The Northman
Thinking about “The Northman,” it makes me thing that some filmmakers are just more comfortable for small-scale storytelling. In “The Witch” and “The Lighthouse,” Robert Eggers tells contained narratives about downward spirals into madness using the tropes of horror, and the results sucked me in. In his big-budget Viking story, the spectacle of the world gives way into another contained narrative, but the results are more mixed than they were earlier.
In stories of vengeance, it’s important to have an emotional connection to the main character. In “Braveheart,” we follow along with William Wallace’s personal goal of revenge for his secret wife, and the larger goal of freedom for Scotland. In “Gladiator,” Maximus’s tale of revenge for the death of his family becomes ours. Both of these happen because of the charisma of the actors playing the roles, and the writing that gives them a three-dimensional character to play. As Amieth, the deposed son of a slain king in “The Northman,” Alexander Skarsgard cuts an imposing presence, but the script by Eggers and Sjon doesn’t give the character any personality. That’s a problem when the action stops, and the narrative takes hold.
At its heart, “The Northman” is derived from Hamlet. At the beginning of the film, King Aurvandill War-Raven (Ethan Hawke) returns from battle to his wife, Queen Gudrún (Nicole Kidman), and his young son, Amieth. We are also introduced to Aurvandill’s brother, Fjölnir (Claes Bang), and Aurvandill feels it is time to prepare his son to take over as King, in case something happens to him. This early part of the film is classic Eggers- dark, wickedly funny (mainly in the sequence with Willem Dafoe’s Heimir the Fool), and malevolent. It’s not long until the King is killed by his brother, and Amieth must go into exile. Cut to years later, and he has been molded into a vicious barbarian, but still has blood lust for one person.
As an adult, Amieth is kind of a mindless individual, which is an issue given the emotional stakes of the narrative. Pairing him with Olga of the Birch Forest (Anya Taylor-Joy) helps, but she’s the main reason the connection works. There isn’t as much action as you would expect in this film; once Amieth makes his way back to Fjölnir, the story kicks in, and the limitations of Amieth as a lead character become more glaring. As a presence in action scenes, Skarsgard shines in this film; the writing limits him throughout the rest of the movie.
Its narrative drive aside, “The Northman” is a magnificently made film. The costumes, production design and cinematography put us in the moment of history, the savagery, and the world of 9th Century Viking lore. And the score by Sebastian Gainsborough and Robin Carolan is the type of thunderous, epic orchestral explosion this movie requires. In the end, though, spectacle will only take a film like “The Northman” so far; it requires feelings this film just cannot project to make it extraordinary.
