Disaster Movie Project
Bølgen or The Wave in English is a film about a tsunami in a Norwegian fjord caused by a landslide directed by Roar Uthaug and the first of its kind in Norway.
The Premise: What if a landslide caused a tsunami in one of the many fjords of Norway that are surrounded by populated areas.
The Premise: What if a landslide caused a tsunami in one of the many fjords of Norway that are surrounded by populated areas.
Sadly, this is an occurrence that has happened in the past and scientists say will happen in the future. Rockslides are a frequent event in Norway and when they happen over a fjord; a long, narrow, and deep inlet of the sea between high cliffs typically formed by submergence of a glaciated valley, the results can be cataclysmic.
Geologist Kristian Eikjord (Kristoffer Joner) is leaving his home and job as a scientist in a mountain monitoring station in Geiranger, Geirangerfjord for a big job in a big city and taking his family with him. But, as it happens in most natural disaster movies, before he can head out something happens. As he is saying goodbye to his colleagues at the mountain monitoring station a few warnings go off about lost signals and falling ground water.
The movie gives the audience a good look at the running and equipment of an avalanche warning station. We are shown the sensors, extensometers, and other tools that the scientists use to measure displacement data.
(The following link will provide more information on monitoring rock slides on Norway’s Fjords: http://www.amerisurv.com/PDF/TheAmericanSurveyor_Schrock-GuardiansOfTheRock_Vol9No3.pdf )
The remaining staff try to tell Kristian they can keep an eye on things but again Kristian has a bad feeling and just can’t leave. Which in this case is a good thing.
Kristian has a sudden epiphany after combining all of the clues and shares his realization with his co-workers; ground water doesn’t just disappear. It’s moving through the mountain between the plates of rock which can cause slippage that could damage the sensors, the reason they have lost signals with the mountain equipment. This slippage could cause rock plates to shift causing a rock slide.
The movie, of course, follows the regular disaster movie tropes at this point. The scientists dismissing Kristian’s fears, family members putting themselves in areas of danger, and Kristian burying himself in past research journals to try and find out what is happening only to come to the realization moments too late.
The plates have slipped, the rocks have fallen, and the tsunami is coming. The decision to press the big red button has been made.
The movie goes on to follow the escapades of the Eikjord family as they try to escape the oncoming tsunami with only 10 minutes of warning. Again there are the usual disaster movie tropes: should the mother do her job and save the hotel patrons or leave to find her son, the roads are full so they have to climb the mountain on foot, the bus that Kristian’s family was supposed to be on was destroyed his family must be dead. But of course they’re not; Kristian saves his family from the coming tsunami and finally in the end the whole family is safe, above the flood waters
The film then closes with a title card that says “The Akernes crevice is monitored continuously. It is expanding by up to 15cm annually. All experts agree there will be a rock slide. They do not know when.”
The movie gives the audience a good look at the running and equipment of an avalanche warning station. We are shown the sensors, extensometers, and other tools that the scientists use to measure displacement data.
(The following link will provide more information on monitoring rock slides on Norway’s Fjords: http://www.amerisurv.com/PDF/TheAmericanSurveyor_Schrock-GuardiansOfTheRock_Vol9No3.pdf )
The remaining staff try to tell Kristian they can keep an eye on things but again Kristian has a bad feeling and just can’t leave. Which in this case is a good thing.
Kristian has a sudden epiphany after combining all of the clues and shares his realization with his co-workers; ground water doesn’t just disappear. It’s moving through the mountain between the plates of rock which can cause slippage that could damage the sensors, the reason they have lost signals with the mountain equipment. This slippage could cause rock plates to shift causing a rock slide.
The movie, of course, follows the regular disaster movie tropes at this point. The scientists dismissing Kristian’s fears, family members putting themselves in areas of danger, and Kristian burying himself in past research journals to try and find out what is happening only to come to the realization moments too late.
The plates have slipped, the rocks have fallen, and the tsunami is coming. The decision to press the big red button has been made.
The movie goes on to follow the escapades of the Eikjord family as they try to escape the oncoming tsunami with only 10 minutes of warning. Again there are the usual disaster movie tropes: should the mother do her job and save the hotel patrons or leave to find her son, the roads are full so they have to climb the mountain on foot, the bus that Kristian’s family was supposed to be on was destroyed his family must be dead. But of course they’re not; Kristian saves his family from the coming tsunami and finally in the end the whole family is safe, above the flood waters
The film then closes with a title card that says “The Akernes crevice is monitored continuously. It is expanding by up to 15cm annually. All experts agree there will be a rock slide. They do not know when.”
The Science Behind The Wave
While the movie follows all of the earmarks of the typical American (or Norwegian) blockbuster movie the film did well depicting the reality of the phenomenon. The science behind the wave is sound. The movie itself was based on past rock slide caused tsunami in the Norwegian fjords. One such disaster was the 1905 Loen Disaster.
Sunday, January 15, 1905 Mount Ramnefjell dislodged a 100 meter tall 50 meter wide chunk of rock from 500 meters up the mountainside along with a large amount of scree. The rock had a depth of 10 meters, or a volume of about 125,000 tons and in addition to the scree the total mass of the slide into Loenvatnet lake was approximately 870,000 tons.
Below is a clip that demonstrates how a rock slide creates a tsunami. Begin at 2:15 for simulation.
Sunday, January 15, 1905 Mount Ramnefjell dislodged a 100 meter tall 50 meter wide chunk of rock from 500 meters up the mountainside along with a large amount of scree. The rock had a depth of 10 meters, or a volume of about 125,000 tons and in addition to the scree the total mass of the slide into Loenvatnet lake was approximately 870,000 tons.
Below is a clip that demonstrates how a rock slide creates a tsunami. Begin at 2:15 for simulation.
62 people died that day in 1905 as a tidal wave about 40 meters tall swept through local towns such as Bodal and Nesdal. Other such disasters have happened in Norway. The 1936 Leon disaster with another rockslide and 70 meter high tidal wave that killed over 70 people and decimated the surrounding area. The Tafjord Disaster of 1934 where 40 lives were lost to a massive rockslide and tsunami.
Norway has a history of the very circumstances that took place in The Wave movie and scientists say Norway will have a future of the very same.
References
KRAFT-OG. (2017). Avalanche Surveillance and History. Retrieved from Skredsenter i Tafjord: http://www.kraftogskred.no/en/avalance-surveillance-and-history/
Norwegian Geotechnical Institute. (2017). Projects. Retrieved from NGI: https://www.ngi.no/eng/
Schrock, G. (2012). Guardians of the Rock. The American Surveyor.
Skrednett. (2016, April 27). Retrieved from Avalanch Online: https://www.nve.no/flaum-og-skred/skrednett/
British Pathe news and entertainment video film archive