''Orion's Belt'' ( no, Orions belte) is a 1985 Norwegian dual-language,

political Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies ...

action Action may refer to: * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video game Film * Action film, a genre of film * ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford * ''Action'' (1980 fil ...

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre ...

, directed by

Ola Solum Ola Solum (17 July 1943 – 28 June 1996)"Ola Solum"
''

Tristan de Vere Cole Tristan John de Vere Cole (born 16 March 1935) is an English television director, now retired. In his first career, he was a Royal Navy Officer for seven years. Life Cole is believed to be the last-surviving illegitimate son of the painter August ...

. It is based on

Jon Michelet Jon Michelet (14 July 1944, Moss – 14 April 2018, Oslo) was a Norwegian novelist. He had experience in various lines of work, including sailor and dock worker and references to these experiences can be found in his writing. His writing spans sev ...

's 1977 novel by the same name. The film follows three

Svalbard Svalbard ( , ), also known as Spitsbergen, or Spitzbergen, is a Norwegian archipelago in the Arctic Ocean. North of mainland Europe, it is about midway between the northern coast of Norway and the North Pole. The islands of the group range ...

-based shabby seamen, played by

Helge Jordal Helge Jordal (born 17 February 1946) is a Norwegian actor. He was appointed a Knight of the Royal Order of St. Olav in 2006 for his long career as an actor both on screen and on stage, and for his position as a "grand old man" among Norwegian a ...

Sverre Anker Ousdal Sverre Anker Ousdal (born 18 July 1944) is a Norwegian actor born in Flekkefjord, Norway. Biography Ousdal made his debut in 1965 at Den Nationale Scene in Bergen. He worked at the Oslo Nye Teater between 1967 and 1970, and is since 1970 part ...

and Hans Ola Sørlie, who discover a Soviet bearing station. They are subsequently targets of Soviet liquidation and American interrogation in an attempt to quiet them and retain the political ''status quo''. The

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

topics were a critique of the Norwegian policy of allowing a Soviet presence on Svalbard. The film was produced by Dag Alveberg and Petter Borgli, and the script was written by Briton

Richard Harris Richard St John Francis Harris (1 October 1930 – 25 October 2002) was an Irish actor and singer. He appeared on stage and in many films, notably as Corrado Zeller in Michelangelo Antonioni's '' Red Desert'', Frank Machin in ''This Sporting ...

. Two versions of the film were recorded, a Norwegian cinematic film and an English-language television film. First Solum shot the Norwegian-language scenes, and then Cole shot the same scene with the actors speaking English. The entire crew and cast lived on board a ship which traveled through Svalbard and

Finnmark Finnmark (; se, Finnmárku ; fkv, Finmarku; fi, Ruija ; russian: Финнмарк) was a county in the northern part of Norway, and it is scheduled to become a county again in 2024. On 1 January 2020, Finnmark was merged with the neighbouri ...

during production. The theme music, Svalbardtema, was composed by

Geir Bøhren Geir Bøhren (born 9 June 1951) is a Norwegian musician and film score composer. Bøhren co-founded the group Junipher Greene in 1966, where he was a drummer. The band started playing blues but later changed to progressive rock. It signed its fir ...

and Bent Åserud and has become an anthem for Svalbard.

Plot

The story centers around three seamen who conduct shady business on board their vessel, ''Sandy Hook''. The film starts with two of them, Tom Jansen (

) and Sverre ( Hans Ola Sørlie), taking tourists on a

polar bear The polar bear (''Ursus maritimus'') is a hypercarnivorous bear whose native range lies largely within the Arctic Circle, encompassing the Arctic Ocean, its surrounding seas and surrounding land masses. It is the largest extant bear specie ...

safari. During this trip and at a later scene at a pub in

Longyearbyen Longyearbyen (, locally �lɔ̀ŋjɑrˌbyːən "The Longyear Town") is the world's northernmost settlement with a population greater than 1,000 and the largest inhabited area of Svalbard, Norway. It stretches along the foot of the left bank ...

