‘The Northman’ Doesn’t Seek Redemption

Action movie franchise love justice. “James Bond,” “Superman,” “Iron Man,” “Harry Potter,” and even “Ghostbusters” all try to tell you that the people on screen aren’t just shooting, hitting, or blasting each other for fun. They are shooting, hitting or exploding at each other for good. The special effects and choreography tie into a moral story that justifies the excesses of violence and multiple explosions.

Robert Eggers’ historical action epic “The Northman” is adamant, and glorious, with no regard for justice or setting things right. Based on the same The Danish Legend That Inspired Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” the film is a story of revenge and blood for its own sake, which forces a sharp ax through any moral upbringing. Like crows that occasionally flick across the screen, the viewer is not there to witness the triumph of heroism. They are there to eat people.

The plot of revenge swings back and forth effectively like a scythe. In the AD 800s, King Aurvandill (Ethan Hawke) is killed by his brother, Fjölnir (Claes Bang), who also captures and marries the queen of Aurvandill, Gudrún (Nicole Kidman). Aurvandill’s son Amleth (Alexander Skarsgård) escapes, and vows to avenge his father, save his mother, and kill Fjölnir.

After a number of years working as a mercenary, Amleth joined a group of Rus raiders to destroy a village and enslave its inhabitants. He found out of prison is dedicated to Fjölnir, who was evicted from his home by the king of Norway and is now living in difficult circumstances in Iceland. Amleth disguises herself as a slave and plots to kill Fjölnir with the help of a slave, Olga (Anya Taylor-Joy), and the necessary magical sword.

We see Amleth’s horror as a child when Fjölnir kills his father; viewers are likely to be on his side. But Eggers made it clear that Amleth was not it’s correct beside. His raid on the village is a brutally filmed panorama of war crimes: prisoners killed, women and children murdered, prisoners burned alive. Amleth joined without any apparent apprehension. Brutal, beastly and effective combat choreography; Amleth slashed through opponents who were clearly less trained and were just trying to protect their families. He used his teeth to rip a poor man’s throat.

Fjölnir is not a caricature villain either. That’s right, he enslaves people, kills with impunity, and tries to rape Olga. He is a bad person. But he clearly cares about his wife and children. Both he and Amleth are brutal, cruel men who take what they want and inflict bloody violence on those who stand in their way.

That carnage is the movie’s purpose, and Eggers knows viewers know it too. Amleth is bound by fate. He must plot his revenge so he can die in battle and enter Odin’s great hall, as some seers (most notably the one played by Björk) have said. with him. Is it a fanciful pagan conception? Or is it the logic of the action/revenge movies? For Eggers, it’s the same thing; old cycle of violence and A new cycle of violence is caught in the same giant world tree that haunts Amleth’s vision.

The movie could easily have ended in an hour, if Amleth had killed Fjölnir as soon as he reached the ranch. But, as he told Olga, the time had not yet come; he must continue to obey fate, or conspiracies. A little further, when Fjölnir captures him and beats him, Amleth tells his uncle confidently that he cannot be killed yet because the time has not yet come. That sounds like a mystical prediction. But it could also just be the star of a movie checking his watch and finding out that the running time hasn’t ended yet.

Amleth does not oscillate at points. He wonders if hatred is really the only way, or if he can turn aside for love. But in the end fear tied him to his fate. He worries that Fjölnir will never let him be, so he turns back to fate – though the decision is never really in doubt. An action movie must have climactic battles. And this one, which immediately places a volcanic rift, has a lot of effect.

Before attacking, Amleth performed a beastly ritual – growling and declaring that he had discarded his human traits to become a bear or a wolf. Conscience, compassion, kindness are devoted to the crack of the skull. Amleth does not pretend to be righteous. He pretends not to think about what is right.

Eggers gives viewers a similar experience of immorality. This is not a superhero movie where the conceit is that every super big explosion will save another baby. The scene is vast, unsaturated, clear, and open, with little room for hypocrisy or self-deception. “The Northman” offers well-choreographed hatred and death. It was popular then; it’s popular now.

at Blogtuan.info – Source: nbcnews.com – Read the original article here