A true story of treason and espionage in Cold War-era Norway re-imagined by a writer-director who, as a 12-year-old, had his mind warped by a diet of Star Wars, 1980s Ninja movies, C64 video games and his dad’s spy novels, provides the bizarre source material and inspires the vision for Norwegian Ninja, the debut feature by author-turned-filmmaker Thomas Cappelen Malling.
Produced by the people responsible for the cult Nazi zombies hit Dead Snow, Norwegian Ninja is a quirky, offbeat homage to everything from James Bond’s improbable spy shenanigans to B-movie Ninja flicks and post-modern Grindhouse culture to political conspiracy theory. Malling’s film is a true original, a potent mix of fact, fiction and fantasy that is impossible to pigeonhole.
In reality, Norwegian Ninja’s main protagonist, Arne Treholt, was a former Norwegian social democratic politician and diplomat who, in the mid-1980s, was convicted of high treason and espionage on behalf of the Soviet Union and Iraq and sentenced to 20 years in prison. However, in the eyes of the juvenile Thomas Cappelen Malling watching events unfold on the TV news, the handsome, hotshot diplomat was neither traitor nor spy. He was a skilled Ninja Master secretly working for King Olav V and defending the Norwegian Way!
When Commander Treholt (Mads Oussdal) and the highly trained members of his covert Ninja Force discover a sinister plot against Norway, they immediately leap into action to avert the crisis. Behind the devious plans for a coup-d'état that would effectively place the US in control of the country is Treholt’s nemesis, Meyer (Jon Oigarden), an operative of Stay Behind, an anti-Soviet force funded by NATO and with nefarious links to the CIA.
As Treholt and Meyer wage a private and very personal war for the hearts and minds of the Norwegian people, the Ninja Force must fight to defeat Meyer’s co-conspirators in the name of King Olav’s battle cry, “All For Norway!” Meanwhile, Treholt is also occupied with the unenviable task of training a seemingly incompetent member of the Ninja Force to become his second-in-command.
Film: Norwegian Ninja
Release date: 18th April 2011
Certificate: 15
Running time: 77 mins
Director: Thomas Cappelen Malling
Starring: Mads Ousdal, Jon Øigarden, Trond-Viggo Torgersen, Linn Stokke, Amund Maarud
Genre: Action/Comedy/Thriller
Studio: E1
Format: DVD
Country: Norway
DVD Special Features:
• Oddities and Bloopers
• Home Alone With Otto
• Interviews plus Fight Choreography
• Music video
• Skycar and Torpedo featurettes
• Bonus scenes
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