Pioneer (film)

This article is about the 2013 Norwegian film. For other uses, see Pioneer (disambiguation).

Pioneer
Film poster
Directed byErik Skjoldbjærg
Written byErik Skjoldbjærg
StarringAksel Hennie
Stephen Lang
Wes Bentley
Ane Dahl Torp
Stephanie Sigman
Jonathan LaPaglia
Jørgen Langhelle
Eirik Stubø
André Eriksen
David A. Jørgensen
Endre Hellestveit
CinematographyJallo Faber
Edited byFrida Eggum Michaelsen
Jonas Aaro
Music byAir
Production
companies
Film i Väst
Garagefilm International
Les Films d'Antoine
Pandora Filmproduktion
Distributed byNordisk Film
Release date
  • 30 August 2013 (2013-08-30)
Running time
111 minutes[1]
CountriesNorway
France
Germany
Sweden
Iceland
LanguagesNorwegian
English

Pioneer (Norwegian: Pionér) is a 2013 Norwegian thriller film directed by Erik Skjoldbjærg. It was released on 30 August, followed by a screening in the Special Presentation section at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival.[2]

Plot

Petter[3] is a commercial offshore diver in the North Sea during the 1980s. Norway is at the beginning of its program for oil extraction. Petter and his brother Knut have key roles in laying the first petroleum pipe in the North Sea.[4] Norwegians and Americans are cooperating in diving deeper than anyone previously has done, to prepare for the installation of a gas pipeline. Petter experiences a tragic accident during a test dive. When he later tries to find out what really happened, he finds that the authorities and his colleagues are trying to cover up the matter.[5]

Cast

Aksel Hennie during the production of Pioneer.

Reception

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 55% based on 44 reviews, with an average rating of 5.6/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "Pioneer boasts strong acting and a throwback conspiracy thriller vibe, but fails to take it far enough, and is very slow about not getting there."[6] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 58 out of 100, based on reviews from 13 critics.[7]

English-language remake

As of April 2014, Smokehouse Pictures, operated by George Clooney and Grant Heslov, were reported to be working on an English-language remake of the film.[8]

See also

  • The drilling rig Byford Dolphin, where a real-life decompression chamber accident in Norway resulted in the death of a number of divers in 1983.

References

  1. ^ "Pioneer (12A)". Arrow Film Distributors. British Board of Film Classification. 12 March 2014. Retrieved 12 March 2014.
  2. ^ "Pioneer". TIFF. Archived from the original on 9 October 2013. Retrieved 10 August 2013.
  3. ^ Maugesten, Hanne Marie (9 August 2013). "Pionéren - Vi kan takke Magn Muledal og hans kolleger for velferden vår, mener Aksel Hennie. Han spiller nordsjødykker i ny, norsk film". Aftenposten A-magasinet (in Norwegian). p. 10.
  4. ^ Klaustrofobisk dypdykk
  5. ^ Pionér - Aksel Hennie til bunns i god oljethriller.
  6. ^ "Pioneer (2013)". Rotten Tomatoes.
  7. ^ "Pioneer". Metacritic.
  8. ^ "George Clooney's latest film tells dark tale of underwater peril". The Guardian. 5 April 2014. Retrieved 11 August 2014.