, where Tom's girlfriend, Eva Jelseth (

Kjersti Holmen Kjersti Holmen (8 February 1956 – 26 September 2021) was a Norwegian actress. She was born on Nøtterøy, and later moved to Alnabru, where she grew up with her parents and two sisters. She graduated from the Norwegian National Academy of T ...

) is introduced, the viewers are briefed on the

politics of Svalbard Svalbard lies under the sovereignty of Norway, but the Svalbard Treaty places several restrictions. Norway cannot use the archipelago for warlike purposes, cannot discriminate economic activity based on nationality and is required to conserve th ...

and the large Soviet presence. The third seaman, Lars (

), presents plans to freight a

bulldozer A bulldozer or dozer (also called a crawler) is a large, motorized machine equipped with a metal blade to the front for pushing material: soil, sand, snow, rubble, or rock during construction work. It travels most commonly on continuous track ...

to the mainland from

Sarstangen Sarstangen is a point on the island of Prins Karls Forland in Svalbard, Norway. It is located east of Forlandsrevet and north of Sarsbukta. It is named after Michael Sars Michael Sars (30 August 1805 – 22 October 1869) was a Norwegian theo ...

. They have been instructed to dump the bulldozer underway as part of an

insurance fraud Insurance fraud is any act committed to defraud an insurance process. It occurs when a claimant attempts to obtain some benefit or advantage they are not entitled to, or when an insurer knowingly denies some benefit that is due. According to the ...

scheme, but have instead made arrangements to sell the vehicle on

Greenland Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland is t ...

. While at port, Tom is called to visit

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Bache (

Jon Eikemo Jon Eikemo (born 30 November 1939 in Åsane, Norway) is a Norwegian actor. He debuted on stage in 1961. He made his film debut in 1968, with the movie '' De ukjentes marked'' (The Market of the Outcasts). Eikemo has been a minor political candidat ...

), who warns that he will be keeping an eye on them. After a dramatic but successful delivery of the bulldozer to the purchasers, they return towards Longyearbyen. They report to

Isfjord Radio Isfjord Radio is a coast radio station, weather station and hotel located at Kapp Linné on the island Spitsbergen in Svalbard, Norway. The station was established in 1933, and has played an important role in the telecommunications between the ...

to say they were caught in a storm, but deviate on their route back to avoid returning too early. They get caught in actual bad weather and decide to pull up in a nearby island,

Kjerulføya Kjerulføya is an island north of Nordaustlandet in Svalbard, Norway. It is named for Theodor Kjerulf. The island is located within Nordaust-Svalbard Nature Reserve Nordaust-Svalbard Nature Reserve ( no, Nordaust-Svalbard naturreservat) is loca ...

, north of

Nordaustlandet Nordaustlandet (sometimes translated as North East Land) is the second-largest island in the archipelago of Svalbard, Norway, with an area of . It lies north east of Spitsbergen, separated by Hinlopen Strait. Much of Nordaustlandet lies under la ...

. The following day they go ashore to find food but instead find a cable. They follow the cable until they find a Soviet bearing station. While at the station, they are discovered by the Russians. They return fire after being shot at, killing a Russian; Sverre is wounded. They escape and decide to mix with the fishing fleet to avoid being spotted. However, they are intercepted by a seemingly civilian Russian

Aeroflot PJSC AeroflotRussian Airlines (russian: ПАО "Аэрофло́т — Росси́йские авиали́нии", ), commonly known as Aeroflot ( or ; russian: Аэрофлот, , ), is the flag carrier and the largest airline of Russia. The ...

helicopter, which turns out to be heavily armed and fires at the ship. ''Sandy Hook'' steers into a narrow bay, and the protagonists fire back, eventually destroying the helicopter with a firebomb. They continue to Kapp Dufferin, where they anchor. Tom rows to land to find supplies, but while he is on land, a Soviet helicopter bombs ''Sandy Hook'', killing Lars and Sverre. Tom has to walk across

