It's been a long time since I have watched an old Norse-based movie. The last old Norse-based movie I watched was Outlander, a TV series. I didn't continue the series because I got bored but watching The Northman movie satisfied my cravings and refreshed my love for the Northern Germanic people, who are also referred to as Norsemen.
The Northman movie is a movie that is based on the Viking tale that inspired Shakespeare's Hamlet. It is also an American, adventure, epic, and historical film which was released on the 22nd of April 2022 featuring Alexander Skarsgård, Nicole Kidman, Claes Bang, and other notable actors. This movie revolves around a Viking prince named Amleth whose father was brutally killed at a young age and when he became an adult, he went in search of his father's killer. I think the director of the movie (Robert Eggers) did a wonderful job with this movie regardless of what some people said that he didn't do well with the actors' costumes appearance which I will be explaining more below.
Little Synopsis Of The Movie
The Northman movie was set in the 800 AD time frame. It started with a king (Aurvandill) who had just arrived home because he had been far away from home with his overseas contest. He was welcomed home by his people, his queen (Gudrun), and his only heir, prince Amleth. After the ceremonial welcome, the king took his son, Amleth on a spiritual journey/ceremony to prepare him as his successor. During the spiritual ceremony, prince Amleth made a vow to his father that if he were to die by someone's hand, his death would be avenged by him and thus the vow was sealed with some sort of blood ritual.
The next day after the spiritual ceremony, Amleth and his father were heading home happily when a group of soldiers led by his uncle (Fjölnir) attacked them and brutally killed his father. Amleth witnessed how his father was killed and saw his mother kidnapped by his uncle's soldiers after which he ran for his life in a small boat, while he kept reciting the vow he made to his father the day before. Along the way, Amleth was rescued by a group of Vikings and they raised him as their own. They taught him their ways, and trained him in a combat band he grew to become one of them and the most feared Viking slayer.
On a fateful day, when Amleth and his Viking group went to devour a village, he encountered a seer, who reminded him of the vow he made to his father and the gods when he was a boy. After the encounter, Amleth disguised himself as a slave to join the boat that will Ship off some slaves to Iceland where he heard that his uncle resides as a peasant shepherd after he had lost his father's kingdom to an outsider.
Amleth promises to carry out his revenge to honor his father and also to rescue his mother who was taken years ago. Now the question you would want answers to are; Did Amleth succeed in his revenge quest? Did he give up anything to save his future generations? Did the quest for revenge lead to a bad road?. To answer these questions, please make time to watch this amazing movie to better understand the storyline.
My Opinion About The Movie
Watching this movie was a thrilling experience for me, I enjoyed every bit of it and also the movie covered a lot of aspects of Norse mythology. I think this movie needs more budget for the plot to be expanded because I think it was hurried. Then I thought, what if the movie was made into a short series would it have been better or will the plot-lines aim be destroyed? I can never know.
Talking about the critics some people laid down about the director was that the costumes for the actors were not properly portrayed. Well, when I saw the movie, I didn't see that failure there, but what I saw was amazing. The critics said the actors appeared neat, clean perfect, and white teeth which didn't portray the dressing or lifestyle of the Old Norsemen. I don't understand the critics because all the actors appeared dirty to me. The director did a good job with the setting of the movie, how he arranged the plot and left the viewers in suspense and twist. The scene design was amazing and the best I have seen in a long time.
The movie portrays well the mythological themes of the Old Norsemen culture; like visions, sorcery, the legend of Valkyries, Valhalla, and many more. The director did well to depict all the traditions and culture of the Northern Germanic people to remind people of the traditions and culture of the Norse people that haven't been done properly in the past twenty years or that seem to be forgotten. Also, the old ways of then (A.D) was well portrayed, the brutality, no value for women's life, mythical creatures, and war.
Another spectacular feature of this is that every scene was created with the reality of the Old days when life was cheap, fragile, and short. No scene was glamorized, it was real and uncompromising. All the actors also didn't pull back, they put in their best in each of the roles respectively. This is an epic movie that I would recommend for you to watch because of its art and the passionate work all the actors and crew put into the movie.
My favorite actor is Alexander Skarsgård. He is the reason why I watched the movie. I would give him the best performance. He blends well with his part as if he was born for the role. I always look forward to watching his Movies. My favorite scene in the movie was when he put his plans for revenge into motion. It was crazy, brutal, and raw and when a Valkyrie brought him back to life, that scene gave me the chills.
My Ratings And Recommendations
Rating this movie I will be giving it 4.5 stars because it is the best epic historical movie I have seen in a long while. The actors, I will give 4 stars because they all acted with passion and played their parts with zeal. Talking about the setting, the movie was filmed in North Ireland. Though some people think that the movie would also have done well in Iceland, I think Ireland was the best location for the movie.
I would recommend this movie to epic-historical movie lovers, and Viking movie lovers and I would also advise a 15 years old not to watch this movie because of the brutal killings, raw sex scenes, and vivid nude scenes. Young adults can watch the movie haha. This movie was worth watching. Take the time to watch and you won't be disappointed.
All images are from the movie screenshots
[Poster image](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the Northman)
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