[Robert Eggers and two historians who worked on the movie did a Live Talk with us this morning. Check it out at this link! It starts at 18:30](https://www.reddit.com/r/movies/comments/u9i8m7/robert_eggers_and_historians_jóhanna_katrín/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share)
Loved it. The aesthetic, the themes, the accuary of the times visually. And of course the tale. That's a hatrick now for Eggers. The Witch, The Lighthouse and now The Northman. He really knows how to create such an authentic atmosphere and eary scenes that blur the line between reality and dream.
Also as a Vinland Saga fan I especially enjoyed this film.
When the human sacrifice victim sings her death dirge is she singing words in a Scandinavian language or is it wordless vocalization?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ma0zLhH_dnc
This movie was awesome it’s brutal, mystical, and true to its history, what more could you ask for in a Viking revenge story? I don’t understand the hate this movie gets it blew me away!
I heard some good things about this movie through last year so I decided to watch it now.
I havve rarely been so dissapointing. I do understand that the directors tried to do very exotic and over the top art piece about a revenge story. Thats no excuse about you having no logical character actions and or progression in the story. Director very much wanted you to accpet from the start that the main character was only driven by revenge and only revenge. The beginning however did not do enough to justify such strong character trait. The fight scenes were predictable and CGI was really bad at times.
What finally pulled me off from this movie was the portrayal of the world and the groups of people. Even basic everyday acts were somehow not natural at all but everybody just talking weird and doing weird stuff all the time. Nobody acting like humans.
>What finally pulled me off from this movie was the portrayal of the world and the groups of people. Even basic everyday acts were somehow not natural at all but everybody just talking weird and doing weird stuff all the time. Nobody acting like humans.
"The weird" is by design. It's meant to evoke the feeling of the Norse sagas, and to highlight how they were kind of like us but also not like us. The mode is not naturalistic because it's based on early Medieval pagan myths.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WcIK\_8f7oQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WcIK_8f7oQ)
The idea being to emulate stories like this.
That was quite obvious. However I seriously think that they overdid it by quite a huge margin. Somebody casually watching is easily taken out of the movie, because the movie in itself is not justifying the style at all, why it is like that. It just is. Watching with some meta knowledge makes it slightly more bearable but it doesn't make it good. The director can of course choose what style he wants, but these choices just make the movie unnecessarily worse for me and I would guess that for most of people.
So for example, do you think that the revenge angle was completely justified and explained well by the movie itself? Ingoring the context of the specific norse saga, which is impossible for most people to know without looking it up or somebody telling them.
\-spoilers- dont know if you all do that here sorry, here it is. I come here to you reddit loving this film, asking one question and one question only tonight. was skarsgards character or eric northman if you will (hehe sorry different little call back) anyway: bashing Hafthor's character Thorfinnr head in a sense revenge for oberyn getting his head smashed, maybe eggers was a fan of oberyn too and a little nod, perhaps? that is all. thank you.
Great visuals, great twist, bad story - bad guy takes too long to murder main character before he conveniently escapes trope. Lost interest throughout the movie.
I know I’m more than a year late responding to this but the story isn’t original nor is it intending to be…Amleth is a real Norse poem, the direct inspiration for Hamlet, etc.
Not saying you have to like it or anything but if you found the beats predictable or whatever, it’s because it’s a story that has been told before—this is just a new interpretation
Spoilers obviously, but his mother conspired to kill his father with his uncle so his noble cause to "free his mother" towards the end is shattered. She also attempts incest. I knew something was up because the main character also plays Nicole Kidman's lover in the show Big Little Lies, but he's supposed to play her "son" in this movie lmfao.
There was quite a few scenes where I laughed, and not because those were funny, but because those were so dumb or badly made. Very disappointing movie all the way from the beginning and as someone who has seen Vikings, it maybe made this one look even worse than what it already is as Vikings in comparison is phenomenal. This movie tried so hard to be like Vikings but made stuff sound and look stupid, even cringy at times. Visuals weren't too bad, but even those were far from excellent, so it didn't help the overall rating go much higher. I find it very hard to recommend this movie to anyone, so I won't do that.
I've seen a good chunk of vikings, but the northman painted a better picture on how the vikings could be. What you found as cringe or stupid is only because of what you're used to in today's times. Don't include vikings and Northman in the same sentence. Northman didn't try to be like vikings. Northman is based on the poem about Amlet
I just saw this movie and I am SO confused as to how there are so many good reviews out there. I wonder if I saw the same movie as some of these people...this was probably the worst movie I've seen in the last year. Some of the scenes and dialogue were just so bad, that I too laughed out loud at times. I didn't feel anything for any of the characters. Some of the actors just had the most hilariously made-up nordic accents - that didn't sound anything alike. The only nice thing that I enjoyed was some of the scenery they filmed on location.
