MovieChat Forums > Max Manus (2010) Discussion > Rather good, shame about mistakes

Rather good, shame about mistakes

posted 10 years ago by Undutchable1939
7 replies | jump to latest

I thought that this was a very good WW2 movie, interesting story, good acting, good overal historical atmosphere, etc.
That why it is such a shame that a few mistakes were made.
A brightly lit harbour at night (remember blackout) was silly, but what I found even more annoying was the bad hairstyles.
Almost all men had too long hair.
During the 40s hairstyles for men were short, very short.
It is in fashion again today.
But in this movie many, even the main character Max, have long hair.
In some cases even hanging over their collars.
Reminding me a bit of all those silly 1960s WW2 movies where they had German officers with sideburns and long hair.
Perhaps to many details like this aren't very important, but they are to me because it simply means that while so many people working on this movie did a lot of research and a lot of work, the person in charge of hair didn't put in much effort.

Complaining about mistakes is almost as bad as complaining about complaining about mistakes.

[–] thepaganwinter 9 years ago

So I guess you are an expert on Norwegian hairstyles in the 1940's?

[–] spookyrat1 9 years ago

A brightly lit harbour at night (remember blackout) was silly, but what I found even more annoying was the bad hairstyles.

I think you're on more solid ground discussing blackouts, rather than hair styles. Quite a few of the actors managed to look quite similar to their real life counterparts, hair styles notwithstanding. 🐭

[–] Undutchable1939 9 years ago

I think that as a historian I'm ok discussing both.
And yes I am an expert on hairstyles of that era, I've been studying general life in the 20s, 30s and 40s for over a decade.
99.9% of men had short hair, short back and sides.
It was pretty much the only time in the history of mankind when men walked around with such short hair.
Hair wasn't supposed to touch the collar.
And you can actually compare the picture of Manus during the liberation, in the car with Crownprince Olav and see that his hair in the film is just a bit too long.

Kindly imagine a hysterically witty board signature here.

[–] spookyrat1 9 years ago

I think that as a historian ...

And yes I am an expert on hairstyles of that era ...

Of course you are. Everyone on the internet is an expert.

I'm a tonsorialist who's telling you that the last thing undercover soldiers pretending to be lower working - class civilians in a war-time hit Norway economy may worry about, is whether their collective do's are a centimetre or so too long.🐭

[–] Undutchable1939 9 years ago

It is actually my full time job, not just something I do as keyboard warrior.
Pictures of the era show that pretty much everyone had short hair, even in war time.
You can even compare pictures of the real Max with scenes from the film and its quite obvious the actors hair is just a little too long.
And some in the film had even worse haircuts.
With long hair, you'd stand out back then, regardless of your background.

Hows the tonsil painting business going these days anyway?

Kindly imagine a hysterically witty board signature here.

[–] spookyrat1 9 years ago

Pictures of the era show that pretty much everyone had short hair, even in war time.
You can even compare pictures of the real Max with scenes from the film and its quite obvious the actors hair is just a little too long.

Which is exactly the point I made in my first post. Yes, go and do that, as I've just been doing again. The differences are largely insignificant. You're quibbling about pretty much nothing.🐭

[–] Undutchable1939 9 years ago

I, obviously, disagree.
You may find the differences insignificant, I find them a clear example of someone in the production team not doing their job properly.
It is a great film that overall looks pretty authentic too so its an extra shame someone just couldn't be bothered doing those little details correctly as well.
Fact is the hairstyles were wrong and that was the point I made.
You may not care, I do.

Kindly imagine a hysterically witty board signature here.