic Tracking Shot: A 2 1/2 minute tracking shot follows Bräuer from his private office, to the bullpen, to the foyer of the embassy, and out into the street. The camera is following Bräuer as he frantically strives to get the German army to halt so that Bräuer can negotiate with King Haakon VII.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Bräuer and his baby girl; he mentions her hoping to sway King Haakon. He loves Anneliese, too, but that's more complicated.
- Extremely Short Timespan: April 8-11, 1940.
- Fisher King: Subverted. King Haakon is aging and slowed, in physical pain, and has 'senior moments' of scattered focus. The first shot has him self-blinded in the snow. Meanwhile, the Nazis are invading Norway. It seems highly uncertain he's in the kind of shape to cope with such a crisis. And boy, oh boy, can he still bring it.
- For Want Of A Nail: If the Blucher had made it to Oslo, the king's choices might have looked a little different. See Heroic BSoD and Laser-Guided Karma.
- Freudian Excuse: Olav accuses his late mother Queen Maud of Parental Neglect verging on Parental Abandonment, which seems to play a part in why he's so attached to the rest of his family. He says he swore he'd never leave them, but the war gives him no choice.
- Friend to All Children: Haakon adores his three grandchildren and has an Establishing Character Moment playing with them at the opening of the movie. Beyond that, it firmly comes into play when separated from his own son in the movie's final air raid, he spots a child alone wearing a similar outfit to Harald's and bodily tries to shield the kid.note
- The Ghost: Vidkun Quisling, who was such a contemptible traitor that he became a trope namer. Quisling and his Norwegian Nazis claim political power on April 9 but hardly anyone supports them. Haakon VII recoils at turning the country over to a Nazi stooge that the people don't support. Bräuer is also worried, because he knows that Quisling has virtually no support in Norway and Hitler's insistence on Quisling will make it much harder to get the Norwegians to surrender.
- The Good King: Haakon, though all the dramatic tension comes from what "good" is in this scenario, especially with regard to the future of Norway.
- Heroic BSoD: "Your brother King Christian had to surrender Denmark at five this morning." A minor but definite one for King Haakon.
- Olav, after Märtha and the children are Put on a Bus to Sweden.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: The 28cm MRK L/35 naval guns used by Norwegian defenders to sink the Blucher were purchased from Germany in 1893. Still proving very effective even after almost 50 years.
- Ironic Echo: Foreign Minister Koht refuses Bräuer's request from Hitler to allow German troops into Norway by quoting Hitler's own words, "A nation that yields to a foreign aggressor does not deserve to live".
- Jitter Cam: Seen on a couple of occasions, like when Norwegian soldiers hurriedly take up positions along an important roadblock on the road north, hoping to delay the Germans long enough to allow Haakon VII to escape.
- Just Following Orders: Bräuer refuses to go see Quisling both because it would take him out of the German chain of command, and he doesn't want to be seen as working for Quisling. Anneliese lampshades this, calls him a soldier for Hitler, and he slaps her. On the other hand, even pointing out to people later that he has direct orders from Hitler doesn't have nearly as much influence as would actually be helpful.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Aside from being Hoist by Their Own Petard, the sinking of the Blucher by Oscarsborg is basically the only part of the invasion the Norwegians managed to fight off. It happened to be the one carrying the invasion forces for Oslo, and stopping it let the King and his family, Norway's gold reserve, and most of the government escape.
- Leitmotif: The invading Nazis get a suitably ominous Jaws-like one; not so much a piece of music as just a really low, scary sound.
- Lies to Children: Crown Princess Märtha mentions Harald and Astrid and Ragnhild think they're going on vacation to the country.
- Lock-and-Load Montage: An entire scene has the men of Oscarsborg Fortress loading up their guns before the Germans arrive. It pays off, as artillery fire sinks the German heavy cruiser Blucher.
- Match Cut: From Bräuer walking away from his unsuccessful negotiations with King Haakon VII, to Haakon walking into a meeting with his government where he tells them German terms are unacceptable.