Spitsbergen Spitsbergen (; formerly known as West Spitsbergen; Norwegian: ''Vest Spitsbergen'' or ''Vestspitsbergen'' , also sometimes spelled Spitzbergen) is the largest and the only permanently populated island of the Svalbard archipelago in northern Norw ...

to reach Longyearbyen. After a long march through the wilderness, he reaches a closed mine and rides an

aerial tramway An aerial tramway, sky tram, cable car, ropeway, aerial tram, telepherique, or seilbahn is a type of aerial lift which uses one or two stationary ropes for support while a third moving rope provides propulsion. With this form of lift, the grip ...

for coal to Longyearbyen. Tom wakes in hospital in the company of Bache. Tom's story of the ship's sinking is not believed, and he is sent to

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

for interrogations by a United States colonel ( Jon Ausland) and other American military personnel. In a scene at Holmenkollen Park Hotel, the Soviet ambassador and Norwegian minister discuss the consequences of public knowledge of the incident. Tom is offered a new identity and a job on board a foreign trade vessel. On his way to the port, he escapes from the military police by mixing with a carnival parade. Two endings of the film were made. The second one had a longer chase scene involving a rendezvous with Eva, but in both endings, Tom is killed. Whether this is done by Soviet or American intelligence is left as an open question.

Production

Jon Michelet's novel ''Orion's Belt'' was published by

Oktober Forlag Forlaget Oktober is a Norwegian publishing house. Oktober focuses on Norwegian contemporary fiction. In addition, they publish a small selection of non-fiction, poetry, and translated fiction. Annually they release around 50 new titles, and around ...

in 1977. The book's popularity in part arose from public interest in why 3,000 Russians were living on the Norwegian archipelago. The title refers to the idea that Svalbard was as central in a potential Cold War war theater as

Orion's Belt Orion's Belt or the Belt of Orion, also known as the Three Kings or Three Sisters, is an asterism in the constellation Orion. It consists of the three bright stars Alnitak Alnitak is a triple star system in the constellation of ...

, a central asterism in the constellation Orion. The novel also played on the fear of

nuclear war Nuclear warfare, also known as atomic warfare, is a theoretical military conflict or prepared political strategy that deploys nuclear weaponry. Nuclear weapons are weapons of mass destruction; in contrast to conventional warfare, nuclear w ...

and the lack of information from Norwegian media about the issue.Skagen: 17 The novel received mixed reviews. It was translated into English by Ellen Nations.Skagen: 10 The initiative to dramatize the novel was taken by two prop masters, Dag Alveberg and Petter Borgli. They both invested half a million

Norwegian krone The krone (, abbreviation: kr (also NKr for distinction); code: NOK), plural ''kroner'', is currency of the Kingdom of Norway (including Svalbard). Traditionally known as the Norwegian crown in English. It is nominally subdivided into 100 ''� ...

(NOK) in the project, financed by mortgaging their homes.Skagen: 35 Neither had any experience as producers. Alveberg stated that his main motivation was him being tired of all Norwegian films being

social realism Social realism is the term used for work produced by painters, printmakers, photographers, writers and filmmakers that aims to draw attention to the real socio-political conditions of the working class as a means to critique the power structure ...

. He stated that "the story could have taken place, and maybe it has taken place. We all know that the Russians do what they want on Svalbard." Alveberg first attempted to write the screenplay himself but was not satisfied. He presented the screenplay for the

Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation NRK, an abbreviation of the Norwegian ''Norsk Rikskringkasting AS'', generally expressed in English as the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation, is the Norwegian government-owned radio and television public broadcasting company, and the largest ...

