Director: Robert Eggers
Starring: Alexander Skarsgård, Claes Bang, Nicole Kidman, Anya Taylor-Joy, Ethan Hawke, Willem Dafoe, Björk
Country of Origin: United States
Erling Haaland has a new favourite film.
The colossal Norwegian watches every night. Wild eyes locked on the screen. Rocking back and forth. Taking notes. When the end credits finish he averts his manic gaze.
A picture of Roy Keane, smudged with a few scattered spots of blood, is speared on a dartboard.
He lets out a roar and screams a single word: revenge.
The Irishman ended the career of his father and when Keane least expects it Haaland will end him.
The source of his inspiration is an old-fashioned yarn of medieval vengeance.
Prince Amleth (Alexander Skarsgård) has a simple mantra: to seek retribution for the savage murder of his father King Aurvandill (Ethan Hawke) by his uncle Fjölnir (Claes Bang). To make matters worse the rampaging scoundrel also takes young Amleth’s mother Queen Gudrún (Nicole Kidman) hostage.
The young heir to the throne miraculously escapes his bloodthirsty uncle and years later runs amok with a merciless band of wild vikings. From skinny waif he transforms into an untamed bodybuilder. Amleth then somehow disguises himself as a slave, meeting a mystical Slavic woman (Anya Taylor-Joy) on the way, and is shipped to an isolated farm community in Iceland where the banished Fjölnir now rules. Repeating his vow to gain retribution for his father, rescue his mother and send his uncle to the Gates of Hel, he works from the inside to fulfill the three pronged plan.
Following the journey of the hulking undercover agent, especially during a staggeringly gruesome and lavish opening set-piece, and during a viking raid where people flee as if they have been forced to listen to the unbearable screeching of Björk (who plays a prophet), is thrilling. It’s just a pity The Northman drags on for so long, delaying the inevitable until an elongated final act. Aside from a crucial late plot disclosure we know the climax, it just takes an age to get there.
Stunningly shot and leaving no expense for even the most microscopic of details, it is graphic and gory and not for the squeamish.
Wrapped in a cloak of sorcery as Amleth’s route to redemption is interwoven with themes of Norse mythology, following his path is exhilarating viewing. No more so than in a vicious stick and ball game (knattleikr) in which the losers are literally hammered into the ground. Even Haaland might struggle to come out on top although the suitably bulked up Skarsgård, who looks like a contender for the world’s strongest man competition, takes on a real life champion in Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson who portrays the brilliantly named Thorfinnr the Tooth-Gnasher in a bone jarring battle to the death.
Despite a sprinkling of Old Norse and Slavic, the heavily laboured generic Scandinavian style English accents – the hefty budget didn’t seem to include much voice coaching – sit uneasily beside genuinely bleak and believable landscapes (even if much of the film was shot in Ireland and Northern Ireland).
Skarsgård is remarkable as he resembles a feral creature utterly determined to seek reprisal while Bang is a compelling presence as his villainous adversary.
The more recognizable names all add a glimmer of star quality, although it’s only Taylor-Joy who truly shines.
A cast of Icelandic unknowns might have produced an extra layer of authenticity but the subtitles would have turned off American audiences and failed to raise the funding for such an extravagant epic. Underpinned by a haunting, atmospheric score The Northman delivers everything it promises; expect a lengthy sequel with Haaland as the protagonist.
Stephen Kasiewicz 