'The Wave' has familiar disaster movie tropes in a Scandinavian setting
Are you ready for 鈥淭he Wave,鈥� the first Norwegian disaster movie? Depending on how you look at it, the notion that the Scandinavians are finally taking up a genre normally reserved for Hollywood schlockmeisters is cause for either elation or woe.
I鈥檓 sort of in the middle on this: Only a pointy-headed aesthete (which I occasionally am) would argue that Norwegians must stick to making small-scale, humancentric dramas. On the other hand, I鈥檓 not exactly craving the Hollywoodization of Norse cinema. And besides, Hollywood already does this sort of thing better (or at least louder) than anybody else.
Having laid out my qualms in advance, I am happy to report that 鈥淭he Wave,鈥� directed by Roar Uthaug, is pretty good. It鈥檚 also pretty strange. At least for American viewers 鈥� and Norwegians, too? 鈥� experiencing all these familiar disaster movie tropes in a Scandinavian setting, even on a relatively low budget, can be weirdly disorienting.
The action takes place in Geiranger, a small mountain community that, back in 1905, suffered a catastrophic rock slide. In other words, as all disaster movie aficionados can tell you, the town is poised for another one. Geologist Kristian (Kristoffer Joner), who lives with his wife and two children on a nearby remote fjord, works at an early-warning center. It鈥檚 his job to know about these things, or at least it was, since he鈥檚 getting ready to pack up and move to the big city for a lucrative oil company job.聽
But just as he is about to head out, we hear from his co-workers the inevitable line: 鈥淪omething strange happened in the groundwater today.鈥� As if this weren鈥檛 bad enough, we soon hear, 鈥淲e鈥檙e getting some weird data.鈥� Kristian, sensing trouble, urges his co-workers to sound the alarm and shut down the town.
Since a tsunami-causing rock slide would leave about 10 minutes for everyone in the town to scramble to higher ground, he has a point. But Geiranger is also a tourist town 鈥� all those scenic fjords! 鈥� and Kristian is overruled, although at least his warnings are investigated. In a Hollywood disaster movie, the warnings would be pooh-poohed. This part of 鈥淭he Wave鈥� also borrows liberally from 鈥淛aws鈥� 鈥� just substitute Martha鈥檚 Vineyard for Geiranger and sharks for mountains. If you鈥檙e gonna steal, steal from the best.
As fate would have it, Kristian鈥檚 wife, Idun (Ane Dahl Torp), works at the local resort hotel. Once the 200-foot wave slams into the mountain gorge at dawn, she does a heroic job of staying alive in a flooded bomb shelter beneath the hotel. Will Kristian rescue his family? How long can he hold his breath under water? I鈥檒l put it this way: Unlike most Hollywood disaster movies, 鈥淭he Wave鈥� doesn鈥檛 appear to be set up for a sequel. I wouldn鈥檛 rule it out, though. If you鈥檙e going to go Hollywood, why not go all the way? Grade: B (Rated R for some language and disaster images.)
