Wednesday, August 10, 2022

The Northman (2022)

IMDb plot summary: 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.
Directed by Robert Eggers. Starring Alexander Skarsgard, Nicole Kidman, and Claes Bang.

The Northman is a Viking retelling of Hamlet. A young boy sees his Viking leader father murdered by his uncle and returns years later for revenge. (Embarrassingly, it took me half the movie to realize our main character is named "Amleth" -- Hamlet with the H moved to the end.) I haven't seen The Witch, but this reminds me very much of director Robert Eggers' previous film The Lighthouse, in that it is stylized out the wazoo and I just don't care. I blame it partly on Hamlet being a story that just doesn't grip me in almost any form and partly on historical period pieces about Vikings not gripping me either. It does look fascinating though, this combination of dreary and too-bright light that was interesting to me even when I was bored out of my mind by the story, and the acting is, I think, entirely in the vein of what this film is going for. So, like The Lighthouse, I found Eggers' style impressive but it didn't connected with me in any way, although it certainly makes me want to keep an eye on him and see if at some point we'll click.

How it entered my Flickchart:
The Northman < Port of Shadows
The Northman > 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
The Northman > Iron Eagle
The Northman < Life of Pi
The Northman > Flightplan
The Northman > The Subject Was Roses
The Northman < The Lost Boys
The Northman < The Core
The Northman < Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers
The Northman > Enemy of the State
The Northman < Almost Famous
The Northman < Mad Dog and Glory
Final spot: #2109 out of 3656, or 42%.

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