The Northman
Visually overwhelming Viking epic from visionary director Robert Eggers (The Lighthouse) about a young prince on a mission to avenge the murder of his father.
After the arthouse success of THE LIGHTHOUSE, Robert Eggers was given carte blanche to bring to life an age-old Viking legend (which was the basis of Shakespeare’s HAMLET). The story is relatively simple: Prince Amleth is about to become a man when his uncle brutally murders his father and kidnaps his mother. Two decades later, we follow Amleth on his mission to save his mother, kill his uncle and avenge his father.
With THE NORTHMAN, Robert Eggers (THE WITCH) ventures into a major Hollywood production, including a real star cast, but the film is anything but polished. Brute heroism amid bubbling geysers and spitting volcanoes is alternated with strange shamanistic interludes, perfectly attuned to the likes of Björk and Willem Dafoe. The visual language with which Eggers’ regular cameraman Jarin Blaschke brings the threatening Icelandic landscape to life also makes one gasp in admiration.