Unless you are either a big fan of A24’s horror library or an active member of #FilmTwitter, there’s a chance that you may not be familiar with the visionary director that is Robert Eggers. The 38-year-old New Englander started off making a few short films in the mid-2000s before taking off in 2015 with his horror hit, “The Witch”. With that film, Eggers cemented himself as a filmmaker dedicated to keeping the settings of his films as authentic as possible. With “the Witch” Eggers committed to filming only in natural lighting and had the dialogue written in the language that fit the puritan time period. This carried over to his 2019 film, “The Lighthouse”. Starring Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe, “The Lighthouse” was a 110-minute descent into madness about two lightkeepers who are isolated on an island. Keeping with the 1890s time period, The film was completely shot in black & white while its dialogue remained within that period. I loved both films but, I can understand why some audience members would be left scratching their heads once the credits roll. I felt the same way at the end of last year’s “Green Knight”.
Now, Eggers is taking another step in his career going from indie horror auteur to hopefully making an impact on blockbusters with a bigger budget. With Focus Features/Universal backing his latest film, “The Northman”, Eggars prepares to transition from what Gen-Z kids on Twitter would call “Elevated Horror” to a new take on the sword and sandal epic. When I first heard that this was his first major studio film, I was initially concerned considering how studios love to meddle with big and ambitious projects. Thankfully, according to a recent interview, that might not be the case.
On the cusp of manhood, Prince Amleth (Alexander Skarsgard) is exiled after his father (Ethan Hawke) is murdered by his own traitorous brother, Fjolnir (Claes Bang). Fjolnir also kidnaps Amleth’s mother, Gudrun (Nicole Kidman) as he steals the throne. Years later, Amleth becomes a Viking who is set on a warpath along with a mysterious woman (Anya Taylor-Joy). Along the path, he encounters a seeress (Bjork) who reminds him of the vow he made to himself as a child: avenge his father, save his mother, and kill his uncle.
When Hollywood cranks out a historical epic, I usually roll my eyes and cringe. Most of the time, these films are either historically inaccurate or overly glamourized. I had this issue in 2016 with the $100 million dollar remake of “Ben-Hur”. The film portrayed a disingenuously squeaky clean setting with overly lionized characters and a cheesy ending. You often see this with Gladiator and Viking films: The oversimplification of good vs. evil, the setting being more tidied up that the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC, and the fact that most of the time, they talk in British accents. With “The Northman”, Robert Eggers does what he’s known for, keeping the setting and everything around it as true to the times as possible. There are no good guys here because everyone, in their own way, is either evil or self-serving. Prince Amleth isn’t a squeaky clean boy scout, he is a man out for revenge. There are more examples I can state but, I also don’t want to spoil the film. That might sound like a bad thing but, it actually isn’t. It’s very refreshing to see a film that is honest with its audience.
The cast is on their A-game here. Even though they are not on-screen for the majority of the film, Ethan Hawke and Willem Dafoe steal the show as both the king and his brother respectively. Dafoe, as usual, looks like he is having the time of his life on set, while Hawke sinks into his role with ease. Alexander Skarsgaard channels his performance from “The Legend of Tarzan” here. The only difference is that he is given far better material to work with as Amleth than he was in that mediocre CGI slugfest. On her second appearance in one of Eggers’ films, Anya Taylor-Joy has yet to disappoint and her chemistry with Skarasgaard is organic. The two standouts, however, are Nicole Kidman and Claes Bang. Thanks to the AMC memes on Twitter, I forgot how good of an actress Nicole Kidman truly is. I also felt like most of her recent performances were a bit too much like the ”Stepford Wives” for me. However, she easily gives her best performance in years as Amleth’s mother. Without spoiling the film, Kidman has a moment in this film that will make for some interesting discourse. For those unfamiliar with Claes Bang, he was last seen on the 2020 “Dracula” mini-series from Netflix. Bang is perfect as the villainous Fjolnir with an on-screen presence that harkens back to the days of the late and legendary Christopher Lee.
Aside from an excellent cast and its commitment to authenticity, “The Northman” is just a gorgeous film to look at. Sure, it’s not clean and shiny but that doesn’t mean that there isn’t anything to look at beyond the film’s leads. Filmed in both Iceland and Ireland, Cinematographer Jarin Blaschke (who also worked with Eggars on “The Lighthouse”) makes excellent use of showing off the film’s setting. If you didn’t believe that Ireland nor Iceland were beautiful places, you sure as hell will now. Similar to “The Batman”, Scenes shot in complete darkness are also visually stunning here as well. The hard work from the film’s production team has paid off with some truly phenomenal sets that include a Viking funeral scene and a final fight that takes place in a volcano. The naked volcano fight is not only well shot and intense but, also gleefully insane without reaching the point of parody.
It’s very rare to see Focus Features, let alone any studio in Hollywood, take a swing for the fences with “The Northman”. It’s even rarer to see a studio give an indie director a decent budget ($70-$90 million) and creative freedom on top of that. This movie is a risk but, it is one that has paid off. On top of that, It’s also a raw and honest experience. No one has a moral compass because the world in which this story takes place is devoid of one. The film is savagely violent and at times does not hold back in terms of brutality. However, unlike most violent films, the kills are not entertaining, they’re appropriately horrifying. While I did feel the film’s 2-hour and 20-minute runtime, I absolutely dug this movie. I still prefer “The Lighthouse” over this film but, the difference is marginal. If you’re looking for a conventional “Good vs. Evil” story, you’re not going to find that here. If you’re looking for something new, You’re definitely going to find it here.
Final Verdict:
“A brutal yet compelling snapshot of Viking Culture, “The Northman” is a beautiful epic that isn’t afraid to show its ugly side.”
In beautiful Vietnam, I was the Angel of Death! Now I am the Angel of Love
I see that your 3rd grade teacher had hit you over your head with her hammer as mine did to me about the 5 W's of writing.
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