History Film / MaxManus

* 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.

* InstitutionalAllegianceConcealment: The Norwegian commandos wear British uniforms and leave a taunting message in English so the Germans will not retaliate against the locals. Realising the raid had to be aided by local dock workers, [[MakeAnExampleOfThem several are selected to be shot anyway]].

* 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.]]

* SuperWindowJump: RealityEnsues when Max just ends up in hospital after trying this trope. However after a second successful attempt, he finds he's become FamedInStory as the guy who jumped out the window.

* FalseFlagOperation: The Norweigen commandos wear British uniforms and leave a taunting message in English so the Germans will not retaliate against the locals. Realising the raid had to be aided by local dock workers, [[MakeAnExampleOfThem several are selected to be shot anyway]].

It tells the story of the eponymous UsefulNotes/WorldWarII 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.

A 2008 Norwegian film about the eponymous UsefulNotes/WorldWarII 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.

* ShellShockedVeteran: Max keeps getting flashbacks of the war in Finland, and doesn't feel any better after WW2 either.

* FieryCoverup: LaResistance are out to destroy the government records to forestall a move to conscript Norwegians for the Russian front. One archive is blown up, but the other set of archives are in a block of flats with civilians living there, so Max insists they burn the documents in the fireplace even through it takes all night. Inevitably the police show up to investigate all the smoke coming from the chimney and things rapidly go FromBadToWorse.

* AffablyEvil: The Gestapo chief Siegfried Fehmer.

* 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.

** One resistance member says he sleeps in a different location every night, and remonstrates with Max staying in the safehouse.

-->'''Gregers:''' There's two sides to every story.

-->'''Gregers:''' Then it's up to us, I guess.

* YourTerroristsAreOurFreedomFighters: After a Resistance raid goes wrong, Max reads in TheQuisling newspaper about three terrorists shot dead. In response Gregers indicates the [[VoiceOfTheResistance underground newspaper]] he's typing.

* RuleOfCool: The movie made a point of making some scenes more action like than they actually were. The first BalconyEscape had Max hitting one of the police men before jumping. In RealLife, he just said "look", and pointed to a picture on the wall before jumping, having made them turn around for a moment.

* ShellShockedSenior: Max keeps getting flashback of the war in Finland, and doesn't feel any better after WW2 either.

* FakeDefector: Greger and Tallak are caught by a sting operation involving a fake anti-Nazi German. Greger realises they're under surveillance and things degenerate into a shootout.

* WeHaveToGetTheBulletOut: Justified; Max is accidentally shot, but the bullet fragments and doesn't inflict any serious injury. However the doctor informs him that he's not able to find all the fragments, which could cause infection if left in place.

** Lars gets killed when he tries to shoot a German soldier and his gun jams.
** Max is showing off a hammerless automatic and accidentally gets shot. The wound isn't serious but he has to go to Sweden for treatment. While he's away, his friend Greger is killed in an ambush.

* ProperlyParanoid: A German soldier randomly fires his submachine gun into the water near the Donau's hull to deter saboteurs, who nearly get hit by such a burst just when they've finished planting the bombs.

* MarkedBullet: The limpet mines that Max places on the Donau have the [[AndThisIsFor names of their colleagues who were killed]] earlier in the movie written on them.

* MissedHimByThatMuch: Siegfried Fehmer literally bumps into the Donau saboteurs as they're leaving the dock and even thinks he recognizes one of them, but brushes it off.

* NoKillLikeOverkill: A Resistance member gets shot by a machine-gun equipped truck which runs him over a moment later.

* ForeignLanguageTirade: at one point, a disillusioned and possibly slightly delirious Max delivers a heartfelt monologue about his resistance fight to a German sailor who appears to not understand his language. [[spoiler: Fortunately, reality does not ensue here -- he really doesn't understand Norwegian]].

* FalseFlagOperation: The Norweigen commandoes leave a message in English so the Germans will not retaliate against the locals. Realising the raid had to be aided by local dock workers, [[MakeAnExampleOfThem several are selected to be shot anyway]].

* 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]].

* BetterToDieThanBeKilled: Knowing he'll be tortured until he breaks then executed, Tallak hangs himself in his cell.

* 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]].]]

* 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.

* BANGFlagGun: Max is shown playing around with an air pistol when his voiceover narrates how amateurish they were in the early days.

* 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]].