Norwegian Ninja (2010)

Written and Directed by Thomas Cappelen Malling

Just when I thought I'd seen the wackiest films Norway has to offer, I finally get Norwegian Ninja. Arne Treholt was a Norwegian intelligence officer, and in 1984 he was arrested for High Treason, because he supposedly sold secrets to Russia and Iraq. Upon his arrest, it was found there was little evidence against him, but he was quickly sentenced to 20 years (maximum sentence in Norway) and locked away. It gets weirder. Eight years into his sentence, Treholt was pardoned by the new governmental regime. People to this day claim Treholt was set up, and it was a vast conspiracy against him and his intelligence team.

This wacky comedy purports to be the real story of Arne Treholt, Norwegian Ninja. From here, I will ignore any real world facts, and examine the plot of the film. Treholt (Mads Ousdal) lives on a quiet island off the coast of Norway, where he trains and feeds his crew of Ninja, who live like hippie farmers on the island. Every once in a while, they have to spring into action, to protect the national security of Norway, with ninja fighting styles, secret flying machines, and Batman-style hidden passages.

When Treholt and his company respond to a threat, they realize they've been set up by a rival government agent, Otto Meyer (Jon Øigarden), they set a massive plan into motion. The trouble is, Otto is the leader of a ring of terrorists, who commit terror acts to justify the government operations he runs. Treholt singles out a ninja from his crew, and gives him a special assignment, to save all of Norway.

Filled with zany action, miniatures on strings, and tons of wacky greenscreen shots, this is a fun movie. The concept is novel, and for all the speculation involved in the Treholt case, it could very well be true just as easily as it could be fake. That's not the fun here though, the real fun is Mads Ousdal as Treholt, and the many genre conventions explored in this film.

The technical execution is weird, because some shots are really well done and serious, and then the next shot is a dogfight involving two toy airplanes. The exploitation of genre seems to be the first priority for this film, the actual story falls to second priority. With a movie this goofy though, it's not unexpected, and it lightens the whole nature of the film. After all, this could have been made as a serious spy thriller, and would be no less a movie for doing so. But the choice to turn it into a balls-out comedy is an interesting one, and for the most part, I think they did a damn fine job telling "the true story".

A definite recommendation to EuroSpy fans, as that's where most of the ribbing comes from. A fun film, and surely a future cult classic.

8.7/10 (B+)