Starring Alexander Skarsgård, Nicole Kidman, Claes Bang, Anya Taylor-Joy, Ethan Hawke, Björk and Willem Dafoe. Written by Sjon and Robert Eggers. 137 minutes long. Budget $70-90 million.
I stumbled from the cinema after this with my son, both of us numb, dazed and suffering from PTSD, having just sat one of the most staggering films I have ever seen.
Who would have thought that a remake of the 1958 movie The Vikings starring Kirk Douglas, Tony Curtis, Janet Leigh and Ernest Borgnine would been this good?
It looks like no other film I have ever seen, its scope, its presentation, its camera, its direction, its look, its soundtrack, its cast, in fact ever single thing about this film is devastating.
The plot sees a young Viking Prince Amleth witness the death of his father (Ethan Hawke), and the abduction of his mother (Nicole Kidman) at the hands of his Uncle Fjölnir the Brotherless (Claes Bang). Amleth manages to escape the slaughter swearing that one day he will return to revenge his father, rescue his mother and reclaim his throne. Cut to 'Years Later' and Amleth has grown up to become Alexander Skarsgård a rage and hate-filled uber-viking adonis able to pluck spears from the air in mid-flight, to climb any obstacle and slaughter without thought anyone stupid enough to get in his way. He has become utterly consumed by hate and his desire for revenge.
When Amleth learns that Uncle has lost his father's kingdom and now rules a small fiefdom on Iceland, he disguises himself as a slave bound for that icy island and sets off for his bloody revenge. Along the way he aligns himself with Olga of the Birch Forest (Anya Taylor-Joy) who too wants revenge for her abduction and together they wreck a terrible revenge on those who have wronged them. But it's through Olga that Amleth begins to feel human again and the magnitude of his revenge finally becomes apparent.
This is a stunning looking film, shot in locations that seem almost other worldly, only the cast grounds this to the real world, and be warned, this is a world red in tooth and claw. Indeed, I've not seen a film this violent and brutal in a very long time, there are sequences that are savage and deeply unsettling. It paints a world of vicious brutality, where magic exists, where blind-witches appear in burned out churches or live in secret caves proclaiming prophecies, and where undead guardians of magical swords lie in slumber for our hero, and yet despite all of that this film never feels anything other that real.
It's a film so unlike yer typical Hollywood movie, it's impressive that Eggers was able to raise the money to make it, and it's obvious that the cast had the utmost faith in their director and his singular vision.
For me, the only thing that marred the movie was its length, I wish it had been a little shorter but regardless, and despite the unrelenting savage violence, this is a moving and unique story unlike anything you've seen before and it'll make for a powerful and unforgettable night out.
9/10
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