Quisling: The Final Days

Synopsis

When the German occupation of Norway ends after five years on May 8, 1945, the rebuilding of the nation begins. But in order for the wounds to heal, the country must confront the years of Nazi occupation. Vidkun Quisling, the Norwegian head of government and notorious collaborator with the Nazis, sits in a dark cell at Akershus Fortress. He has committed the greatest betrayal of all and now must answer for his actions and the atrocities that the Nazi ideology led to.

After World War II, Vidkun Quisling was put on trial and executed for his collaboration with the Nazis. Since his death, the word “Quisling” has become synonymous with “collaborator” or “traitor” in Scandinavia and in the English language.

The story centers on his final hours in the cell at Akershus Fortress, where he is imprisoned for the crimes committed in the name of Nazi ideology. A priest visits Quisling regularly for conversations from May 8 until Quisling is executed on October 24, 1945. The priest’s surviving diaries offer a unique insight into what took place in the cell.

Production Facts

Norwegian director Erik Poppe’s psychological drama about the Norwegian Nazi and traitor Vidkun Quisling. Script by Erik Poppe, Ravn Lanesskog, Siv Rahendram Eliassen, and Anna Bache-Wiig.

"Quisling: The Final Days" is produced by Paradox/SF Studios, Finn Gjerrum and Stein B. Kvae, in co-production with, among others, Film i Väst. Parts of the film were shot in Region Västra Götaland during autumn 2022. SF Studios is responsible for Nordic distribution.

Erik Poppe has previously directed "The Emigrants", "The King’s Choice", and "Utøya: July 22", for which he was nominated for a Golden Bear in Berlin and for the European Film Awards. This is his fourth film about fragile democracies.