With his 2015 debut “The Witch” (stylized as “The VVitch”) and its 2019 follow-up “The Lighthouse,” director Robert Eggers firmly established himself as one of the premier modern artistic visionaries. With a combined budget of $15 million, the two films grossed close to $60 million which, in the art-house world, is considered blockbuster territory.
Five Parts, Not Three Acts
Instead of the traditional three act format, Eggers and his mono-monikered co-writer Sjon split the movie into five parts, each beginning with multi-language title cards. It opens in A.D. 895 in what would become Holland with the return home of an army led by King Aurvandill War-Raven (Ethan Hawke).
Given a hero’s welcome by his subjects and family, Aurvandill soon informs his wife Queen Gudrun (Nicole Kidman) that his war wounds have tapped his ability to lead. So disabled, he decides to abdicate the throne to their preteen son Amleth (Oscar Novak) and return to the fight where he hopes he’ll eventually die in battle. This confidential news makes its way to Fjolnir (Claes Bang), Aurvandill’s already envious brother who will have none of it and assassinates him in an ambush, which Amleth witnesses before barely escaping a certain grizzly death.
Some 20-odd years later, Amleth (now played by a ripped Alexander Skarsgard) is the member of a rather raucous band of Vikings who pass their time with nighttime campfire rituals and pillaging villages in the “Land of the Rus” (now Russia and Belarus). As violent as anything seen in “Braveheart” (but with far more interesting camera work), Eggers lets the audience know early on he’ll be holding nothing back.
It is after one such encounter that Amleth is addressed by the Seeress (frequent Sjon collaborator Bjork), an apparitional prophet, informing him that it is now time to begin his long-planned journey to avenge his father’s murder, rescue his mother (now Fjolnir’s queen) and claim the crown.
Amleth purposefully gets caught, put into slavery, and eventually lands in Iceland, now the province of his uncle. At the same time, he meets and mutually falls in love with Olga (Ana Taylor-Joy), a Slavic sorceress who also catches the wandering eye of Fjolnir and is more than willing to assist Amleth in his mission.
Echoes of Tarantino
While the film has a not-surprising midway point hiccup or two, it hits full stride at the 90-minute mark with Amleth’s methodical, some may say diabolical, whittling away of Fjolnir’s soldiers, associates, and hangers-on. Not unlike parts of Quentin Tarantino’s “Inglourious Basterds,” “Django Unchained,” and the “Kill Bill” opus, the filmmakers build the tension with a sometimes nerve-rattling, deliberate pace and often make you think you’re seeing something that is merely implied.Shot entirely in Ireland, at times the color passages in “The Northman” bare a strong visual resemblance to both the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy and Ari Aster’s 2018 jarring Nordic “daymare”: “Midsommar.” Masters of depth and contrast, Eggers and his regular cinematographer Jarin Blashchke present close to half of the 137 minute film in traditional black and white alongside bleached color stock and the result is an unnerving palate of smoky grays and gun-barrel blues. It goes without saying this is a movie that should be watched on the biggest screen you can possibly find.
Skarsgard’s Breakthrough Role?
Although he’s enjoyed considerable success and received glowing accolades for his work on the TV series’ “True Blood” and “Big Little Lies” (where he and Kidman played husband and wife characters), Skarsgard has yet to play the lead in a high profile feature, but in all likelihood that will change very soon.Coupled with a brilliant prerelease ad campaign, mostly glowing reviews and a debut at over 2,700 U.S. theaters (with some houses offering hourly starting times on multiple screens), it would be quite surprising if the movie doesn’t pass the $20 million mark by the end of the weekend.
Add to that the audience fatigue of interchangeable superhero comic book flicks, the time is ripe for this movie to become a huge hit and for Skarsgard to emerge as a household name. He may be crowned as the industry’s next go-to action star to boot. He’d also make a great James Bond.
It will be interesting to see what Eggers does next. He’s managed to establish a unique brand with just three features without getting repetitive or stale in the process. With “The Northman,” he’ll still please his established base while roping in mainstream audiences who are looking for an inspiring story of redemption and a lead character with unwavering moral conviction. That’s a fine line to navigate and Eggers has pulled it off without breaking nary a sweat.