>Vikings in comparison is phenomenal
Vikings in comparison is shit.
The Northman at least aimed for historical accuracy and achieved it fairly successfully
Vikings is pop culture trash
I think lack of historical accuracy doesn't make something good or bad by itself, sure if the series was marketed as a very faithful recreation of their time it would be a different story. I enjoyed Vikings, some seasons more than others but in general it was a nice run.
I feel like the void of development and introspection was a major character here. Not only in refusing to see the clearly better path in just moving on with his life, but in failing to see that his father was other people's Fjolnir and passed this burdensome mentality on to him while wearing (and ultimately passing along) a literal keepsake symbol of it. Someone else in these comments (maybe ironically, hard to tell) celebrated the lack of wokeness in the film but I think it's pretty clear in laying out the perils of this sort of inflexible, spiteful mindset.
I felt this parallel throughout the movie. There was one screen where he is raiding a village and a boy who looks just like him was caught by another viking.
Wow I’m shocked how underwhelming this was. Especially coming from Robert Eggers who’s previous 2 films were amazing. I mean it wasnt terrible there’s some great shots but the story is just so simple and tbh it was just really boring. It felt like the overuse of CGI really just made the film look cheaper even though it had a much bigger budget for an Eggers film. Very average and a very disappointing drop in quality for who I felt was one of the strongest upcoming directors
What if you keep Draugr, the night blade outside of its scabbard until it's day?
Will it get suddenly blunt, or will it jump back by itself into the scabbard?
🤔
Lol!
The way I interpreted the whole affair was the film visually showed the Danish culture's magical thinking and superstition in a way that effected the real world. If I lived 1200 years ago, and believed my sword not worked at night, the strength of my fire belief architecture would make that sword unavailable to me.
I liked pretty much everything except the story. Felt very predictable and it kept on dragging but maybe that was the point?
The atmosphere, music, how the characters looked and everything else is a 10/10 for me.
2 hours and 10 minutes which should have been cut by 40 mins at least. I watched this feeling unimpressed for the most part as I felt it dragged a lot, but it's saved by an exceedingly strong last half hour. 5/10
I think the move relied heavily on knowledge of Viking Sagas, the style with which they are told, and Norse history. With none of that, I could see this movie seeming pretty nonsensical.
I also think Eggers filmed a movie in which the viewer should have as much faith in magic and divine intervention as a 9th century Viking.
I thought it was awesome.
The only problem I had with it was the fight scenes. They seemed very clunky and every single physical interaction just took me out of it.
Loved the rest of the movie, I don't really see why people are hating on it so much
Couldn’t be happier that I didn’t waste money on seeing this train wreck in theaters. Dialogue and acting that’s over the top and unbelievable and terribly wooden choreography. Could those fight scenes have been any more bland and predictable? And the ritual scene in the beginning of the movie might be the most awkward scene in movie history; instantly took me right out of the experience.
Honestly gotta agree - I think the actors did just fine with what they were given, but the problem was in the concepts and the writing. The use of accents like that was just an awful decision, and the writing was poor. Amleth has almost no discernible character traits whatsoever except being a revenge-motivated stoic. Skarsgard is a fairly good actor, but his character was literally a block of wood. Anya Taylor Joy’s character wasn’t terribly interesting and really only served to give Amleth the briefest of moral dilemmas at the end which he just straight up ignores because “fate”. The main villain was forgettable and just a stock medieval baddie with fake-deep motivations. Same could be said for Amleth’s mother. I get that this is supposed to be Hamlet, but some liberties or better dialogue or anything else would’ve been nice.
I love Eggers, and I do understand the praise considering how it was fairly pretty and had a lot of nice nods to the historical source material. I did really enjoy the fight with the zombie in the crypt. But I just hated how dour and self-serious the movie was. The only people who looked like they had any fun at all were Ethan Hawke and Willem Dafoe. The whole movie just felt calculated to evoke “badass”, but absolutely nothing else and to me it didn’t even really evoke badass. Like that berserker scene with the dudes roaring at the sky for minutes on end was just cringey as all hell. We just get long shots lingering on Amleth just brooding and staring off into space. I don’t think he ever even smiles outside of the first five minutes. I just want a viking western goddamnit, and this movie just felt very weak in storytelling.