; although they liked the project, they did not feel it was in the scope of the public broadcaster. Norway did not at the time have screenwriters of international standards, and Alveberg decided not to use his film as a training ground. He therefore hired the experienced British screenwriter Richard Harris. Harris had a single meeting with Michelet in Oslo. At first Harris did not believe that there was a significant Norwegian left-wing grouping, nor did he realize that the Russian presence and the conflict in Svalbard was real. Michelet initially wanted Harris to include details such as Jansen's father being a war sailor and that he came from a working-class family, but Harris, with Michelet's understanding, dropped much of the personal backdrop to shorten the storyline. However, the screenplay is loyal to the novel's political stance. Harris never visited Svalbard, although he traveled to Finnmark.Skagen: 24 Solum was selected as director based on the producers' experience with him from '' Carl Gustav, gjengen og parkeringsbandittene''. The producers took more artistic decisions than was common at the time; for instance, they felt that Solum's choice of composer was wrong.Skagen: 28 During this discussion, the team was contacted by Geir Bøhren and Bent Åserud, who had read about the plans the newspaper, and sent a music sample to the team. Thus the duo became the first choice of both the director and the producers.Skagen: 29 Tristan DeVere Cole acted as an assistant director in addition to directing the English scenes. The production was organized as a polar expedition. The ferry MS ''Sognefjord'' was bought, rebuilt with living quarters and a cutting-roomSkagen: 20 and renamed ''Orion''. After production, the vessel was sold. The reason for using ''Orion'' was that there was only one hotel on the archipelago and no place for a film crew. Although this decision required supplies for three months to be brought along, it allowed the team to film at various remote locations on the islands and allowed travel while the film crew were sleeping. Up to 60 people lived on board.Skagen: 30 The vessel SS ''Listein'' was bought and used as the protagonist's ship, ''Sandy Hook''. Filming was undertaken both along the Finnmark coast and in Svalbard. The planning concluded one and a half years before production began. The film was made in two versions: a cinematic version in Norwegian and a television version in English. First Solum would direct a scene in Norwegian, and it would be shot. After he was satisfied, Cole would take over and shoot the same scene with the same actors, but with English dialog. The actors' accents were good enough that it did not need to be dubbed, while sufficiently noticeable to make the film exotic and authentic. A documentary about the production was shot concurrently. ''Sandy Hook'' was blown up and sunk during one scene. of dynamite were placed on board, and the explosion and sinking were filmed with six cameras. Just after the fuse was lit and the crew were abandoning the ship, it was discovered that the Coastal Steamer was going to pass. To not wreck the scene, Borgli ran below deck and cut the fuse.Skagen: 33 The scene in which ''Sandy Hook'' is attacked by the helicopter while in a narrow bay was filmed at

Kjøllefjord Kjøllefjord is the administrative centre of Lebesby Municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The village is located on the northwestern part of the Nordkinn Peninsula, on the shore of a small fjord which empties into the larger Laksefj ...

, Finnmark. The helicopter used was Norwegian, but painted in Russian Aeroflot livery. The helicopter was only available that day, but the captain on the vessel was drunk and refused to run it into the bay to film the scenes.Skagen: 37 Only a single Russian is shown with his face in the film, with the rest of the antagonists being faceless Soviets, particularly the helicopter.Skagen: 18 The original ending was created as a compromise resulting in a closing deadline and lack of funding, yet keeping the ending open. After the premiere, a new ending was filmed, which weaved the storyline better together. The second version also trimmed 10 minutes from the film's beginning.

Financing

In the early 1980s,

Minister of Culture A culture minister or a heritage minister is a common cabinet position in governments. The culture minister is typically responsible for cultural policy, which often includes arts policy (direct and indirect support to artists and arts organizati ...

Lars Roar Langslet Lars Roar Langslet (5 March 1936, Nes, Buskerud – 18 January 2016) was the Norwegian Minister of Education and Church Affairs (culture and science affairs only, not church affairs) in 1981, and Minister of Culture and Science from 1982 until 19 ...

increased subsidies for Norwegian film. In addition to increased focus on quality and costs, the system encouraged films to be organized as a ''

kommandittselskap Kommandittselskap or KS is a Norwegian type of company. The company is owned by two types of entities; the ''komplementar'', who holds unlimited liability, and one or more ''komandittist'' who hold limited liability. The company type is thus a mi ...

