Unemployed architect + prohibition Norway = torpedo boat chaos. What could go wrong?
For many, the happy twenties were not very happy, with high unemployment, poverty and a bitter disillusioned youth. But at the same time there was prohibition in Norway, with large-scale smuggling and easy-earned money. Ernst, an unemployed architect, stumbles onto the smuggler path, and replaces a gray, boring life with a lush, rowdy and colorful world. Klara, the girl he loves, walks away from him, and Jenny becomes his new girlfriend. Together with Hugo and Elsa, these four make a number of smuggling trips by car - with big profits - but it's not enough. So Ernst invests in boats, and that's when the really messy smuggling starts. He operates in the entire Oslo Fjord, all the way down to Rotterdam, pursued by police and customs, with his infamous torpedo boats. We follow Ernst all the way to the so-called Bygdøyslaget, where smugglers and police brutaly clash together.
Practical Effects
Actual torpedo boats in the Oslo Fjord, zero CGI nonsense
Production
Rotterdam-to-Norway smuggling routes, gorgeously grimy
Director
Rolf Clemens
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Norway's prohibition (1916-1927) was so strict that even fortified wine required prescriptions — making smuggling ridiculously lucrative and weirdly mainstream.
Baard Owe became a Norwegian screen legend, but this was one of his earliest leading roles — you can practically taste his hungry young actor energy in every scheme.
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