Roald Amundsen was the first researcher to reach both the North and South Poles. The British explorer Robert Scott was hot on his heels on the trip to the South Pole 1910-1911. The discoverers were in bitter competition with each other. Amundsen's expeditions were largely organised and financed by his brother Leon. However, there was constant conflict and conflict between the two.
I have little knowledge of the explorers and the North and South Poles. I know Antarctica has the South Pole and penguins, whereas the Arctic has the North Pole and polar bears. On visits to the Kelly Tarlton's aquarium in Auckland, I've seen replica cabins from Scott base, so the name Amundsen previously meant nothing to me, and yet here he is being portrayed in a film as one of the great explorers of the world.
The film opens straight into the action with a forced water landing in the Arctic; a seemingly great start to a film about the first explorer to reach both poles. It does create a false impression of the film to come, however. Amundsen is not a gripping series of expeditions, fraught with danger and peril; instead, we are given excerpts of Amundsen's life through conversations with his brother.
Like a poorly generated highlight reel, the important moments are there, but the context and development of characters and environment are missing, and there is an overwhelming amount of content around the relationships outside of the expeditions.
Focusing on the outside relationships does help to develop the character of our lead, Roald Amundsen, but it develops him into an unlikeable, uncharismatic, and cold person. With the expectations of dangerous adventuring through hostile ice environments that were alluded to in the opening scenes, the amount of time spent watching Amundsen flirt with married women and argue about racing vs science is disproportionate, leading to several lulls in the pacing of the film.
This is exacerbated by the overall structure of the film, which starts moments from its conclusion but jumps back in time through a series of flashbacks. While a useful storytelling technique, the non-linear structure removes much of the tension, suspense, or any other form of emotional impact from what we are seeing.
We flit from one expedition to another, being told through stories and dialogue how long and treacherous the expeditions were, but as members of the audience, we never get to feel it; years pass in minutes, and plot points are skimmed over to introduce the next series of plot points.
The film tries to cover such a wide expanse of information about the man's 55 years of life, that it merely gets to mention the topic before it moves on to the next one. The film feels at least 30 minutes too long, and yet it doesn't spend enough time on things to allow the significance of them to sink in. A year and a half journey to the South Pole, and the realisation doesn't hit; four attempts to reach the North Pole across 8 years, and there is no sense of satisfaction.
There are intriguing elements to the film, and it does well to make you want to look into the topic further yourself; saving people from falling into glacial crevasses, polar bear attacks, racing motorized sleds with teams of sled dogs, there is so much that could have been properly developed, that this could have been a trilogy of expeditions.
Amundsen is not action-oriented though and director Espen Sandberg seems set on giving as much exposition as possible, with little regard to how effectively it is displayed. Despite the jumpy structure and flat character development, the cinematography from Pål Ulvik Rokseth is well-executed. The icy landscapes feel real, and don't look like they were shot in the studio.
What the film does well, is put forward a flawed character. Roald Amundsen isn't portrayed as an over-glorified hero; he loves married women, he lies, he is obsessed with being the first (not unlike commenters on YouTube), he has no sense of fiscal responsibility. A bitter man, who never receives the praise that he feels he deserves, at least not outside of Norway
Considering the historical context the first two acts will certainly pass on a lot of interesting information that could no doubt unlock a passion for educating yourself about polar exploration. Whether that is enough to warrant sitting through the entire film (especially the final act that doesn't know when to end). Mediocre execution of a monumental historical exploration, but until a better version is made, it's still worth a watch.
Amundsen is in cinemas from December 10, 2020