Interview :Director Roar Uthaug Makes Waves With His New Film

A quiet community is in he path of danger when a sudden tsunami threatens to destroy them. A geologist battles to find and save his family. This is The Wave. It’s not a Hollywood blockbuster. It was this year’s official submission for Norway in the Best Foreign Language film category. I managed to catch up with director Roar Uthaug to discuss the challenges of working with water and a budget of $5 million dollars — and see what beans he could spill about the Tomb Raider reboot.

Awards Daily: Thank you for speaking to me because I know it’s late in Norway. Anyway, I before I even begin, I have to comment on the amount of water you use in this film. It really lives up to the title.

Roar Uthaug : [laughs] Yes. There was a lot of water. I think we had 40,000 liters of water at one point in our studio.

AD: That’s a lot. What was the hardest part of making a film like this?

RU: I think it’s always hard to work with water. Everybody moves slower and actors get tired, and the crew gets tired so keeping energy to get through the working day is a challenge, but I had fantastic actors that pushed themselves, so it wasn’t that hard. It certainly takes more time than working dry.

AD: On the subject of actors, Kristoffer is a very famous actor in Norway, so how did you convince him to come on board?

RU: I sent him the script. At first, he was a bit puzzled as to why I wanted him as an action hero because he didn’t feel that was what he was normally cast as, but I think that’s also why I wanted him.

I think he’s one of the greatest actors we have in Norway. He also brought an authenticity and intensity to the part, and we wanted our hero to be a normal everyday guy. Not your muscled superhero.

AD: That’s one thing I liked about the film, having a male lead like that. I also loved the narrative because of the way you build up to the disaster, and allude to what’s coming.

RU: You have to take the time to get to know the characters and get that emotional care for them, because if you don’t care for them, you’re not going to care about disasters.

AD: Well, you made this for $5 million dollars, meanwhile in Hollywood you would have a $50 million budget. What were, if any, of the challenges you had?

RU: Luckily in Norway we have a socialist economy. We don’t have big trailers for the actors. Everyone in each department drives their car around. For the crew, it’s a lot smaller. We have less people to feed. You’re also more flexible that way because as a smaller unit, it’s easier to move around.

AD: How did that impact your creative process?

RU: It actually matched what we were going for creatively. We wanted that intimacy in the film and to be close to our characters.

We wanted to give the film an almost documentary feeling to it and have the audience feel they were there when it happened. I feel that’s something that worked well with being a small film.

AD: You’ve now directed the first Norwegian disaster movie, how does that feel?

RU: That’s the fun part of making a film in a country like ours. I think what I like to do is take mainstream genres like horror, action and disaster films, and place them in a very homey setting with characters that are very Scandinavian. When you mix that with a genre the audience understands and has a relationship with, you get interesting results.

AD: Previously, you’ve done horror and fantasy, what draws you to those genres?

RU: I love all genre films. What really interests me about movie making is the special effects. I remember watching The Omen in my room on my black and white TV with the sound off because my parents wouldn’t let me watch those kind of movies, and just seeing the priest being impaled. I sat there trying to figure out how they did that, using that movie magic and that drew me in.

AD: I remember seeing The Omen when I was young and that scene terrified me. I’m going to go back and watch it with the sound off to see what that does. [laughs]. What other directors inspire you?

RU: Definitely Spielberg. He managed to make emotionally moving films that have a warmth to them. That’s something that inspires me, that his films don’t feel cold or calculated. That’s something I try to do in my film-making.

When I first started out making horror films, Peter Jackson inspired me. It’s been great seeing him progress from making films with his friends to Lord of The Rings and King Kong. That’s definitely inspiring.

AD: When The Wave was selected as the official film to represent Norway, did that change anything for you?

RU: It was an immense honor to be chosen to represent the country. I’m not sure if it’s changed that much. I got to attend several screenings in LA and meet Academy members, and that was really fun to talk to the people there.

Of course it meant that the movie also got more attention internationally.

AD: You’re going to direct the Tomb Raider reboot.

RU: I’m going to be doing that with MGM. Hopefully that will start shooting in the not too distant future. I’m a big fan of Lara Croft. Raiders of the Lost Ark is also one of my favorite films. All my Norwegian movies also have a strong female character that progress from the everyday girl, and end up kicking ass. That’s something that I love about The Terminator and Alien movies with the strong female bad ass.

AD: Cheeky question [laughs]. Are you allowed to discuss about who you want in mind for Lara Croft ?

RU: [laughs] No, I’m not.

AD: Well, it’s been a pleasure speaking to you.

The Wave is in movie theaters now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-IL1_ViyKY