Pioneer 2013

     The setting is the early 1980’s, the Norwegian oil boom is just getting off the ground.  Very large oil and gas deposits are in the North Sea and a pipeline is planned from a depth of 500 meters.  Petter is a deep-sea diver, he’s good, disciplined, has the strength and is courageous enough to take on this task.  Petter and his brother Knut go down together on the training dive.  They have been practicing depth adjustment in a dive chamber prior to this mission.  Two American divers have been working with the Norwegians.  There is a problem and Knut is dead.  Petter is more than grief stricken, he’s determined to find out who is responsible.  A police investigation will not be enough to satisfy him. 

     This is complex but very interesting and is based on actual events.  The divers are really being used as guinea pigs and depths this deep are dependent on accurate gas mixtures. These mixtures are experimental and are being tested along with the limits divers.  This first test dive was conducted at 300 meters instead of the 500 meters of the projected pipeline.  3* (This movie is OK)

111 min, Thriller directed by Erik Skjoldbjaerg with Aksel Hennie, Wes Bentley, Stephen Lang, Stephanie Sigman, Johanthan LaPaglia, Ane Dahl Torp, Jorgen Langhelle, Andre Eriksen, David A. Jorgensen, Eirik Stubo.

Note:  Imdb 6.0 out of 10, 54% critic 33% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Roger Ebert 2 ½*.

Special Note:  Aksel Hennie plays Petter in this film and he’s been acting in Norwegian films for 20 years.  He has a role in Ridley Scott’s adaptation of the sci-fi novel The Martian.  The rights to Pioneer have been purchased by George Clooney’s production company, Smokehouse Films and is scheduled for an English language remake.