My Review of The Northman (2022)

 

Written by Sjon And Robert Eggers

Directed by Robert Eggers 

Amleth: "I will avenge you, Father! I will save you, Mother! I will kill you, Fjölnir!"

Playing catch-up again, prior to the imminent release of Nosferatu, I found myself watching this bloody Viking led movie and its quite the bloody tale of vengeance.

Somewhat based on the legend of Amleth (Alexander Skarsgard/Oskar Novak), you've got his journey as a young man who delighted in seeing the return of his father, King Aurvandill War-Raven (Ethan Hawke) to the tragedy of his father's death. A death that was at the hands of his uncle Fjölnir the Brotherless (Claes Bang). 

Forced to stay away from his mother, Queen Gudrún (Nicole Kidman) and sold into slavery as a grown man, Amleth was determined to get his revenge and nothing was going to get in his way. In fact being sold to Fjölnir and looked over by the latter's son, Thorir the Proud (Gustav Lindh) turned out to be an advantage for Amleth.

It gave him time to form an alliance and relationship with sorceress Olga (Anya Taylor-Joy) while also undermining Fjölnir at every turn. What Amleth hadn't considered was his mother in all of this, much to a personal cost.

It turned out thst not only did Gudrún marry Fjölnir voluntarily but she also had a son with him and had been the one who conspired with Fjölnir to kill both Aurvandill and Amleth to begin with. It's a nasty blow for Amleth and o e that he reacted badly too as the battle between him and Fjölnir descended into Hel. 

The battle between the warring pair certainly lying brought this to a rather bloody conclusion. In the end, one boodline almost certainly died out while another continued through Olga. Amleth got his revenge but at the cost of his own life.

- Yes, the tale would largely inspired a certain piece from William Shakespeare many centuries later. It's the blueprint.

- There's something jarring in seeing Alexander Skarsgard and Nicole Kidman go from a married couple in Big Little Lies to a warring son and mother here. The inclusion of a certain scene also didn't help either.

- Bjork makes a rather creepy cameo as the Seer while other alumni from Eggers such as Willem Dafoe, Kate Dickie and Ralph Ineson also have roles in this movie.

- Chronology: The film started in AD 895 but moving a few years later for the adult Amleth.

The Northman doesn't make for the easiest of viewings but I have to admire Robert Eggers refusal to go all mainstream too. Unlike his previous movies, this felt like a blockbuster but also a bit too weird to be one as well. It's not my favourite of his so far but I definitely liked it.

Rating: 7 out of 10