For fans of both director Robert Eggers’ previous film, the historically-based thriller THE WITCH and the History channel’s TV series VIKINGS, Eggers has the perfect film. THE NORTHMAN is a Viking legend of revenge, a thriller packed with Eggers’ signature period-accurate details. While THE WITCH drew on tales of 17th century witch-hunt hysteria in New England, for thriller drama steeped in historically-accurate details, right down to the accents, THE NORTHMAN is a tale immersed the culture of 10th century Vikings, which also gets Eggers’ research-based treatment. THE NORTHMAN is based on the same Norse tale that Shakespeare used for Hamlet, but it departs significantly from the original legend of revenge, to blend in other Norse legends and aspects of Norse culture for another immersive thriller from Eggers.
THE NORTHMAN is about Vikings, so it is no surprise there will be blood, but there is much more in this tale of unrelenting vengeance. In the 10th century, Amleth (Alexander Skarsgard) is a Viking warrior who as the young prince of an island kingdom witnessed the murder of his father, King Aurvandil War-Raven (Ethan Hawke), by his father’s jealous brother Fjolnir (Claes Bang), then followed by the abduction of Amleth’s mother, Queen Gudrun (Nicole Kidman) by his uncle. A boy on the cusp of manhood, the frightened young Amleth (Oscar Novak) fled his homeland, lest he meet his father’s fate, while his uncle made himself king. Now grown, Amleth is part of a group of Vikings preying on Slavic peoples in the east, when he encounters a seeress (Bjork), who reminds the warrior about his boyhood oath: to avenge his father, rescue his mother, and kill his uncle. His homeland since has been were conquered by another Viking king and the uncle lives in exile in Iceland, with Amleth’s mother. Accompanied by a cunning Slavic woman named Olga (Anya Taylor-Joy), Amleth sets off to exact his long-delayed vengeance
The name Amleth easily changes to Hamlet by moving the letter at the end to the front. In fact, Hamlet follows the legend more closely than this tale, although both diverge from it, but writer/director Robert Eggers has more than the retelling of this one tale in mind.
This is Eggers’ third feature film, his follow up to THE LIGHTHOUSE, and this one reunited the director with both one of his stars from that film, Willem Dafoe (who here plays a wise fool/jester, who aids Amleth) and his star from THE WITCH, Anya Taylor-Joy. THE NORTHMAN shares Eggers’ devotion to well-researched historical realism with his other two films but is a bigger, wilder sort of tale. There is much more here about Viking culture, religion and family life, but vengeance and violence are aspects of Viking life and legends too. If you saw the “Vikings” series, some of this will be familiar but things are wilder in this film. THE NORTHMAN gives us a deadly soccer-like (or is it rugby?) game, Beserkers, and a final battle with naked warriors on a volcano.
But Eggers’ bigger goal with THE NORTHMAN is an adventure tale steeped in a more historically-accurate, immersive portrait of Viking culture than usual. was more interested in offering more than that tale. Eggers was after a more historically-accurate view of real Viking culture, beliefs and history, so his blended other legends and details into this script, which he co-wrote with Icelandic historian Sjon. Fans of the History channel series “Vikings” will recognize some elements of the story, but there is much more here, both in the history and the twisty story.
Since this film is inspired by an old Viking legend, THE NORTHMAN also fits in with a recent trend of re-telling old myths, along with the recent GREEN KNIGHT. Whether the people in Amleth’s story were real or not is lost to history, but it’s tale of revenge is a common theme in Viking tales.
The action and storytelling are highlighted with dramatic cinematography by Jarin Blaschke. Much of the story takes place in Iceland, and one could hardly ask for a more dramatic, breathtaking landscape. Eggers’ fills each scene with realistic details, meaning things are not prettied up, but his devotion to historical accuracy deepens scenes as well as adding the unexpected and fascinating. The tale is full of emotion and drama, and also unexpected curves, as Amleth’s path runs anything but straight. Elements of fantasy and Viking beliefs are blended in, including Valkyries and Valhalla, legendary swords and sorcery.
THE NORTHMAN is a wild, crazy, entertaining Viking legend-steeped hero’s tale, filled with violent fights and shocking plot twists, and featuring a sterling cast. If you love myths and history, and don’t object to tales of vengeance and bloody battles, Robert Eggers’ immersive Viking tale with an anthropology bent delivers the goods.
THE NORTHMAN opens in theaters on Friday, Apr. 22.
RATING: 3.5 out of 4 stars
