The movie takes place during World War II and depicts the true story of Jan Baalsruds amazing escape from the German army from the coast of Northern Norway and across the border to the neutral country Sweden. Jan Baalsrud is on a sabotage mission from England to Norway together with 11 other soldiers in the winter of 1943 in a fishing boat when they are attacked by a German patrolboat. Jan Baalsrud is the only one who manages to escape and sets off towards Sweden through the enormous amounts of snow and the steep mountains of Norway. The local communities where he passes through help him despite the danger of being arrested and killed. Jan Baalsrud, snowblind and having to cut off his toes because of frost-damage survives alone in the mountains for weeks. The locals are constantly trying to get him over to Sweden, but German patrols and the winter storms delay their departure. When walking in my local video shop I saw a copy of this incredible movie. I didn't have high expectations before watching it since Norwegian cinema is, well… But thankfully I was proved mistaken, very mistaken.<br/><br/>The movie is a true story about Jan Baalsrud a Norwegian resistance fighter. It takes place in 1943 in a Nazi occupied Norway. The movie starts of slow, but when something goes horribly wrong all his comrades are killed and Jan must alone find his way to the Swedish border. Along his way hes assisted by many common people. And in the end, the enemy is no longer the Nazis, but the cold nature.<br/><br/>Ni Liv is a tale of mans strength. You can't believe it when you see all Jan went through and if this movie doesn't leave you impressed, very few tings will. It's sad this movie isn't better known because it truly is a masterpiece! I recommend it highly. The first two Best Foreign Language Film Oscars ever awarded were both won by Italy, through Federico Fellini, for LA STRADA (1954; awarded in 1956) and NIGHTS OF CABIRIA (1957); the other nominees competing against the latter emanated from France (Rene' Clair's GATES OF Paris), two I plan on catching up with presently (from India, Mehboob's MOTHER India and, from Germany, Robert Siodmak's THE DEVIL STRIKES AT NIGHT) and, from Norway, the film under review. Incredibly enough, Ingmar Bergman's art-house phenomenon THE SEVENTH SEAL was unsuccessfully submitted for Oscar consideration! Incidentally, NINE LIVES was also entered in that year's Cannes Film Festival where it rubbed shoulders with (among others) Mikhail Kalatazov's eventual Palme D'Or winner THE CRANES ARE FLYING, Jacques Tati's MON ONCLE (1958) and prestigious Hollywood fare like THE BROTHERS KARAMAZOV (1958) and THE LONG HOT SUMMER (1958).<br/><br/>While the film's title and heritage might suggest a historical chronicle of some tragic national expedition, the story actually deals with a real-life WWII manhunt for a Norwegian spy – engaged with the English forces on an obscure sabotage mission of which he is the only survivor – on his way to sanctuary in neutral Sweden. The film starts with the dispatching of Jan Baalsrud's ten comrades-in-arms during a skirmish with a German patrol boat. Soon enough, our protagonist is on the run from the Nazis while facing the harsh natural elements of the Norwegian snowscape. Despite the inherent danger to themselves, the local communities (especially a young family and an elderly schoolteacher) he comes in contact with all go out of their way to help the heroic fugitive. In fact, the title is a specific reference to Baalsrud's feline-like penchant for survival against all odds: going snowblind; hacking off his own frostbitten toes; being literally entombed in snow for several weeks, etc. <br/><br/>For the most part, the treatment is pretty matter-of-fact (and no less effective for that) with the only stylistic flourishes on display being the intermittent fast cutting whenever impending danger ensues, the repeated panning suggesting the upward direction of the flight and a striking ellipsis that goes from a man picking up the receiver to 'rat' on the hero and his comrades to a ship's cannon firing at their boat; however, there is also some confusion here as well: they are shown being shot at as they reach land – presumably in a flashforward – followed by them still out at sea! For the record, this might well be the first Norwegian film I have watched and, as far as I know, the only other one I own is the intriguing horror film LAKE OF THE DEAD (1958)…
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