- "Get the hell away! That's not a dog, it's some sort of thing! It's imitating a dog, it isn't real! GET AWAY YOU IDIOTS!!"
- ― Lars attempting to warn the Outpost 31 crew of the Norwegian dog (speaking Norwegian).
Lars was a Norwegian crew-member stationed at the Thule Antarctic research station. The (originally unnamed) character first appeared in the 1982 film The Thing, portrayed by associate producer Larry J. Franco. He was further explored in the 2011 prequel film, this time played by actor Jørgen Langhelle.
History
The Thing (2011)
Prior to being stationed at Thule Station as a dog handler, Lars was a soldier in the Norwegian Army during the Cold War, and was an expert in the use of grenades, flamethrowers, firearms and the ability to handle himself in dangerous situations. After the Thing infiltrates Thule Station, Lars is one of the few team members who remains calm; he even joins Sam Carter in fighting the original Thing. He is also the only Norwegian crewman who American palaeontologist Kate Lloyd trusts and constantly turns to for help - especially after he destroys the Juliette-Thing and proves he is human by showing her his tooth fillings (as the Thing cannot assimilate inorganic material). After attempting to discover if Sam Carter and Derek Jameson are human (since they were locked in a tool shed after being suspected to be imitations) he is outmanouvered by the men, who lock him in another shack. There he remains while Thule Station is destroyed and most of, if not all, its crew are killed. Later, a Norwegian pilot named Matias lands amongst the ruins and is confronted by Lars who demands that he show him his tooth fillings at gunpoint. Once Lars is convinced that Matias is human they notice the station's Alaskan malamute fleeing from the facility. Lars realizes that the Thing has assimilated the dog and the pair give chase in the helicopter, shooting at it from the air.
The Thing (1982)
Matias (left) and Lars (right) pursue the Dog by helicopter, as seen in The Thing (1982).
Lars first appears in the opening scenes of The Thing (1982), as he and the pilot attempt to hunt and kill the Kennel-Thing. The pair follow it to a U.S. Antarctic research center, U.S. Outpost 31, and failing to shoot or grenade it from the air, land outside the perimeter of the facility. Matias attempts to throw a grenade at the creature before it can reach the onlooking Americans, but it slips from his hand and lands near the helicopter, resulting in an explosion that destroys them both. In Norwegian, Lars attempts to warn the Americans of the imminent danger the dog represents and, failing to be understood, resumes shooting at it - hitting American Meteorologist George Bennings in the leg. Lars continues to pursue the dog towards the buildings. With none of the American members able to understand Lars's warning, Garry, the outpost commander, interprets Lars's actions as hostile and shoots him through his left eye, killing him instantly.
The Outpost physician, Dr. Copper, later performs an autopsy on Lars's remains only to find he wasn't under the influence of any drugs or alcohol. This leads the American team conclude that mental instability could have been the cause of his bizarre behavior, which could also mean other members of the Norwegian team could have suffered at the hands of the men before they left to chase the dog. They decide to investigate the Norwegian camp, which leads to the discovery of the camp's destruction, the shattered ice block, and the remains of the Split Face Thing, which they bring back to the American outpost.
Trivia
- In a deleted scene from 1982's The Thing, Outpost 31 commander Garry finds the character's dog tags, which identify the Norwegian as "Jans Bolen". However, "Jans" is not a real Norwegian name (the intended form was presumably Jens).
- During the 2011 film, it is shown that he is the only member of the Norwegian Outpost, other than Matias (it is assumed), who does not speak English. However, Lars does seem to understand simple statements and commands (like Kate Lloyd yelling "BURN IT!") Indeed few Norwegians in 1982 would be so ignorant of English that they could not understand such elementary vocabulary.
- Lars was one of the three human characters left alive at the end of The Thing (2011).
- In a deleted scene from the 2011 film, Lars fetches a crate of grenades before boarding Matias's helicopter.
- Lars' Norwegian warning to the Outpost 31 goes like this: "Se til helvete og kom dere vekk! Det er ikke en bikkje, det er en slags ting! Det imiterer en bikkje, det er ikke virkelig! KOM DERE VEKK, IDIOTER!" In idiomatic English, this may be translated: "Get the hell away! It's not a dog, it's some sort of thing! It's imitating a dog, it isn't real! GET AWAY, YOU IDIOTS!"
- For "dog", the agitated man uses the low-register term bikkje instead of hund, the neutral Norwegian word for "dog". The word bikkje is either very informal or outright contemptful, somewhat like English "mutt". There seems to be a slight grammatical error in the sentence "det imiterer en bikkje" (it's imitating a dog): The correct word for "it" referring back to common-gender ting ("thing") would be den, not neuter det. The sentence "det er ikke virkelig" (it isn't real) likewise ought to be "den er ikke virkelig" if the reference is to either bikkje (dog/mutt) or ting (thing). However, the wording "det er ikke virkelig" is correct if Lars is referring to the whole situation: "It" (namely, what you are experiencing) "is not real" (as in: there is something deceptive going on).
- Actor Larry J. Franco's attempt to speak Norwegian is decent, though his accent is somewhat strange to Norwegian ears. The intended form of the language is apparently the "standard" Eastern Norwegian spoken in and around Oslo, creating a slight continuity error with the 2011 prequel, where Lars instead speaks a dialect from the western coast (the actual dialect of actor Jørgen Langhelle).
- Both Lars and Matias are the only two human characters who appeared in both the 1982 and 2011 films.
Images
.png "Lars shoots at the dog from the air - The Thing (2011).png (819 KB)")