'' (KS)—a model from the shipping and petroleum industry where each ship was owned by its own KS and had a mix of limited and unlimited liability. This resulted in an increase of private capital to invest in films.Skagen: 15 While the 1970s had been dominated by dramatizations of classical novels and popular plays, the 1980s saw inspiration from

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

.Skagen: 16 Work on financing the film started in 1982. Alveberg and Borgli established the production company Filmeffekt and hired Scanbroker to secure financing through KS Orion Film. The business magazine '' Økonomisk Rapport'' warned against investing in the film, characterizing it as an unrealistic "castle in the sky".Skagen: 21 In December 1983, the Embassy of the Soviet Union lodged an official complaint against the filming of ''Orion's Belt'', accusing it of being a cover for military activity. The complaint was plainly rejected by the

Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs The Royal Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs ( Norwegian (Bokmål): ''Det kongelige utenriksdepartement''; Norwegian (Nynorsk): ''Det kongelege utanriksdepartement'') is the foreign ministry of the Kingdom of Norway. It was established on June ...

. The film received problems when applying for state grants from ''Statens Filmproduksjonsutvalg''. Though the screenplay was regarded as exceptionally good by independent consultants, it was given as the reason for the initial rejection. Minor modifications were made, after which the board argued that the Norwegian film industry was too small for such a project and that an action film, with a potential for international viewership, was beyond the mandate of the board. Part of the film industry wanted the board to give ''Orion's Belt'' and another film equal recommendations to force the government to make a film-political decision, but the board twice ranked ''Orion's Belt'' second. In mid-1983, the film was awarded grants of NOK 6.4 million of a budgeted cost of 10.5 million. Private financing of the KS was completed in 1984.Skagen: 19 By then the cost estimates had escalated to NOK 15 million, largely because of the delays. ''Orion's Belt'' was the first film to be financed as a KS, with some investors investing capital and others only guaranteeing. The state grants were structured in such a way that had the film been withdrawn from the cinemas after a revenue of NOK 5 million, all investors would have received more money at the expense of the state. This was in part because increased grants reduced the tax advantage of the KS model. Subsequently, the rules were changed to increase the incentive to make a high-grossing production. The tax rules also caused problems for Alveberg and Borgli in financing their next film, ''

Etter Rubicon ''Etter Rubicon'' is a 1987 Norwegian thriller film directed by Leidulv Risan and starring Sverre Anker Ousdal and Toralv Maurstad. It was produced by Dag Alveberg and the film company Filmeffekt. The film is a political commentary about the C ...

''.

Reception

Aftenposten ( in the masthead; ; Norwegian for "The Evening Post") is Norway's largest printed newspaper by circulation. It is based in Oslo. It sold 211,769 copies in 2015 (172,029 printed copies according to University of Bergen) and estimated 1.2 million ...

'' criticized the narrative for placing the

climax Climax may refer to: Language arts * Climax (narrative), the point of highest tension in a narrative work * Climax (rhetoric), a figure of speech that lists items in order of importance Biology * Climax community, a biological community th ...

in the middle. The newspaper characterized the actors as playing

amateur theater Amateur theatre, also known as amateur dramatics, is theatre performed by amateur actors and singers. Amateur theatre groups may stage plays, revues, musicals, light opera, pantomime or variety shows, and do so for the social activity as well as f ...

, but praised the action scenes and cinematography. In contrast, ''

Verdens Gang ''Verdens Gang'' ("The course of the world"), generally known under the abbreviation ''VG'', is a Norwegian tabloid newspaper. In 2016, circulation numbers stood at 93,883, having declined from a peak circulation of 390,510 in 2002. ''VG'' is n ...

'' praised the film, characterizing the three main actors as meeting international standards and maintaining the spirit of Michelet. It gave the film a five of six ranking. ''

Nordlys ''Nordlys'' is a Norwegian newspaper published in Tromsø, covering the region of Troms, and the largest newspaper in Northern Norway. History and profile ''Nordlys'' was founded in 1902 by Alfred Eriksen, who also was its first editor-in-chie ...

