12th Man

The 12th Man is a 2017 Norwegian historical drama film directed by Harald Zwart, starring Thomas Gullestad as Jan Baalsrud, who escapes from occupying Nazi Germans in Rebbenesøya, via Lyngen Fjord and Manndalen, to neutral Sweden in the spring of 1943. The film, based on historical events, was adapted from the book Jan Baalsrud and Those Who Saved Him (2001) by Tore Haug and Astrid Karlsen Scott. Like the book, The 12th Man emphasizes the efforts of those who helped Baalsrud escape, which is in line with Baalsrud's own statements about the local population's courage. The plot also details the pursuit of Baalsrud from the Sicherheitsdienst (SD) leadership's perspective, depicting the escape as a cat-and-mouse game between Kurt Stage and Baalsrud. Plot The 12th Man tells the dramatic story of Jan Baalsrud's escape from the Nazis during the Second World War. In Shetland, 12 Norwegian resistance fighters board a fishing boat with eight tons of TNT and cross the North Sea as part of Operation Martin with a plan to sabotage German military facilities. The mission gets into trouble soon after reaching Norway, where their local contact is long dead and their identity is compromised by a German sympathiser, who informs the Germans about their arrival.