Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, April 3, 1990 TAG: 9004030097
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: E-3 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE: TRACIE FELLERS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
But the wide-screen film, showing at the Science Museum of Western Virginia's Hopkins Planetarium, also offers an intriguing glimpse of what life is like for residents of Tromso, Norway, the center of the northern-lights zone.
Franck Pettersen, the film's co-producer and narrator, explains that Tromso is the northernmost city of the world - a place where people never see starry summer nights or sunny winter days.
The 30-minute film then takes viewers to Spitzbergen - an island about 70 miles south of Tromso - around midnight. The frosty blue of the Norwegian Sea, icebergs and craggy mountains on the fringes of the sea, are a stunning sight on the 360-degree screen.
The stark beauty of the scene is magnified by the midnight sun, much like the early morning light seen just after daybreak.
The sun's rays bounce off the ice and shine on flocks of seagulls, who periodically squawk at each other and take flight from their perches on blocks of ice.
In the fall, the sky becomes dark at night and the northern lights are visible in Tromso. "Arctic Lights" offers a panoramic view of the night sky, in which the northern lights appear. Blue-green or white in color, the shimmering lights have a surreal, almost ghostly quality as they move in different patterns across the sky.
Winter in Tromso brings darkness. For two months before Christmas, the sun does not rise above the horizon. As Pettersen's voice explains the facts over amplifiers in the planetarium, the film shows children skating, skiing and playing hockey in the half-light which lasts a short time during winter afternoons.
Tromso residents adapt by replacing the non-existent natural light with their own, Pettersen adds. The film has one of its lighter moments when illustrating this point. It fast-forwards through scenes of a brightly-lighted Tromso downtown during the Christmas season.
In the accelerated pictures shoppers bustle here and there - down the lighted streets, in and out of the busy, bright stores. But when the man-made lights go out, the northern lights are in full view, weaving their arcs and curlicues in the night sky.
The Festival of Lights is an interesting Tromso tradition shown in the film. As part of the festival, townspeople spend thousands of dollars on fireworks each New Year's Eve to celebrate midwinter's longer days.
"Arctic Lights" attempts to compress too much information into too little time when trying to explain the reasons behind the northern lights. The segments on northern lights research also might be over the heads of small children. However, children in the audience seemed to enjoy a scene in which rockets used to measure the lights took off from a launching pad.
The film also talked about northern lights legends while viewers watched the lights on the screen. Among those was the notion that if you waved at the northern lights, they would come down and take you away. The lights were viewed as a mighty power that must be treated with respect, Pettersen said.
"Arctic Lights" winds down with scenes of children playing in the spring, when the snow starts to melt. January 21, the first day Tromso residents can see the sun after the winter months, is traditionally a day of celebration. But it is March or April before temperatures are warm enough to start melting the snow, Pettersen explains.
The strengths of "Arctic Lights" are its striking views of the Norwegian landscape and its presentation of images and ideas both children and adults can relate to. The combination of those elements make the film not just educational or enjoyable, but both.
Arctic Lights" will be shown at the Hopkins Planetarium through June 24. Call 342-5710 for times.
Memo: story ran in Metro edition April 4.