Jackson Weaver
Staff Writer
Inspired by true events, Petter has to endure the difficulties of deep sea diving with no training and has to overcome his own psychological hardships when the oxygen in his tank starts to deplete.
“Pioneer”, directed by Erik Skjoldbjaerg, is set during the beginning of the Norwegian Oil Boom, in the early 1980’s. Petter (Aksel Hennie), a professional driver, is obsessed with reaching the Norwegian Sea and thinks he has the strength and courage to take on one of the most dangerous mission. However, after a tragic accident, Petter is sent into a perilous journey and gradually realizes that his dream was only a fantasy and now his life is at stake.
Instead of an electrifying hook for the viewer, the film’s beginning starts off slowly and is extremely boring. The beginning gives a story of Petter as a taxi driver and the people he encounters, which is completely irrelevant to the plot. This information of him as a taxi driver is both unneeded and creates a dull atmosphere in the beginning
Hennie does an excellent job with supporting actor Andre Erikson (Knut), both showing strong emotion towards one another as brothers. As Erikson becomes unconscious and loses his diving mask, Hennie in distraught, gives his brother his oxygen tank and swims as fast as he can, even with the possibility of decompression sickness.
The film delivers a shadowy tension in key situations, like when Petter suffers compression sickness and when he starts to lose his gas supply. Skjoldaerg does an intuitive job by putting in dramatic scenes to add suspense, which creates tension in the murky atmosphere.
The cinematography, done by cinematographer Jallo Faber, in “Pioneer” brings a sharp edge to the film, making it feel more realistic and electrifying. Throughout underwater scenes, all shots seemed to be taken in the dark depths of the ocean by giving vivid detail of his surroundings. This detail gives a sense of realism which made the film that more suspenseful. Skjoldbjaerg situates the viewer in the psychological head space of his protagonist and the physical space of his environment. For example, as Petter loses oxygen in his tank he starts to hallucinate between the real world and his fantasies.
Even though the plot is confusing and all over the place, the more important part of the film is emphasizing the suspense. The film is more focused on the tension-filled pleasures, rather than a flowing plot. In “Pioneer” the plot is convoluted, at first he is a random taxi driver but because of his dream to touch the bottom of the ocean, he becomes a deep sea diver with zero experience. The plot contains awful material and has no flow altogether.
Although the film has a shaky plot, it helped to have a strong visual design. He does an excellent job creating a mysterious atmosphere, and uses lighting and shadowing to capture the insidious of the deep depths in the ocean. The film has confusing plot that has little meaning, but it is more focused on the suspense rather than an intricate plot.
“Pioneer” is rated R and is playing in theaters nationwide.
Leave a Reply