The Northman (2022) – 3/5

The Lion (Vi)King

„The Northman“ is a new American, mostly English-language film from 2022 and at almost 140 minutes it is a pretty long one at that. The director is Robert Eggers and he is also one of the two writers. Eggers is certainly one of the rising stars in American cinema and his first Oscar nomination seems only a matter of time. His two previous films also started with „The“ and then one crucial word followed. Or actually more, but he seems to keep it simple with the titles and it makes sense. „The Lighthouse“ was (of course with this title) also a film that relied a lot on light effects, lights vs. darkness, in getting through the story and message and same applies to this one here, even if the location is slightly less obvious. Eggers launched his career as a production designer over a decade ago, but since then moved on to becoming the man in charge of the productions he is working on nowadays. So with his background there it is no surprise that his co-writer also stems from a completely different field, namely music, and Sjón was nominated for an Oscar already in the Best Song category. That happened a long time ago when the new millennium was indeed still really new. It was for a film with Björk back then and fittingly she also plays a one-scene character in here. Cameo. Sjón was surely in it because of the story background and also where the film is set. Same applies to Björk. The names are very Hollywood though if you look at the cast. Alexander Skarsgård’s origin can of course not be ignored and he plays the main character. It is a reunion for him and Nicole Kidman because they already acted together in Big Little Lies not too long ago, the television project that won Skarsgård pretty much every significant small screen award really. Kidman is the mother and another performer who has scored as big as it gets, even for lead, on the small screen front, namely Anya Taylor-Joy, is the love interest. As for the male cast, we have Ethan Hawke, even if he is out of the picture quickly and when the first arrow hits, it came a bit out of nowhere too. The main antagonist here is portrayed by Claes Bang, another European, actually Scandinavian actor. Maybe you have seen him in „The Square“. Willem Dafoe also deserves a mention of course, even if his role is really too minor. Like some other stuff he did lately.

I already made a Lion King reference in the title and indeed I had to think of that film many times when seeing this new one here. I mean we have the story of a young boy that is even called a pup (not a cub admittedly) who is the son of the king and the king is eventually betrayed and killed by his own brother. The boy has to run away and leave for a long time before he comes back to get his revenge. Of course, Lion King is mostly kids-friendly and this film absolutely is not, so it is a lot more gruesome and graphic with the violence, but the parallel still cannot be denied. When he comes back after his growing-up were as bloody as they could be, surely not innocent, it also has a touch of Gladiator and maybe with all the smaller characters being played by actors that roughly come from where the film is set, it also had a bit of How to Train Your Dragon to it, but Lion King is definitely more present than any other film I’d say. The biggest difference is maybe the role of the main character’s mother. I quite disliked Nicole Kidman during earlier stages of her career, but what I have seen in recent years really helped in winning me over, convincing me that she is a decent actress. I guess she will get her second Oscar eventually, probably for a supporting role, but most likely not for this one here, even if there have been worse winners in the past. Many. In any case, she has some really good moments. Like the encounter when she finds out her son is alive was top-notch. Difficult for Skarsgård there to stay on par with her, but also her final scene with the „Thank You“. Her character is as evil as everybody else’s. And I don’t mean that to defend the main character. Of course his heart was broken when he finds out that his mother never really loved his father (look at the obscene quote from one character earlier and who defends and who attacks this troll character, very telling) and that she happily got together with said father’s killer, even to a level where she not only accepted, but approved of her son’s death. Because there would be another child to take his place eventually. She also stayed with the bad guy after his demotion.

I mean you could not really guess what was up with Kidman’s character. In a perfect world, she would have been happy about her son’s return and supported him, but the opposite was the case. She even fought him in the end. And he had to forget his words that he would never kill a female. He actually kills the one who is part of his crucial trifecta quote throughout the film. That he would save his mother. She did not need any saving. So yeah, I said she was evil and this basically applies to everybody else in here. Except Taylor-Joy’s character maybe. But she also knows for the most part there is no way she could get between her man and his revenge anyway. There are moments when you could even make a case for the main antagonist to be less evil than the title character. I mean yes he started it all by killing the king. And he also wanted to murder the kid. This is exactly what the title character does in the end. Kill his uncle (nice foreshadowing in an early conversation linked to a grandfather), kill his mother (i.e. the antagonist’s wife), even if it is self-defence, even kill his half-brother (again somewhat self-defence). There is nothing and nobody getting in the way of his revenge. As for Bang’s character, he still cannot be remotely called a good guy if you look at what he did on one occasion when he Amon Göth style randomly killed his workers to find out what they know. Those he keeps alive. He also would have killed Taylor-Joy’s character, but getting back his older son’s heart meant more to him. The scene that followed I found maybe among the weakest scenes of the film, like not only that he would basically sacrifice himself instead of just taking the girl with him right away, but also how he got out of his prison relatively easily, even if not on his own. Admittedly, ATJ’s screaming in old nordic language as if she was the captain of the ship was also not among the best the film had to offer.

The final battle scene between the two alpha males I liked again. One of the highlights. With all the fire surrounding them, it was very spectacular and also again resembled the final scene between Simba and Scar. The outcome was different here though. Solid shot there when both die. Quite a few people lose their heads and the protagonist somewhat fulfilled his mission and he realizes so before he dies too. This was more important to him than maybe a peaceful life with the Slavic girl. As for Bang’s character, he may have lost all his power in terms of being the king as he had to go back to becoming a simple shepherd, but he still had many people working under him. What else deserves a mention? Surely the noseless guy and he has bloody encounters with the Northman twice even. Number two costs him his life. The scene in which the main character gets his powerful sword was also so memorable, even if the fight sequence was only in his head. I don’t know why, but I had to think of Thurman’s character in Kill Bill getting her weapon. Then there is a little sequence in which the main character even saves his half-brother’s life, which helps him to climb up the ranks. Gangs of New York, anybody? Okay, of course he did not save Bang’s character life or anything. Interesting though to wonder if he would have in order for himself to be the one who puts the sword into him. Some more brainstorming: The idea of dying in battle is one that is mentioned a few times by several characters. It clearly meant something back then. The visual side (costumes, sets, cinematography, effects, also audio) is mesmerizing for sure. It would be nice if the film gets in at the Oscars in one or two categories there. We will see. It is still a long time to go until then. The final shot of how he rides up to the skies to Viking paradise Valhalla is one that also stays in the mind. Of course, you don’t know if he actually does or if it is just his imagination, but again it was a very nice shot also from the perspective of light vs. shadow.

ATJ’s character was maybe not the best example of quality wiriting for female characters, especially if we compare her to Kidman’s character here. The prediction that there will be two children of course comes true as well in the end and was a bit too much maybe. The division into several chapters I liked, also the bleak way how it was displayed. What I also found interesting was the depiction of Viking rituals, be it what they showed us when the king (Hawke) returns or also how they literally play like dogs and make fart and burp sounds there, but yeah the Vikings were surely no English noblemen or something. Overall, this film did not reach greatness (or not often enough), but I think it is surely closer to a great film than to a weak film and there is no hesitation for me in giving it a thumbs-up and positive recommendation. It is also obviously the kind of movie you want to watch at a movie theater rather than on a small laptop or television screen. I say: Go for it! It did not flew by totally, but surely felt shorter than it was and I’d say there is also no need to remove any sequences all in all. The duration feels right. It’s a good year for Nordic-themed movies with unstoppable male lead characters. Thor will be out soon and that one will probably make you smile more often than this one here that has absolutely no comedy. All serious. Until the day comes for the newest Marvel piece, don’t miss out on Amleth. So nice to watch films like this at the movie theater again.