Watching The Northman, I kept on thinking, “I am so happy that I let things go.” Based off the 10th century Nordic poem that would inspire Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the visually stunning, mythic story-telling is a brilliant look at how exhausting revenge can be. Starring Alexander Skarsgard as Amleth, it is hard not to see True Blood fans getting soft at witnessing our Viking King bloody with abs out.
Vivid! Gory! Epically Existential! I watched the Northman with big eyes as my mind analyzed why this tale will always be relevant. History is repetitive. Wars! Slavery! Genocide! Uprisings! Peace Movements! Icons! Love Stories! Heroes! Redemption Arcs! All of these things happen every day, and embody the story of Amleth from his beginning. We meet him as a boy, excited to see his King Father and cherished by his Queen Mother (Nicole Kidman KILLING It As The Vicious Queen Godrun) . Yet, if there is one thing about our childhood that rings true, especially when we become adults, is how illusional we were. Part of why adulthood is harsh is that illusions evaporate. For Amleth, his father was a great man, his mother a loyal wife, and his world blessed by Odinson. Yet, that was life according to child’s eyes, and a wolf is born when someone plucks them, i.e. Claes Bang as Fjolnir.
Skarsgard is so carnal in this role. Every scene exemplifies what happens when an entire life is framed according to one traumatic event and the determination/ delusion that revenge is justice and justice rights a wrong or, at least, gives a gain to a loss. With scenes of witchery (Bjork as Seeress), and a gorgeous instance of godly, Valkyrie presence that hails to a time when people’s stories felt legendary, The Northman exemplifies why we loves myths; they make being human feel extraordinary. Writer/ Director Robert Eggers takes on this old tale with panache and preciseness; making it every scenes like a turning of a page in an acclaimed book.We are fascinated by a man who loses it all, does everything to regain it, and, in turn, relearns what gain and loss mean to then go off to his eternal rest,. Hence, my prior statement, with a 2022 lens, Eggers’ writing makes you realize that, perhaps, an entire life grieving what you lost can truly stop you from what you can gain.
Starring Anya Taylor Joy as the bewitching Olga/ love interest of Amleth, the movie becomes a sincere questioning over whether revenge is truly freeing or worth it? She mesmerizes as a slave with enough cunning to free everyone from their literal chains, but not the internal ones that bind them to the past: I.e. Amleth. While Ethan Hawke stars as King Aurvandil, I am so in love with him as Arthur Harrow on Moon Knight, I can’t see him as anyone else. Besides, this is Skargard’s show, and even Willem Dafoe’s Heimir’s talking dead head cannot change that. The Northman is out in theaters April 22.
