The Arctic Convoy (2023)

This is a WWII drama based on some fact but expanded to a degree, in order to add dramatic extension. It's 1942 and Hitler is successfully invading Russia. In order to help the Russians, the allies are providing arms and supplies across the top of the Atlantic, towards the Arctic sea. Our story follows one such ship, part of a convoy, and the events of their journey from Iceland to Murmansk in Russia with supplies.

It's a Danish film, originally called Konvoi. The ship we're onboard is run by a civilian sailor crew, not military, so they are not really trained for combat and rely on the allied forces to protect them from the air and sea via escorting, within the convoy. Due to some dodgy intelligence on the part of the British it seems, the convoy was dispersed mid-way across, leaving each to their own devices, for fear that the Germans were launching an indefensible attack from their bases in Norway with U-Boats and bombers. Turns out in the end that this was not true.

The captain, Skar, played well by Anders Baasmo, had to deal with a frightened and inexperienced crew, including a first mate, Mork, who had been previously traumatised by losing his own ship when he, too, was a captain. He was played by Tobias Santelmann and the pair of them were clearly the acting talent, along with radio operator/coder Ragnhild, played by Heidi Ruud Ellingsen. The three of them did a convincing job.

Skar was highly motivated to get the supplies through at any cost, or die trying, to give the best chance to the Russians to put an end to the German advance north - thus protecting his Norway and the rest of Europe. Mork's motivation was to keep the crew safe at any cost, for nobody to die - and therein lay the conflict between them, with Ragnhild often playing mediator/referee.

How much of the drama onboard was based on fact, I'm not sure - we'd need to consult an historian to find out - but it plays out well. The building of tension has been done well and scene after scene of perilous, harrowing incident keeps the eyes wide and mouth open! There's a hairy scene where the untrained crew are hanging off the side of the ship with poles, pushing mines away from the vessel and others with the stress of isolation waiting for bombers to see if they land one on them.

It sometimes comes across as a kind of low-budget, made-for-TV film, but that doesn't take anything away from the depth of the thriller - its trump card being that it's generally based on truth. At the end of the film there are summaries of the facts put on the screen which depicts the event in history and acknowledges the 4000 lives lost overall due to these kinds of convoy operations. I'd suggest that people watch it to learn about what was going on up there and how ordinary folk had to deal with the dreadful perils of war. It's doing the rounds on various streaming channels as I write.