The Wave

What a hellava scary ride is Norway's "The Wave/B�lgen," just opening in the USA. Most films which concern natural catastrophes ("Day After Tomorrow," "Poseidon Adventure," "Deep Impact") tend to be hokey, with soapy characters having personal conflicts until the big wallopalula hits 'em. But this Norwegian film from last year skips the unreal stories to land a true wallop on a tiny Norwegian fjord town of Geiranger below the mountain pass of Akneset, which, when it falls into the fjord, creates a 275-foot tsunami that will wipe out this tourist village on the opposite side of the fjord (also called Geiranger).

Based on historical evidence of loose mountain granite, left over from the ice age, having collapsed in the recent past and creating havoc below, this specific one is predicted to crash one day soon. John K�re Raake and Harald Rosenlow-Eeg's script, under Roar Ulthaug's exceptional direction, lays out a taut and realistic scenario of a mountain geologist, Kristian (Kristoffer Joner), on his last day of work at the government monitoring building overlooking the fjord. It is he who makes the connection between severed cables and the impending boulder-crashes. He must be sure his wife, who works in a tourist hotel in the path of the rushing wave, and their two children will survive the onslaught of deadly water. But will they?

The beautiful nature of the Norwegian landscape in the northwestern part of Norway has been gorgeously photographed, and the disastrous wall of water is well handled. We might actually want to know if the hotel is high enough to not be crushed by the power of the wave, and/or would anyone survive in a water-tight basement? The film posits that, yes, folk can survive, unless you panic and flee into the hallways, in which case you are kaput!

At 104 minutes, the film lacks humor but does have familial scenes of tenderness. The cast are commendable, especially Joner, who's 40-year-old hippy look works with his temperament. Kristian is good at his job, which saves many lives, but since the warning from his office comes too late, many others die.

Trust it, this is one scary-hairy film, and you'll love it.