by John Zenoni
Well, one of the biggest films that I have heard about in the past six months or so came out this weekend and I had to see it, no ifs, ands, or buts! I did make it, but barely, due to some obnoxious traffic. Anyway, I really don't even know where to begin with ‘The Northman’, the much anticipated and talked about Viking film from director Robert Eggers, who also directed the critically-acclaimed films, ‘The Lighthouse’ and ‘The Witch’, which in my opinion is one of the creepiest films I have seen since ‘The Exorcist’ (needless to say, I can never look at a goat the same way again).
Let me start with the most obvious thing I think there is about this film and that is that it is visually stunning. I mean it has absolutely beautiful visuals as far the scenery, costumes, set pieces, and even the (much) blood and gore. Not that I would know what the old world would have looked like, by any means, but I can only imagine Eggers must be close in capturing the era as it seems realistic. One character in particular who's getting a lot of attention is the Seeress, played by indie singer Bjork. And based on some of her album covers and how she has dressed on stage, this film was right up her alley. Although she doesn't appear long in the film, she was captivating for sure.
The other obvious thing about the movie is that, if you have seen Eggers’ other films, you can tell that this was a vision directed by him. The film work itself and the use of the lighting and scenes and close up all work the same as in his other movies. Not to mention the fact that even this film had a sense of creepiness about it. I don’t know, the themes and things he has come up with and introduced into his films is just odd and, sorry to repeat, creepy. If you want action, blood-and-gore, revenge and more then you definitely need to see this one. It's sometimes hard to follow - in my opinion - from a plot perspective, but it's based on an ancient tale that Shakespeare himself wrote about in ‘Hamlet’, which he supposedly used to write his famous work.
As far as the actors go, everyone goes all out in this one and they do a great job, especially Alexander Skarsgård. He definitely steals the show and is a commanding presence, no doubt.
While I am excited I finally got to see this one, I can’t say that I loved it as much I had hoped I would. But it is definitely one worth seeing and talking about.
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