I came here tonight to specifically recommend Number 24 as well, I just finished it and thought it so well done, the actors exceptional, and it all quite moving. It’s an unexpected format that works beautifully.
It’s a film I’d want high school and college students to see as well, in particular for the way the film is constructed (as I think they would connect with it), especially as knowledge of the War in younger generations is becoming more scant, particularly as people who lived through it have passed away.
Of note: I normally dislike dubbing in foreign films (finding it flat and disjointed, so I’d rather watch with subtitles) but the actors who dubbed this film in English did an exceptional job - and their work adds much to the story here.
Andersen directs Number 24 in a documentary style, flipping from modern Norway to war-time Norway with ease. The sabotage attacks on key infrastructure provide enough spark to remind us of the dangers of war but at its heart this is two-hander through the eyes of the elder and younger Sønsteby. Sjur Vatne Brean as the younger captures the resistance hero remarkably. Focused and driven yet also blessed with the perfect poker face that lets himself blend into the background and become the invisible man. As the elder, Erik Hivju is equally captivating, proud and resolute in his achievements but still inwardly tortured by the decisions war forced upon him.
As befitting a documentary approach, Andersen doesn’t judge, his challenge comes though the voices of the students listening to Sønsteby’s testimony. A generation removed from war they have a different outlook on life and their questions over the use of violence as opposed to diplomacy don’t receive a resolution here – nor should they.
Where Number 24 succeeds is showcasing perhaps still a lesser-known area of the Second World War. While the French Resistance is now well-known, its Norwegian counterpart is perhaps less featured outside of the country. Regardless of nationality, though, what Number 24 manages to portray with both skill and sensitivity is the true cost of any conflict on the human soul, even decades after hostilities have ceased.