In 1904 an earthquake of magnitude 5.4 on the Richter scale shook Oslo, with an epicenter in the “Oslo Graben” which runs under the Norwegian capital. There are now signs that indicate that we can expect a major future earthquake in Oslo.
Since the 1970s, Hollywood has pretty much owned the market on big disaster movies. Everything from “The Poseidon Adventure” to “The Towering Inferno” to “Earthquake,” Hollywood has put out some great disaster films. Even today, Hollywood still cranks out disaster movies like there’s no tomorrow with “Independence Day,” “The Day After Tomorrow,” “2012,” “San Andreas,” and “Skyscraper,” it appears the world has an insatiable appetite for catastrophic adventures. As an Irish independent filmmaker myself for over thirty years, I have always wished that Europe would get its act together and show Hollywood that they are not the only ones capable of delivering big-screen thrills and with “The Quake,” thankfully, that day has arrived.
Four years ago, Norway produced a movie called “The Wave,” about a geologist, Kristian Eikjord (Kristoffer Joner), who predicted that a mountain pass high above a scenic Norwegian fjord, could collapse and produce a gigantic tsunami that would decimate the small tourist village of Geiranger nearby. Naturally, nobody believed him until it was too late. He managed to save his wife and two children but with so many lives lost in the disaster, after his family moved to Oslo to begin a new life, he decided to stay behind, blaming himself for not being able to save more people. Eventually, he decides to visit Oslo, much to the happiness of his family but while there, he receives news that a geologist friend of his was killed in the Oslo tunnel where he was working, a result of a seismic shift that transpired deep within the mountain.
He visits his friend’s house and meets his daughter, Marit (Kathrine Thorborg Johansen), and asks if he can look through any notes he may have been working on before his untimely death. While searching, he comes across some troubling reports he left behind that indicate a big earthquake could soon hit Oslo. When his wife Idun (Ane Dahl Torp), invites him to the Oslo Opera House to watch his daughter Julia (Edith Haagenrud-Sande)’s ballet recital, he tries to warn his family about the impending disaster but they don’t believe him. While on his way to the Opera House, all of Oslo is plunged into darkness after a citywide power outage and while the ground trembles and causes minor damage to the city, everyone dismisses it as a tremor. When Kristian tries to warn the authorities, they wave him off as a crackpot but shortly after, Oslo experiences an earthquake that measures 8.5 on the Richter Scale, the biggest in the country’s history. With his wife and daughter trapped in the skyscraper where Idun works, he must try to reach them and escape before the building comes crashing down.
“The Wave” was a thoroughly exciting thriller whose special effects rivaled anything Hollywood was able to produce but “The Quake,” a continuation of the circumstances from its predecessor, raises the stakes but also the tension level, and in the process, produces one of the most authentic and believable earthquakes ever put on film. The story is very reliant on character development and story exposition over special effects and while it succeeds in this area, for the most part anyway, the choice to concentrate more on Kristian and his family, pays off. While this element does prosper, it is also part of the film’s undoing. When we first meet Kristian, he is wallowing in anguish after the tragic events of “The Wave” but there comes a time when he needs to shed this affliction, especially when he realizes that there is the very real possibility Oslo, and his family, could be hit by an earthquake but unfortunately, his character stays in this emotional state, pretty much right up to the film’s finale, and because of this preference, it becomes more and more difficult to relate to him. We most certainly identify with his family because they are thrown headfirst into a nightmarish situation but with Kristian being the central protagonist, we need to be able to connect with him and sadly, we cannot.
“The Quake” wisely chooses a slow build-up to one big earthquake instead of Hollywoodizing it and having the movie incur an endless onslaught of big and small quakes throughout. We know it is going to happen but because this is not your typical Hollywood film, thankfully, we never know exactly when it is going to take place. The sight of Oslo being torn apart is visually spectacular but at the same time, because of its stunning realism, makes you thankful that it is only a film. I don’t know if the producers are planning a trilogy, maybe the next movie will be centered around a large supervolcano, who knows, I am just grateful they are producing big-budget action films that can rival anything that comes out of Hollywood.
Available on Digital HD, Blu-ray & DVD Tuesday, March 19th
