Orion's Belt (film)

Orion's Belt
Norwegian DVD cover
Directed by	Ola Solum (Norwegian version) Tristan DeVere Cole (English version)
Written by	Richard Harris Jon Michelet (novel)
Starring	Sverre Anker Ousdal Helge Jordal Kjersti Holmen Nils Johnson
Music by	Geir Bøhren Bent Åserud
Cinematography	Harald Paalgard
Release date(s)	1985
Country	Norway
Language	Norwegian

Orion's Belt (Orions belte in Norwegian) is a Norwegian feature film from 1985, directed by Ola Solum.

The film is based on the novel of the same name by Jon Michelet from 1977. The film is a classic thriller from the time of the Cold War, and deals with the events on Svalbard. It is regarded as one of the most powerful Norwegian films of the 1980s. In contrast to other Norwegian films of the same time, it is a genre film with ambitions of an international audience.

English version

In addition to the Norwegian version, there was a version released in English, directed by British director Tristan DeVere Cole. Every time Norwegian director Ola Solum was satisfied with a take, DeVere Cole would walk in and have the actor or actors say the line(s) over again in English. Therefore the film was almost shot-for-shot identical with the Norwegian version; however, the staging was modified in some scenes. It was also edited differently, so the international version is 3 minutes shorter than the Norwegian.

In the 2005 re-release of the Norwegian DVD, the English version is included.

Awards

Orion's Belt won the Amanda award in the category of best Norwegian Film in 1985. Composers Geir Bøhren and Bent Åserud won the Amanda award for best film music, and the also took the Film Critics' Prize in the same year.

External links

• Orion's Belt at the Internet Movie Database