I had an early start at the Cineworld the other day to see The Northman a movie that when I first saw the trailer sometime back I just couldn’t wait to check out the movie.
The film is fairly brutal in parts, but that’s what you would expect from the source material and the era that the film is set in, young Prince Amleth (Oscar Novak) is ready to become king but his father (Ethane Hawke) is brutally slain by his uncle (Claes Bang), leaving Amleth to run for his life and to seek bloody revenge on his uncle. Twenty years later Amleth (Alexander Skarsgard) is now a Viking berserker who is raiding Slovac villages, during one of the raids he meets a Seerees (Bjork) that reminds him of his forgotten vow to save his mother (Nicole Kidman), kill his uncle and avenge his father.
The story may sound familiar and those that enjoy Shakespeare will know that the story of Amleth is what inspired the story of Hamlet, but that’s where the comparison ends, The Northman is one of those movies that I’m sure is going to get a love/hate relationship, but this powerful piece of moviemaking is one that had me glued to the screen from the start.
As I mentioned earlier the film can be brutal and dark, but director Robert Eggers (The Witch, The Lighthouse) certainly brings across the energy of the cast in the roles that they are portraying, the early part of the film really sets up nicely for the journey that we are about to be taken on and the mythology and some of the dream sequences and visions look great and certainly break up the film.
The Northman also look very good, the cinematography certainly stands out for the style of the film, dark scenes stand out very well and the various uses of the colour pallets really bring the landscapes and much more to the screen beautifully.
Alexander Skarsgard certainly seems to have bulked up for his role as the older Amleth and he certainly carries it off well for the part, Anya Taylor-Joy was great to watch as Olga of the Birch Forest, Nicole Kidman carries off the role of Queen Gudrun well and I loved the slight madness of Willem Dafoe as Heimir the Fool and let’s not forget the cameo from Bjork as the Seerees.
Adding to the atmosphere of the film is the soundtrack from Robert Carolan and Sebastian Gainsborough, the loud and powerful sounds blast through the speakers in the cinema with the bass rumbling through your body, there is also some throat singing that really pulls you into the era of The Northman.
The Northman is a powerful piece of cinematic storytelling, Robert Eggers has certainly brought us a film that not only looks good and sounds good but it also brings us some great performances from its selection of cast that we may not usually expect to see in this type of film.
A brutal and powerful movie
Movie title: The Northman
Movie description: From visionary director Robert Eggers comes The Northman, an action-filled epic that follows a young Viking prince on his quest to avenge his father's murder.
Date published: April 21, 2022
Country: UK
Duration: 2h 16m
Director(s): Robert Eggers
Actor(s): Alexander Skarsgard, Nicole Kidman, Claes Bang
Genre: Action, Adventure, Drama
Karen Woodham is the founder and owner of the Blazing Minds. She is also a Cinema reviewer and works with RealD 3D reviewing the latest 3D releases and IMAX, she has also had several articles published in various publications including the first edition of SFW Magazine. In 2015 she became an Award Winning Blogger and also has her website listed as one of the UK’s Top 10 Film Blogs.
