Hamsun (1996)

I knew nothing about Knut Hamsun before seeing this movie. A major figure in literature. He won the Nobel Prize in 1920.

According to the description, Hamsun was a revered in Norway until he and his wife expressed unpopular political views. They didn't say what those views were. I assumed it was some noble cause.

It turned out that Hamsun was pro-Nazi even after Norway was invaded and occupied by the Nazis. He was anti-democratic and anti-Communist and was glad that Norwegian collaborators are serving in the Nazi army invading the USSR.

He didn't come across as an enthusiastic Nazi like his wife. She was unhappy being a helpmeet to her arrogant big-shot husband The Nazis flattered her with talk about the importance of women in National Socialism.

The movie covers the war years and their aftermath. It was over two hours long. There are several places where the movie might have ended, but it was a true story and people's lives don't come to an end just because they reached a logical end point to a narrative arc. The movie starts with him at 75. He's waiting to die and expects to at any time. He might have laid off the treason if he had known his life was going to drag on another seventeen years.

Available on Filmstruck which will be no more after November 29th.