'' commented on the realism of the film's topic. It criticized the special effects, which it stated there were less of than in foreign films, and the long time before the story was understood. Yet it praised the suspense which was maintained throughout the film and felt Holmen gave the best acting performance. ''

Adresseavisen ''Adresseavisen'' (; commonly known as ''Adressa'') is a regional newspaper published daily, except Sundays, in Trondheim, Norway. The paper has been in circulation since 1767 and is one of the oldest newspapers after Norske Intelligenz-Seddeler ...

'' stated that the film was "too good to be Norwegian". It praised the film for its exciting story, for illustrating how Norway was part of the Cold War and how unimportant a single human is in superpower politics. It commented that Michelet was a political author, which allowed him to problematize political issues which were not acceptable for public debate. It also agreed with Harris' choice to remove all flashbacks. ''

Dagbladet ''Dagbladet'' (lit.: ''The Daily Magazine'') is one of Norway's largest newspapers and is published in the tabloid format. It has 1,400,000 daily readers on mobile, web and paper. Traditionally ''Dagbladet'' is considered the main liberal newsp ...

'' commented that the film downplayed the left-wing political aspect of the book and instead focused on the storyline and action. It commented that with increased funding for special effects, Solum was able to achieve his true potential as an action director. It praised Paalsgard for the cinematography and the natural integration of nature footage and backdrops. Following the presentation of the shortened and new ending version, ''Dagbladet'' stated that "they could just as well have kept the old one". ''

Klassekampen ''Klassekampen'' ( en, The Class Struggle) is a Norwegian daily newspaper. It describes itself as "the newspaper of the Left." The paper's net circulation is 34,000 (2021), and it has around 111,000 daily readers on paper (160,000 on Saturdays). ...

'' praised the film for its action and accepted that it had reduced the amount of intrigue in the novel. The character of Jansen was applauded, as it showed how small an individual is against the superpowers. As the only newspaper, ''Klassekampen'' praised the film music. ''Variety'' stated that the film was "a superbly mounted, convincingly told adventure thriller. Action scenes, such as the helicopter attack, are excitingly staged, and the suspense never lets up. As the rugged Tom, Helge Jordal is very good." However, the magazine criticized the title. The film took a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

at the inaugural Amanda Award, Norway's premier film awards. It won for best feature film, Jordal won for best male actor, and Bøhren and Åserud won for best film music. ''Orion's Belt'' was nominated for best film at the International Mystery Film Festival of Cattolica, and Ola Solum won the award for best direction. The composers were awarded the 1986 Film Critics' Prize for the music. In 2007, ''Dagbladet'' ranked ''Orion's Belt'' as Norway's tenth-most important film. In May 2012, Tomas Backström announced plans for a remake of the film. He stated that he had secured half the necessary NOK 40 million in financing and that he hoped for state grants for the rest. Actors planned for the remake include

Aksel Hennie Aksel Hennie (born 29 October 1975) is a Norwegian actor, director, and screenwriter. He is best known for his roles in the films '' Headhunters'' (2011), ''Hercules'' (2014), and '' The Martian'' (2015). Early life Hennie was born in the Lambert ...

Nicolai Cleve Broch Nicolai Cleve Broch (born 14 November 1975) is a Norwegian theatre and film actor. He rose to national fame playing one of the leading roles in the 2002 drama series ''Lekestue'', which aired on NRK in 2002. He is also known for playing the prota ...

Ola Rapace Ola may refer to: Places Panama *Olá, a subdistrict in Coclé Province *Olá District Russia *Ola, Russia, an urban settlement in Magadan Oblast *Ola District, an administrative division in Magadan Oblast *Ola (river), a river in Magadan Obla ...

and

Tuva Novotny Tuva Moa Matilda Karolina Novotny Hedström (born 21 December 1979) is a Swedish actress, director, and singer. She was born in Stockholm, and was raised in Åmot, Brunskog, outside Arvika. She is the daughter of Czech film director David Jan N ...

