The Northman: a visionary Viking saga as beautiful as it is blood-stained: film review
5 stars. Review by CAMERON BLACKSHAW
Bloody, brave and unbelievably brutal, Robert Eggers’ historical Viking epic confirms the director’s place as one of the most exciting working today. The Northman is a hell of a movie in more ways than one. Ambitious, visionary and masterful, while also being savage, malevolent and horrific, the astounding Scandinavian saga grips you in a fiery vice that some may find uncomfortable.
It won’t be everyone’s horn of ale, but those willing to embark on the blood-pumping thrill ride it offers won’t be quick to forget it.
Based on the legend that was the basis for Shakespeare’s Hamlet, The Northman’s story is fuelled by one man’s burning desire for revenge. Amleth, a Viking prince forced to flee his homeland after a treacherous tragedy befalls his family, returns to wreak havoc on the lives of those that wronged him. Played by Alexander Skarsgård (who also serves as one of the film’s producers), Amleth’s journey will have you marvelling at his feats of violence, while also wondering whether he’s the right axe-wielding maniac to root for.
Once the film starts, it leaves itself almost no room to breathe with its airtight pacing. 138 minutes whizzes by in a quite ridiculous feat of editing. Eggers and editor Louise Ford must really be commended for this. Jarin Blaschke’s idiosyncratic camerawork is something to behold as well. Blaschke has effectively captured Eggers’ moody maelstroms in both of his previous films, even picking up an Oscar nomination for his contributions to 2017’s The Lighthouse, but not on an epic scale such as this. The Northman’s rich world is revealed as if it is a historical tapestry, the camera weaving itself through different scenes, often sidewinding its way through the film’s striking set of tableaus.
Alongside Skarsgård’s howling, machismo manimal is Anya Taylor-Joy as Olga. Maybe lacking the female agency needed to counteract the overwhelmingly masculine feel of the film, Taylor-Joy, breakout star of Eggers’ debut The Witch (2015), still shows off why her star continues to rise year after year. The production designer-turned-director employs his other regular players too, with Willem Dafoe (star of The Lighthouse) making a memorable appearance as a shaman/fool that rules over one of the most memorable and mind-bending scenes of the entire film.
Ethan Hawke and Nicole Kidman also star as Amleth’s royal parents, King Aurvandil War-Raven and Queen Gudrún. Both slip into the hairy, ritualistic Norse world with ease. Claes Bang’s villainous Fjölnir makes for a great antagonist, and one that brings enough humanity to make the central conflict compelling. Even the Icelandic icon Björk makes an appearance, albeit a short one as a mysterious spirit that sets Amleth off on his fated quest.
But for all the talented actors that make up the stellar cast, it’s the director that really steals the show. Robert Eggers didn’t waste a single inch of all the individual elements he had at his disposal when creating this film. Not a single scene or shot feels squandered, with everything coming together in the service of his distinctive Viking vision. Unexpectedly, The Northman does boil down to a singular location-bound drama like his previous films, but this cauldron of chaos has a wide enough scope to justify its larger set pieces while allowing Eggers to still do what he does best: carefully manufacturing magnificent mystical madness for our viewing pleasure.
