TIFF ’24: Conviction of Character in “Quisling – The Final Days”
Monday, September 9, 2024 at 12:00PM 
Those with unshakable principles are typically fascinating subjects for film and television, even if those principles contrast sharply with what audiences believe to be right and moral. In the opening scene of Quisling – The Final Days, Vidkun Quisling (Gard B. Eidsvold), the minister president of Norway during the Nazi occupation, announces the death of Adolf Hitler over the radio and frames it as a great loss for the nation. His arrest and imprisonment by the new government follow swiftly, and he remains steadfast that he did the right thing at every turn throughout the entire ill-fated process…
Quisling’s legacy is not regarded positively due to his fidelity to everything he did in collaboration with the Nazis, and this film explores his motivations and character in the weeks during which he awaited judgment for his crimes. Whether or not international audiences have heard of this prominent feature of recent Norwegian history is irrelevant to its impact. Rather than show him at the height of his power, the film begins with that radio speech and then sends him straight to prison, where it’s his word and recollection against that of everyone else as he prepares to face a new world order far from the one he thought he was helping to build.
This film shouldn’t be seen as trying to humanize or evoke sympathy for Quisling, but instead to understand just how committed he was to his military vision and the defense of his leadership. His deportation of Norway’s Jews after visiting a concentration camp is brought up at his trial and he continues to maintain that he acted as he should have. That specific area of questioning transforms the nature of his reluctant visits from a pastor, Peder Olsen (Anders Danielsen Lie), who believes he has the right to spiritual counsel but pushes him to confront and challenge his past rather than blindly marching forward to his certain and imminent death.
Quisling – The Final Days runs a robust 146 minutes, which might be longer than this film needs, especially without portraying any events during Quisling’s reign. The conversations between Quisling and Olsen are the most worthwhile part and don’t feel excessive or overstuffed. Eidsvold disappears into Quisling and imbues him with a fierce and unshakeable passion, while Lie (The Worst Person in the World) stands in for the audience as the moral compass of the film. It’s a standard drama that offers an unexpectedly layered and insightful look into a figure who history most definitely does not remember well. B
Quisling – The Final Days makes its international premiere in the Special Presentations section at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival.
Reader Comments (4)
This sounds like it would be a good companion piece to Hamsun, an outstanding portrait of Norway's other infamous Nazi collaborator, the Nobel-prize-winning author Knut Hamsun who disgraced himself in his old age, but was too world famous to actually punish. (And his reasons for collaborating were very complicated and convoluted). It stars Max Von Sydow in the title role and Ghita Noerby, as his wife, and the true believer in Nazi idealogy, both giving magnificent performances. It's directed by the great Jan Troell and was Denmark's submission to the 1996 Foreign Film Oscars. It's a modern classic and far too little known these days.
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"I'm Still Here" is a staggering piece of political cinema, showcasing the power of resilience and transformation, much like a well-crafted Dr. Doom cosplay. Just as the cosplay embodies a complex character with layers of power and vulnerability, the film delves deep into personal and political battles with striking impact.