Ahhh, the Vikings. Who doesn’t love the Vikings? Probably the people whose villages they raided…
So, Robert Eggers is back with a new and highly anticipated film.
You guys know I’m a huge fan of “The Witch”, and even though I didn’t love “The Lighthouse”
as much, I still really enjoyed it and found it fascinating.
It goes without saying that “The Northman” was one of my most, if not the most anticipated
movies of this year, and if seeing Eggers at his most ambitious and most brutal sounds
like a good time to you - this is a big screen experience you do not want to miss.
“The Northman” tells the story of Amleth - a Viking prince who,
after witnessing a brutal murder of his father by his uncle, flees, vows revenge,
and returns with a thirst for blood of his enemies two decades later.
If you think Amleth sounds a little bit like Hamlet - you are not wrong.
Amleth comes from Scandinavian legends, and was actually Shakespeare’s inspiration for
Hamlet, the Prince of Denmark all of us know so well.
Because of this, “The Northman” is likely going to feel like a very familiar revenge story to you,
even though Eggers infuses it with his own brand of mysticism and all-out violence.
Now, at the risk of angering Film Twitter, I’m going to say this:
as much as I admired the performances, the cinematic artistry and craftsmanship on
display here, I did not love this movie as much as I hoped I would.
This is actually my least favorite Eggers film to date.
But I did like it, and some parts of it I loved. So, let me start with that.
First of all, Alexander Skarsgård is undeniably at his absolute
best here - if you’re a fan of his work, “The Northman” is an obvious must-watch for you.
As Prince Amleth, he has so much charisma, energy,
anger, passion - this role is truly his moment to shine, and he is unforgettable here.
The rest of the cast is fantastic as well. Anya Taylor-Joy as Olga is lovely - she always is, even
though the romance in the film is questionable to say the least, considering the circumstances.
Nicole Kidman as the mother of Prince Amleth, the Queen,
is wonderful and I actually wish we saw more of her character - there was a very interesting
dynamic with her that tied into the past, which really could have been explored further.
Also, Ethan Hawke as the father and King is excellent, and I once again wish we got
more of him, but obviously his death is what sets everything in motion in the beginning.
This was a reoccurring thing for me: there were a lot of elements of the story
and characters that I really enjoyed or found interesting, but just didn’t get enough of.
And what’s strange is these were the things that felt more in line
with what you would expect from Eggers based on his previous work.
I’m not just saying that about specific characters and interesting relationship
dynamics - I’m also talking about the more mystical sequences: witchcraft, mythology,
ambiguous elements - those were some of my favorite parts of the movie.
And I know that the director didn’t have the final cut on the film, which is probably
why it’s more straightforward than you would expect,
but I can’t help wishing that “The Northman” retained more of that signature Eggers weirdness.
For example, you have Björk playing this enigmatic seer character, but she’s barely in the movie.
You have Willem Dafoe playing someone completely unhinged, but he’s also barely in the movie.
There are a few very ominous scenes of rituals that almost feel out of place because the rest
of the film is so focused on being this pretty standard “hell-yeah-Vikings” revenge story.
It feels tonally inconsistent.
From my perspective, the balance was off, which is unfortunate because this was a
real opportunity for some rich, folk horror elements.
You have Norse Mythology here, and you have some Slavic Mythology here as well, both of which are
really cool and really dark, so it would have been so great to see Eggers work with that more.
I do have to reiterate though that “The Northman” is a film that looks stunning.
The production design, the attention to details, the cinematography.
If you want to see a cinematic spectacle of Viking
violence and warrior masculinity - this is going to be for you.
Eggers definitely had a blast filming this 10th century action movie, and there really
aren’t a lot of films like this out there in general - it’s a miracle this film even exists.
Does he go over the top with that violence though? He does.
There were multiple scenes that felt like they truly relished every bit of blood and brutality.
This leads me to another element that makes me feel conflicted because when
you look at this story overall, the message that eventually comes through
is the need to break the vicious cycle of violence.
That bloodshed only leads to more bloodshed, and is never the solution.
Which is great, some of my favorite movies go for this idea.
However, do I need to see blood and gore for 2 hours?
Someone’s actual guts to understand this message? No, I do not.
It’s a bit excessive and I don’t enjoy this experience,
despite of how cinematically impressive it is.
So what do we have here with “The Northman”? We have Eggers at his most ambitious and
surprisingly most mainstream, but also at his most brutal and bloodthirsty.
We have some fantastically shot scenes and an absolutely epic final battle, but the violence
and vengeance unfortunately never find a good balance with the mythological and supernatural,
and the movie definitely never finds much heart.
We have a great score, which was another one of my favorite things about the film.
But there is also uneven pacing that goes along with the uneven tone I mentioned earlier, and
with a movie that’s over 2 hours long it becomes increasingly more noticeable as time goes on.
This is a revenge story with a protagonist who is a victim of
violence, but also viciously slaughters people who had nothing to do with it.
It’s historically appropriate, those were some dark times for humanity and raiding villages
is what Vikings did, but from the perspective of a human in the 21st century it’s a little
strange to repeatedly see graphic violence be an opportunity for admiring awesome camerawork.
I fully admit that this is something I’ve personally become more sensitive
to as I’ve gotten older because there is no shortage of real, awful violence in the world.
So, when I see it portrayed on screen as entertainment, in a self-indulgent way
over and over again - I am put off by it, and I question why showing it this way is necessary.
Now, I’m not saying that movies should pretend that violence doesn’t exist or
shy away from being honest about it - that is not what I mean.
But every time filmmakers choose to focus on that they also make a choice of how to frame it:
either as a terrible, impactful reality or as a brutal form of entertainment.
In “The Northman” I believe it’s the latter,
and in the end the message does not transcend this brutality.
There is a lot to admire about this film, and it’s certainly interesting
to see the director do something so different from his previous work.
But for me there just wasn’t enough… well, Eggers here, and
in the end, as impressive as it is, “The Northman” feels surprisingly hollow.
To contain all of my ambivalent feelings in a rating, I am going to go with a 7 out of 10.
I enjoyed it overall. I respect the craftsmanship, commitment, and ambition here.
Unfortunately, I did not love it.
But I do love that this kind of movie can still be made.