An Academy Award nominee for Best Foreign Language Film, the old-school high-seas adventure epic that reintroduces the inspiring historical feat of Thor Heyerdahl from Norwegian directors Joachim Roenning and Espen Sandberg sails past every opportunity to chart the deeper waters of human emotion, but the worthwhile story and sophisticated visual effects keep Kon-Tiki afloat.
As history goes, Norwegian ethnographer Thor Heyerdahl was convinced, after ten years of field work, that Polynesia was populated from the East by South Americans, despite conventional wisdom that Asians settled the island (with which genetic findings from contemporary anthropologists agree). His theory was rejected by scientific publishers including National Geographic, but rather than accepting the death sentence of his dissertation, the explorer embarked on the 5,000 mile journey that he believed Peruvians made 1,500 years earlier. Using a faithfully constructed, self-built balsa wood raft named after Incan sun god Kon-Tiki, Heyerdahl proved that oceans were not barriers,...
As history goes, Norwegian ethnographer Thor Heyerdahl was convinced, after ten years of field work, that Polynesia was populated from the East by South Americans, despite conventional wisdom that Asians settled the island (with which genetic findings from contemporary anthropologists agree). His theory was rejected by scientific publishers including National Geographic, but rather than accepting the death sentence of his dissertation, the explorer embarked on the 5,000 mile journey that he believed Peruvians made 1,500 years earlier. Using a faithfully constructed, self-built balsa wood raft named after Incan sun god Kon-Tiki, Heyerdahl proved that oceans were not barriers,...
- 9/3/2013
- by Caitlin Coder
- IONCINEMA.com
With the season of Summer blockbusters already in full swing here in the middle of May, you may have a tough time recalling the nominees for Best Foreign Language Film from the 85th Academy Awards ceremony way back in February. We here at the website have gotten to see the winner, Armour, and two other nominees, No and A Royal Affair (War Witch has yet to screen in our neck-of-the-woods). Now we finally get to see the entry from Norway, Kon-tiki. And it turns out that this is the perfect time for this film, for this isn’t a somber, human drama like Haneke’s intimate portrait, but a rollicking, edge-of-your-seat adventure. Yes, it is a true story set in the past like No and Affair, but after the heroes set out to sea, it feels as though their exploits could be happening right now. The story of the voyage...
- 5/17/2013
- by Jim Batts
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Chicago – Mention the name Thor Heyerdahl or his sea-faring vessel “Kon-Tiki,” and half-remembered images of a voyage across the sea in a ship that looks like it was built on “Gilligan’s Isle” might cross memory neurons. Why, when and how he did it is brought to screen in the excellent and appropriately titled “Kon-Tiki.”
Rating: 4.0/5.0
In the name and hope of man’s innate instinct to explore, “Kon-Tiki” serves as a lesson for visionaries, and was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the recent Oscars. Thor Heyerdahl simply had a higher calling to see what is “out there” and prove a point while doing it. The film meticulously and lovingly recreates the journey of that haphazard boat, and crispy reproduces the particular time frame in which it was done. All the sharks, odd sea life, storms, challenges and triumphs are explored, as well as a nicely wrought examination...
Rating: 4.0/5.0
In the name and hope of man’s innate instinct to explore, “Kon-Tiki” serves as a lesson for visionaries, and was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the recent Oscars. Thor Heyerdahl simply had a higher calling to see what is “out there” and prove a point while doing it. The film meticulously and lovingly recreates the journey of that haphazard boat, and crispy reproduces the particular time frame in which it was done. All the sharks, odd sea life, storms, challenges and triumphs are explored, as well as a nicely wrought examination...
- 5/3/2013
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Los Angeles -- The Norwegian directing team of Joachim Roenning and Espen Sandberg, whose biopic of World War II resistance fighter Max Manus was a huge hit on home turf, have turned to another native hero for "Kon-Tiki." One of the most-vaunted escapades of the 20th century, Thor Heyerdahl's 1947 Peru-to-Polynesia expedition by raft gets glossy big-screen treatment in this efficiently told action-adventure. Delivering visual drama and understated character study, sometimes in disappointingly formulaic fashion, the feature has its incisive moments but falls short as both epic and intimate portrait.
With effective immediacy, the directors dramatize some incidents from Heyerdahl's 1950 Oscar-winning documentary about the trip, and cinematographer Geir Hartly Andreassen pays tribute in re-created B&W footage of the building of the raft. Too much of the action, though, devolves into close encounters with sharks, scenes that leave the on-deck characters adrift rather than helping to define them.
The film,...
With effective immediacy, the directors dramatize some incidents from Heyerdahl's 1950 Oscar-winning documentary about the trip, and cinematographer Geir Hartly Andreassen pays tribute in re-created B&W footage of the building of the raft. Too much of the action, though, devolves into close encounters with sharks, scenes that leave the on-deck characters adrift rather than helping to define them.
The film,...
- 4/26/2013
- by AP
- Huffington Post
A nominee for Best Foreign Language Picture at this year’s Oscars, Norwegian import Kon-Tiki chronicles the journey of adventurer Thor Heyerdahl and his incredible journey some 5,000 miles across the Pacific Ocean from Peru to Polynesia on a balsa wood raft. Though comparisons will inevitably be drawn between this film and Ang Lee’s Life of Pi, a fellow Oscar nominee, they are very different beasts and are both films are deserving of attention.
If nothing else, Kon-Tiki (the name of the aforementioned vessel) adds to the impressive list of superb films from Scandinavia this past year. From Headhunters (one of my favourites of 2012) to the overlooked Snabba Cash (Easy Money), fare from this region has never been more accessible or memorable.
So now comes Kon-Tiki, the first Norwegian film to score both a nomination at the Golden Globe and Academy Award ceremonies, and it’s rather easy to see why.
If nothing else, Kon-Tiki (the name of the aforementioned vessel) adds to the impressive list of superb films from Scandinavia this past year. From Headhunters (one of my favourites of 2012) to the overlooked Snabba Cash (Easy Money), fare from this region has never been more accessible or memorable.
So now comes Kon-Tiki, the first Norwegian film to score both a nomination at the Golden Globe and Academy Award ceremonies, and it’s rather easy to see why.
- 2/11/2013
- by Simon Brookfield
- We Got This Covered
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