- Meaningful Background Event: At first seemingly just a Funny one, but there's an enormous oil painting of Haakon, arriving in Norway in 1905 holding little Olav, hanging on the wall of his bedroom in the Palacenote . Not only does Haakon bring this exact moment up when he needs to explain things to an upset Olav, but then it turns into a full-fledged Chekhov's Gun when he issues his official "no" to the Germans; how accepting would involve the rejection of everything involved in being King of Norway for thirty-five years — he hasn't ever stopped thinking about being King of Norway, not since he started.
- Now or Never Kiss: Extremely sad, hurried ones from Haakon and Olav to Märtha and the wailing children. Olav even stops their car just to kiss everyone again.
- Omniglot: Fairly standard for European royalty, especially at the time, and lampshaded with the train scene with Harald and Piglet, but Haakon still speaks Norwegian, Danish, English (though it isn't shown other than 'yessir') and very good German, Herr Bräuer.
- Posthumous Character: Queen Maud. She died two years before, but Haakon still clearly misses her. She also comes up in a tense scene between Haakon and Olav, who resents how his mother spent so much time in England.
- Put on a Bus: Real Life wrote the plot; Märtha realizes she has to take the children and leave Norway for everyone's safety. They end up having to go a lot sooner than anyone planned.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Haakon absolutely rips into Bräuer in the film's climactic scene. It's more startling coming from someone who's been so stoic and dignified up to then.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: Haakon is the cautious and stately Blue to pugnacious Olav's Red.
- Retraux: The opening sequence covering Haakon's arrival in Norway in 1905 to become king (he was invited when Norway gained independence from Sweden) and subsequent thirty-five years with his family is shot to mimic an early silent film. Justified; they were using film of the actual events, most with no sound.
- Royals Who Actually Do Something: A point of dramatic tension. Haakon VII, as a constitutional monarch, actually is not supposed to do anything.note But the rapidly unfolding events have him making big decisions regarding surrender or war, especially when Adolf Hitler orders Bräuer to negotiate only with Haakon VII rather than the prime minister or his cabinet.
- Sadistic Choice: Principled and bloody and possibly pointless heroism, or making a Deal with the Devil to save lives?
- Shown Their Work: Even the outfits of little Prince Harald and his sisters match the photographs of the time.
- Spoiler Title: Played with. In Norwegian, Kongens Nei is "the king's 'no'", but in that market it's a Foregone Conclusion. To have it be less of this for an audience less familiar with Haakon and Norway, it's internationally released as The King's Choice.
- The Voice: Bräuer takes a tense call from Nazi Foreign Minister Ribbentrop (who by the way was executed at Nuremberg in 1946). The call gets a lot more tense when Adolf Hitler himself gets on the line, much to Bräuer's shock.
- War Refugees: Everyone is on the run from the Nazis after the opening minutes. Crown Princess Märtha and the children have to flee the country entirelynote , as do Haakon and Olav after the events of the film. They lived in the UK bolstering La Résistance, while Märtha and the children lived in the US.
- Warrior Prince: Discussed. Olav wants to be this, several times, before finally coming to grips with his constitutional role as an heir: to support the king and make sure they're both safe and free to lead.
- "Well Done, Son" Guy: Olav clearly loves his father, but they spend a lot of the movie bickering and sniping, at least partly from stress. Haakon finally apologizes for having made Olav heir to a throne at the age of 2 and given him no choice in anything, and even offers to let him do something else. Then Olav says he does want to be king; he just doesn't want to be a king the same way as his father. Haakon is later entirely supportive of this.
- What's Up, King Dude?: Downplayed and played for laughs, but an awed Seeberg returns Haakon's "Good evening, soldier" with "Good evening... King." He almost immediately corrects himself by switching to "Your Majesty".note
- "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue: All the principals. Seeberg, the fresh-faced boy at a roadblock grievously injured fighting the Germans, survived the war and was still alive when this movie was released in Norway. Curt Bräuer left government service and served on the Eastern Front as an ordinary soldier, spending nine years in Soviet prison camps before finally being sent home and surviving until 1969. Harald has been king since 1991, with the same motto as his father and grandfather — "Alt for Norge".
- Wilhelm Scream: Heard from the German soldier that takes a bullet in the chest from Seeberg. Unfortunately for Seeberg that comes a moment after the German throws a grenade, which lands at Seeberg's feet and grievously injures him.
