The Saboteurs

Nazi Germany is trying to develop an atomic bomb and so after the invasion of Norway this could become reality. They have a water plant, which is producing massive volumes of heavy water. The allies know about this thanks to their Norwegian counterparts and so they decide to take action. By training a team, who come to Britian from Norway at great risk. They have been given skills in explosives, combat and survival skills. Their job is now set to attack the plant and stop its production before the bomb is made and the war is changed forever.

This is one of those moments of history that always brings about reactions from film producers. They want to celebrate an event that still has a powerful hold over us, even today. This power has brought money to these producers and also has brought awards and critical praise. They get this because of a wealth of motifs that the war brings, amazing actions that the people achieved and great courage and even greater sacrifice ordinary people went through. We do idolise the time period and can engage with people that fight against the evils of fascism. This is an event that many of us have spent our lives knowing and being told about the various daring dos and great exploits of heros of the time. We have lost nothing in being told this in schools, homes and by friends across our lives. We know from this that the Nazis are the chief icon of fascism and their destruction was the greatest human achievement in modern history.

What I like about this series is not that it is steeped in the history and detail of the period. It is very much steeped in this. What I like is that the series plays away from the over the top action of the late 90s onward American films set in the war. It still retains the action set pieces and these are executed very well. But instead of making everything bullets and bombs, it is more stealth, smash and splash. This makes the events far more relistic and relatable. It also takes the time to expose these events, which help us to absorb and digest the event. Thankfully it has gauged the way we want to and needed to see this. What I mean is that we see events in a way that builds up to a rupture. Not bang, boom, quiet, boom, blast, quiet pace of the action film and some series in this ilk. When something happens, it happens with the expectation at a level to make you thrilled and ready for it. Not of the mindset that you give up.

Casting and overall ambition in this series are my concern. The casting is good but has been balanced to fit in stereotype and empty points of involvement. I mean that they have stocked up on people that need not feature in the series. These are people that could have been removed without even leaving a trace of presence. I was annoyed by the way this is done to either fit a marketing strategy or process. I hate when this happens in series or in international productions. Anna Friel however was excellent and deserves to have this role and her Odyssey role acknowledged as being standout. Ambition in the other hand is the route of a major problem. The desire to make an event like the Second World War jump into the present, can cause it to be turned into a duller version of the reality. It can also mean that it is turned into a moment that is constently revisited without thought of the numbing effect this has.