We discuss the ending of the Netflix film Narvik which will contain spoilers and major plot points.
The story of Narvik takes place in the coastal town in Norway that is one of the world’s greatest iron ore resources. Of course, Hitler, as his master race, wants to expand his ever-growing empire. Defending the northern then is a regiment including Corporel Gunnar Tofte (Carl Martin Eggesbo), who visits his wife Ingrid (Kristine Hartgen) and small son Ole (Christoph Gelfert Mathiesen) for a bit of rest. When he returned late at night, the Germans landed on the beach, and the Norwegian Colonel surrendered his weapon.
Gunnar and the remaining soldiers refuse to surrender their weapons, so they leave town, led by their commander, Major Omdal (a very good Henrik Mestad). He orders them straight out of town because they refused to lay down their weapons. All so they can set up their next mission to blow up the bridge that carries the precious ore out of town. Meanwhile, Ingrid knows German and becomes a translator for a German officer Frtiz Wussow. The man takes a shine to her as she works at the best downtown hotel. She even helps the English diplomats (Billy Campbell) escape. Ingrid has a coworker hide them in the mountaintop cabin who were there the day before to negotiate peace.
Narvik ending explained
Gunnar’s Family
Gunnar’s father puts Ingrid and Ole on a train out of town while Gunnar is looking for dynamite to blow up the bridge. The germans stop that train and kick the passengers off. They walk through a tunnel on top of the bridge. Gunnar and the Major see them and rush them off. That’s when the German soldiers show up, and Gunnar damages the bridge enough to be too dangerous to drive a train across. However, he is captured by the enemy while he sees Ingrid and Ole escorted back to town.
For the next four weeks, Gunnar is used as slave labor, and Ingrid works for the Germans at the hotel. She steals maps from Fritz’s office and hands them to the English, who then bomb the town and her home. Gunnar’s father is killed, and Ole has shrapnel near his lung. To get a doctor in the city, Ingrid tells Fritz where the English counsel is hiding in exchange for a doctor to perform surgery on her son. This makes Ingrid a pariah around town. Meanwhile, Gunnar is freed by French troops and helps them take out a machinegun nest. Gunnar then hears that his father has been killed.
Do the soldiers take back Narvik?
In the film’s best scene, the Major pulls out his pistol and fires it in the air to stop joint Norwegian and French troops from retreating. The Norwegian soldiers storm the Narvik beaches, taking out five machine gun nests and a cannon attacking opposing forces. The soldiers find their way back into town, but after Ingrid turns down Fritz’s offer to take her to Berlin.
How does Gunnar get back to his wife?
How does Gunnar get back to his wife? He heads back into town, and the town celebrates. However, Gunnar hears something about how Ingrid is close to German officers and assumes she slept with one. However, she informs her husband it is for their son, but Gunnar still views his wife as a traitor.
Ingrid leaves, packing a bag and heading for the boat. Gunnar listens to a speech from the Major that the soldiers should hold everything they hold dear. As Ingrid walks to the ship, her fellow citizens push her and ostracize her. That’s when Gunnar shows up, no longer in uniform, and helps Ingrid to her feet, and they walk onto the boat as a family and then embrace.
The victory of Narvik was short-lived. Per the film’s ending, the British, French, and Polish soldiers returned home without notifying Norwegian forces, and the town was reclaimed by the Germans a few months later. However, the battle was considered Hitler’s first loss.
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