The Northman Movie Review
This is a review I had written months ago for fun.
On the surface, The Northman may seem like a large-scaled epic revenge story in the vein of Braveheart and The Princess Bride. However, when watching the film, one will quickly realize that writer/director Robert Eggers took a vastly different approach to the genre, creating for a much more horrific and sacramental cinematic experience than the revenge film, audiences have grown to recognize and love.
The Northman follows prince Amleth (Alexander Skarsgård) as he sets off on a perilous journey
to avenge his father, King Aurvandill War-Raven (Ethan Hawke) who Amleth had seen brutally murdered when Amleth was a child. Along the way, he encounters Olga of the Birch Forest (Anya Taylor-Joy), a sorceress, desiring the same vengeance as Amleth. Together, Olga and Amleth prepare plans to avenge King Aurvandill, to restore happiness and dignity back to the kingdom.
The Northman is a film adaptation of the influential Scandinavian Tale titled, Amleth. However, writers, Robert Eggers and Sigurjón Birgir Sigur›sson are able to create for a unique twist to the story by blending many genres into the narrative; the film containing various themes and tropes from the A24 horror, religious, Viking, and revenge film genres. The religious film genre being one of the more prominent out of the few. Although, the portrayal of Norse mythology creates for an authentic spine-tingling experience it quickly becomes the lead attraction of the film casting a cloud over the master purpose of the film’s main revenge plot. The religiously inspired mythological ceremonies throughout the film take up a bit too much screen time which takes from the purpose of the characters and of the film. Although William Shakespeare’s Hamlet is heavily inspired by this Scandinavian tale I feel as something Shakespeare does better in Hamlet is his ability to create the isolating feeling that Hamlet feels in a world without his father. This leads into the next flaw the film which is the addition of Olga. Once Amleth encounters Olga the revenge plot and rage feels less drastic as now Amleth isn’t entirely alone with his feeling of revenge. Although Anya Taylor Joy puts on an amazing performance as Olga, I feel as if her character is too convenient and lacks depth, further weighing down the emotion of the narrative.
Flaws aside, The Northman creates for an incredibly dense world for the characters to reside in. This fantastic world-building is created through the beautiful cinematography from cinematographer Jarin Blaschke, the amazing production design under the wing of art director, Craig Lathrop, and the incredible costumes from costume designer, Linda Muir, as well as the grand score from composers Robin Corolan and Sebastian Gainsborough. Something else worth mentioning are the stellar actors who embody these characters in an incredible fashion.
Robert Eggers has utilized animals as metaphors in his previous two feature films, The Witch and The Lighthouse. The Northman is no exception to this. Throughout this film, there is the metaphor of a dog that is reminded to the audience physically and verbally throughout the movie. The dog is used as an allegory for the grizzly era as well as a way too further characterize Amleth and the loyalty he has to his religion and to his family as he embodies the characteristics of a dog when he kills. It gives serious competition to the goats from The Witch and the seagulls from The Lighthouse as the best animal utilized in one of Egger’s films. This signature usage of animals creates for an effective director’s trope for Robert Eggers!
The Northman provides a stylized dark and gritty world containing great performances all surrounding the theme of revenge. On a technical level the film is excellent, not to mention, the stellar performances from an extraordinary cast. However, the pros of the film are ultimately weighed down by the over usage of experiment and through the unnecessary addition of the character, Olga.
