‘The Northman’ review: Incredible(y brutal)

Robert Eggers’s new film “The Northman” is both bloody and beautifully made.

Jack Harris, Online Copy Editor and Arts Editor|April 27, 2022

“The Northman” is a loose retelling of the Nordic legend of Amleth.

Robert Eggers’s third film, “The Northman”, is his most accessible yet. By no means does that make this film Easy to watch. Clocking in at 2 hours and 17 minutes it’s a little bit on the longer side, and the pace does get quite slow at points during the film; however, it’s done to establish the backstory and the locations, two elements key to making this film such an immersive experience. No, what will most likely keep this film out of the mainstream is its sheer brutality.

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The style of Eggers’s films is unforgivingly well researched and authentic to the time and place where the story transpires.

The Northman is a retelling of Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” soaked in blood and depravity. The main character, Amleth (try rearranging those letters), is a barbaric Viking warrior whose life mission is to avenge the murder of his father, save his mother, and kill his uncle. After escaping the murderous clutches of his uncle and living the raiding life of a Viking, Amleth finds a way to get close to his uncle, who now “rules” in Iceland.

Eggers, despite or possibly due to his uncompromising style, has been able to draw a diverse list of big names in all of his films. “The Northman” features Alexander Skarsgard as the lead; Anya Taylor-Joy, Nicole Kidman, Ethan Hawke, Willem Dafoeand Bjork round out the supporting cast. The style of Eggers’s films is unforgivingly well researched and authentic to the time and place where the story transpires. Although each of his films are mostly in English, subtitles make viewing easier, as the accents and dialects are so thick it makes some lines difficult to comprehend. This issue is mostly alleviated by the directing and acting, as the performers communicate their emotions so well that the meaning of each scene is usually easy to understand.

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Every scene drips with such dramatic color that it evokes the famous phrase “every frame a painting”.

Granted, there’s much more to the meaning and emotion of each scene than just the directing and acting. Most obvious is the environment created in each scene. After working on 2015’s “The Witch” and 2019’s “The Lighthouse”, both Cinematographer Jarin Blaschke and Production Designer Craig Lathrop returned to work with Eggers for his third production. The lighting, cinematography and set design all work together to create one of the most immersive films in recent memory. Each shot is unique and thought out. Every scene drips with such dramatic color that it evokes the famous phrase “every frame a painting”. The Icelandic location is so beautiful –and the Viking architecture is so realistic– it creates an environment that feels right out of legend.

“The Northman” is certainly a film worth experiencing in theaters; that is if you’re up for all it has to offer. Eggers’s film is brutal, beautiful, crazy and ambitious beyond all reason. I highly recommend both it, and his previous works.