Distribution

The cinema version was distributed by

Kommunenes Filmcentral Kommunenes Filmcentral was a film distributor in Norway. It was established in 1919 when Kommunale Kinematografers Landsforbund, an association of municipal-owned cinemas, bought the private-owned Nerliens Filmbureau. It distributed films by Univ ...

in Norway and

New World Pictures New World Pictures (also known as New World Entertainment and New World Communications Group, Inc.) was an American independent production, distribution, and (in its final years as an autonomous entity) multimedia company. It was founded in 197 ...

internationally. The film received a 16-year

rating A rating is an evaluation or assessment of something, in terms of quality, quantity, or some combination of both. Rating or ratings may also refer to: Business and economics * Credit rating, estimating the credit worthiness of an individual, c ...

in Norway and Finland, and a 15-year rating in Sweden. In the United Kingdom and the United States it was rated Parental Guidance.Skagen: 196 ''Orion's Belt'' premiered on 8 February 1985 at eight cinemas in seven Norwegian cities. In Norway, 700,000 people saw the film at the cinema; it grossed NOK 14,172,994 in Norway and slightly less than NOK 3 million abroad.Skagen: 36 A third version of the film was made later, aimed at the American cinema market. It was a dubbed version of the Norwegian recording, but had a slightly different ending. The first DVD version was produced in 2004. The issue was criticized for not removing film grain and for cropping the image to 4:3 instead of 16:9. It further did not feature improvements to the sound and was available only in stereo. Subtitles were absent, despite the fact that some lines of the Norwegian-language version were in English. It did not include bonus material, the English-language version or the alternative ending. On 21 September 2005, Norsk Film published a new DVD version. The film was cleaned up and shown in

widescreen Widescreen images are displayed within a set of aspect ratios (relationship of image width to height) used in film, television and computer screens. In film, a widescreen film is any film image with a width-to-height aspect ratio greater than t ...

, with the audio being

digitally remastered Remaster refers to changing the quality of the sound or of the image, or both, of previously created recordings, either audiophonic, cinematic, or videographic. The terms digital remastering and digitally remastered are also used. Mastering A ...

and presented in

Dolby 5.1 Dolby Digital, originally synonymous with Dolby AC-3, is the name for what has now become a family of audio compression technologies developed by Dolby Laboratories. Formerly named Dolby Stereo Digital until 1995, the audio compression is lossy ...

and DTS. Bonus material included in the release included the full English-language version, a 40-minute documentary on the production, two

commentary track An audio commentary is an additional audio track, usually digital, consisting of a lecture or comments by one or more speakers, that plays in real time with a video. Commentaries can be serious or entertaining in nature, and can add informatio ...

s and new interviews with the main contributors.

Music

The music for the film was composed by Geir Bøhren and Bent Åserud. They traveled to Svalbard to gather inspiration and found that the lack of vegetation distorted one's sense of direction. Inspiration was gathered more from the associations of the nature and culture in Svalbard, rather than that of a traditional action film. This included such elements as listening to whale and Inuit song.Skagen: 31 For the storm scenes, the team made a

Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...

-inspired piece, which was distinct from the Inuit-inspired music. At the end of the piece was a flute melody, which was then adapted to become the theme song, Svalbardtema.Skagen: 32 Although the music was not mentioned in the original reception, it later became very popular and has become a de facto anthem for the archipelago. Bøhren and Åserud established themselves as film music composers with ''Orion's Belt'' and composed the music for nearly all of Solum's later films.Skagen: 34

References

;Bibliography * {{Portal bar, Film, Norway 1985 films 1980s action thriller films 1985 independent films Norwegian action thriller films Norwegian independent films 1980s Norwegian-language films 1980s English-language films English-language Norwegian films Cold War films Films about murder Films based on Norwegian novels Films based on thriller novels Films set in the Arctic Films set in Norway Films set on islands Films shot in Norway 1980s political thriller films Seafaring films Svalbard in fiction Films directed by Ola Solum 1985 multilingual films Norwegian multilingual films