Every once in a while, a movie comes along that surprises me. Even though I liked the trailers of The Northman, I assumed the film would not impress me too much. But I was wrong. The first part of this review of the Viking, Dark Fantasy The Northman, will be non-spoiler, but as soon as I get to the spoiler part, I will give warnings.
We could consider this a Dark, Norse Mythology, Fantasy.
The movie is very gritty, realistic and even grim at times. But it still has a mythological fantasy element to it. Such as miraclulous rescues by crows and sword sheeths that will only open for the hero and seeing the future.
And, the story is loosely based on a tale of a young Viking Prince named Amleth, Vita Amelthi in Norse Mythology who avenges the death of his father. Writer, Sjón, and director Robert Eggers do a fantastic job in their attempt to make an authentically transportive period film on a big screen level.
Star-studded supporting cast.
And I have to mention in my review of the Viking Dark Fantasy The Northman, part of the supporting cast are three A-list Stars, Ethan Hawke, Nicole Kidman, and Willem Dafoe, and they all went deep into the characters. Not to mention singer Bjork playing Seeress, a prophetess.
Willem Dafoe has a relatively short role in the film, but a very memorable one. Ethan Hawke is unrecognisable to his role in Training Day. Which just goes to show how versatile of an actor he is. Kidman played an extremely complex role, but did it amazingly well.
Why this movie is so different?
Because most films being made on epic levels now are superhero movies or sequels, and have you noticed they all seem the same? The studio pressured Sjón and Eggers to make changes, but it appears they held to their vision and it shows. And on a side note, Eggers met writer Sjón through the mutual friend Bjork.
Not like every other Viking Movie.
This film had a very tight storyline with enough conflict to keep you on your seat the whole time. But it did not just revel in all the theatrical, Viking themes and tropes.
The Movie shows the harsh brutality of warfare and feudalism during that time period and not in an overly romantic way. For instance, like how we romanticize Pirates in movies. Sure they were rapist, murderers and thieves, but the costumes and locations and sets seem cool. Vikings are similar phenomenons, they raided, looted, killed and took slaves. Not a pleasant situation if you are on the other side of it.
The Northman movie went dark, but in a meaningful way. All the situations we found the protagonist in were believable and in some ways very traumatic. But none of the dark places our protagonist went to seemed contrived. They were all inevitable with the brilliant foreshadowing of the writer.
Love?
Not to mention the love affair between Amleth and Olga of the Birch tree forrest seemed very believable and cinematic. Their scenes seemed so real and gave the story a depth. Amleth is character with nothing to lose without Olga.
Why this movie is so different? It doesn’t appear to be pressing a social agenda.
This movie had a male protagonist, and it stuck to its central theme. There was no surprise woke ideology in the movie; it was just a good story.
Review of Viking Dark Fantasy The Northman, Mild Spoiler Warning!
The beginning narration of this film reminded me heavily of the beginning narration of the 1982 film Conan the Barbarian, and I liked that. Also, a part of this film that reminds me of Conan, when the He-Witch, played by Ingvar Sigurdsson, tells Amleth to get the legendary blade that will never need sharpening from a crypt of an ancient King. This scene is very Epic-Fantasy-ish and very similar to the scene where the newly freed slave Conan finds the blade of Crom.
If you like Dark Fantasy:
You want a darker spoiler?
I found this film so delightful when it did not spear the anguish and heartbreak of bitter reality when we learn that Queen Gudrun never loved King Aurvandil War-Raven and influenced Fjolnir King Aurvandil’s brother to kill him and take the throne. When the viewer realizes that for Amleth to complete his ambition, he would have to kill his own mother, it’s dark, but we can believe the story motivation because of the way it is written.
And on my second viewing of the film, I noticed the slaves that King Aurvandil War-Raven had brought back from his raids. Eggers didn’t sugarcoat the portrayal of the characters. There are no chivalrous, white knights, but in this story, even flawed humans can make noble choices.
Review of the Viking Dark Fantasy The Notyhman–In Summary.
I highly recommend this film but with one warning. This is a gritty 18+ action adventure movie set in Norde Mythology. There is nudity, sexuality, drug use and graphic violence. I watched this on Amazon Prime but if I find a theater that is still showing it I may go see it again. Five Stars! For Story, Action, and Characters and cinematic experience, it impressed me.
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