On April 27, 1940, the Nazis' and British are battling over Norway's vast natural resources, a German bomber and British fighter come to blows above the snowy wilderness. Both planes crash and the crews seek refuge in a deserted one-room cabin.
The animosity created by the war is recreated inside the small hut, with the three-man German crew having the upper hand over the British airmen.
Lieutenant Horst Schopis, played brilliantly by Florian Lukas takes charge of the cabin and makes Captain Charles P. Davenport (Lachlan Nieboer) and Gunner Robert Smith (Rupert Grint) his prisoners. The British captives take great pleasure in annoying their German ‘guards' – tensions between the two sides mount up in the confined space.
This is no traditional war movie, largely as the film contains very little action. If you're looking for cheap thrills and lots of action, this isn't the movie for you, if you are looking for something deeper, then you will probably enjoy ‘Into The White'. The cast is very good, although it was disconcerting to see actor Rupert Grint, Harry Potter's ginger wiz kid ‘Ron Weasley' without his familiar wand and robes.
The facades of their military personalities fade as the German and British airmen struggle for survival in the isolated cabin. Slowly, they realise that working together will be their only chance of survival. As a result, an improbable friendship is forged between the two enemies.
The film feels more like a play, with its limited locations. For the most part, the drama takes place inside the cabin. Although, occasionally we do see the stunning Norwegian countryside when our protagonists venture outside to find food.
This tale is based on a true event that happened in the early phase of the Second World War. In the book ‘Luftkampfgegner wurden Freunde' (“Air combat opponents became friends”), Horst Schopis wrote his account of the night he came across British pilots in the abandoned cabin. In the real story, the group only spent one night together. Still, it makes for a fascinating premise and the director has done a nice job stringing this story together.
Overall, Into The White is an entertaining film that you can stream on Amazon Prime Video. At the end of the movie, we are told what happened to each of the real Airmen. I won't spoil the ending – but get the tissues ready!
The movie begins in German, but switches to English almost immediately. Don't be alarmed and search for the subtitle options or change the audio language; it will automatically switch to English after the first five minutes.
