TO FIGHT IN SILENCE

A tribute to the Danish and Norwegian people who resisted Nazism, played in a single key dominated by subdued chords of heroism, bravery and goodness. The author of Code: Polonaise (KR, 1971) projects her sincere if somewhat sentimentalized admiration for people like the Jensens through the eyes of young Karen and Kristian who witness their elders' activities from the security of the family home at Gormsgaard and those of the idealistic teenager, cousin Thor -- who earns himself a minor role in the resistance. In spite of the death early on of Thor's brother and his one experience as an ambulance driver, this is a sheltered view of war; even the Gestapo officer who harasses the Jensens is personally known to them (a former war orphan they had once harbored) and family tragedies like the disappearance of Jewish uncle Morten are discreetly minimized. Wuorio's brisk, sturdy narrative style makes the most of the Jensens many virtues, but their appeal is definitely limited to tamer children like Karen and Kristian who won't mind being left at home, away from the center of the action.