INTERVIEW: Director Espen Sandberg on his quest to understand Amundsen, the iconic explorer
Photo: Amundsen: The Greatest Expedition tells the story of Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen, played by Pål Sverre Hagen. Photo courtesy of Motion Blur. © 2019 Motion Blur Films AS, AB Svensk Filmindustri and Film Kolektiv. All rights reserved. Provided by press site with permission.
Director Espen Sandberg is a child at heart. One only has to look at his extensive filmography to see how much he loves daring adventure stories and real-life tales of peril and exploration. The Norwegian filmmaker was the creative force behind Kon-Tiki, a Marco Polo TV series and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales.
His new movie is Amundsen: The Greatest Expedition, a film that dramatizes Roald Amundsen’s quest to reach the North Pole. In the movie, the explorer, one of the most popular adventurers in history, is haunted by this last unchartered land, and he will do whatever he can to win the race to the pole — with Robert Scott, a fellow explorer, close on his heels.
The movie, now playing in virtual cinemas and on VOD, stars Katherine Waterston, Pål Sverre Hagen and Christian Rubeck. Recently Hollywood Soapbox talked with Sandberg about the biopic. Here’s what he had to say …
On what inspired him to take on this project …
I learned, of course, about Roald Amundsen at school because I grew up in Norway. I am Norwegian. He’s a big hero here. We even have a museum, the Fram Museum, not too far from where I live, so I took my kids there. … So visually interesting, so I was kind of taken by it again. But then I started reading more about him and his own book, and I realized that there was so much more to him than what I had learned about at school. He was bitter at the end, an angry man and frustrated even though he had accomplished more than almost anyone. I just felt a need to understand this man and how all of this came to be.
On whether he feels he now understands Amundsen’s motivations …
Another human being is always complex, and you’ll never know it all. I do feel that I have a much bigger understanding of what his life was about and how it ended the way it did.
On whether he filmed the story in Norway …
We filmed quite a lot in Norway, including on actual location, like … Roald Amundsen’s home, and then we also actually went to Iceland for some of the more cold exterior shots. And that has to do with how the tax incentives work in the movie business and the same for some of the interiors that we had to build. We went to Czech Republic because they’re master builders there and great crews and everything. We constructed some of the interior sets that no longer exist or were too precious for us to bring a whole film crew into.
On his fascination with adventure stories …
I’ve always been fascinated by them. It’s fascinating to see what some people sort of do with their lives. They make them into an adventure, and they do so much more than most even dare to. I’ve been interested in why that is and … what makes them tick. Of course, I’m very fascinated by the adventures themselves. It’s life distilled down to an expedition, ups and downs and trials and everything.
On why Norway has such a rich history of exploration …
I think it’s because Norway has an extremely long coastline, and the inland is quite mountainous. So it’s way easier to travel around, at least in historic times, via boats, via ships, so we’ve always been sailing. And because of that, we’ve been sailing further and further. I think that’s one of the main reasons, and also traditionally because our country is cold. And it’s hard to make things grow most times of the year. We have to trade with people from other countries, and when you travel, you want to travel more.
On working with this cast of actors …
I’ve worked with Pål Hagen, [who] plays Roald Amundsen, before. He also played the lead in Kon-Tiki, and I really wanted to work with him for a couple of reasons. One, he’s a brilliant actor, and second, we had already established a great relationship and trust. And I really needed that for this film because it was so demanding to make. Pål had about five hours of makeup almost every day, every morning before even starting his workday. …
I had also worked with Christian Rubeck before on another movie called Max Manus, so I also had a great relationship with him. Then, we were very lucky to get Katherine Waterston on board. That was amazing. I love her work, and I really wanted to work with her. And she had an interest in Norway and our project, and we found an opportunity. That was fantastic.
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Amundsen: The Greatest Expedition, directed by Espen Sandberg, is now playing in virtual cinemas and on VOD. Click here for more information.
