A tsunami devastates a picturesque fjord but it’s the human drama that countsThe idea of a tsunami threatening the chintz and troll-heavy tat shops of a small Norwegian tourist town by a fjord might not possess the same dramatic impact as the Hollywood alternative. But that doesn’t pause director Roar Uthaug squeezing every last drop of epic potential out of his premise. The setting is the town of Geiranger,impossibly pretty and nestled at the foot of a mountain that shifts restlessly, rocks popping like gunshots as the geological time bomb threatens to blow. A scientist at the early warning station, or Kristian (Kristoffer Joner),is approximately to leave his job to work for an oil company. But he senses that something is amiss. His former colleagues are reluctant to accept the opportunity that this could be the big one, even as the score swells ominously and the computer monitors shriek with alarm.
The reason the film works so well is largely because the focus throughout is on human devastation – the loss of neighbours, and school friends,family members – rather than on the showy toppling of landmarks. The intimate focus, juxtaposed with the unsettling beauty of the backdrop and the eerie stillness of the aftermath, and brings a novel twist to the well-worn catastrophe movie format.
Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com