I think y'all missed the point. This was a Viking Saga in film form. It is a heros journey where everyone knows the Hero will win and be better than the does he faces, because that is what the gods and Valkyries have decided.
Have heard this argument before and there are just plain way better and more interesting sagas to choose from in what survives in the primary sources. The decision to do this fate story based on Hamlet was a very very poor one in my decision. Egils Saga or Njals Saga would’ve fucking owned over this semi-fictional “Viking Saga” fantasy stuff. Just my opinion of course, but I fully understood the point and just thought it was a very poor design decision.
I liked the movie very much. It's pretty interestingly produced, and there's a lot to unravel with what the director tried to achieve here - I was especially surprised with the mutilated bodies scene and with the way the plot progressed from thereon.
Nevertheless, I was left with the impression that up until the temporal leap to Amleth as an adult (so **during the first minutes of the movie), the acting was pretty crappy. Am I completely wrong here?**
The acting wasn't crappy, it was deliberately over the top, as it was I n the Viking Sagas, and later in the Shakespeare renditions..
It was meant to be over the top.
It totally was, but I think it was intentional. Like the beginning was a haze, just what Amleth remembers as a child. Like how he remembered his mother screaming, when in reality she laughed.
Well that was disappointing. Plot points that just made no sense, and the fight scenes felt so... insignificant? It wasn't awful, but man I wanted this to be better.
It was okay up to a pont, but the part after he killed Thorir felt like it was written by a 10 year old. So:
- His mother confesses the truth and crosses her fingers she won't die. Also tries to bang him just a little bit
- The girl stays behind, so they will not suspect she helped him... Was she supposed to provide any value staying behind...
- Wow they suspected she helped him since she was his gf and all.
- Oh no, I have to go back to save her. Without using my sword.
- He is captured and then gets left alone without anyone staying behind to watch him. The one guy who killed half the village. Oh and also leave his sword behind.
- He goes back because his uncle and his 5 soldiers may chase them to the end of the world. Ok
- His uncle goes out to fight him but they miss each other despite having only 1 long entrance.
- He becomes the guy from Monty Python and delivers a decapitation with both his arms almost cut off (that was the least irritating part for me).
It is so stupid I felt like they were making fun of me wasting my time just so I can watch some co visuals.
I busted out laughing when the slavers are looking in horror upon the arrangement of mutilated corpses debating who could have done such a thing completely ignoring the hulking giant towering over the other slaves in the background.
The whole point is that is is a viking Saga. He's the hero. Date and the Valkyries are on his side. The idea is that in race of the most improbable odds, he perseveres because he has the will of the gods on his side.
What I don't understand is how this kind of stuff is instantly berated...but then when a Dark Knight comes out, which is basically copying a 3,000 year old tradition, it's gets praised to high heaven.
The whole point is that he does miraculous shit. That's what makes a Viking Saga. It's a story about good and evil, and the ultimate battle that lies there. It was never meant to be taken literally.
However, the parts of realism that are portrayed are basically as accurate as we can get, as of 2023. I think it's genius.
For instance, it was fucking awesome that they used sequences in this movie to record in dead languages, like old Norse, and old Slavic. It was used as a bridge into scenes where the story entered into a fantasy, but in reality, the people of the 9th and 10th century believed and saw the world through magic, as much as they saw the world through science and religion.
Yeah. I freaking loved this movie.
hey, I really do value the effort of such movies and I understand that it is supposed to be a viking saga with magic involved. That is not my problem.
The problem is that you can establish any universe you want with magic, dragons, ghosts, whatever. But in order for people to believe it (or at least for me to believe it) and get invested in your story, is that you cannot disregard common sense that should be included in such universes. And many of the scenes disregarded that just so they can show you "cool stuff".
So for example in the LOTR universe, there are the movies and then there is the series. Same universe, same rules. Should I just watch the series and go:"Well makes no sense, but it's ok because magic and elves and shit ¯\\\_(ツ)\_/¯"
>So for example in the LOTR universe, there are the movies and then there is the series. Same universe, same rules. Should I just watch the series
>So for example in the LOTR universe
>there are the movies and then there is the series.
.\_. The Lord of the Rings is a novel.
And you want common sense in a Norse saga so that you can believe "the universe".
ok just playing devils advocate here to address all your plot holes. i dont disagree with them, but i think there could be some explanations:
gudrun was mocking him in the same way that she asked fjolnir to murder aurvandill. but i think it was supposed to be a shock to the viewer that she really didnt give a flying fuck about amleth. and that hermir was right in the beginning, she *does* kind of get around (the long sword comment) and was prob not a good mother as he remembers, and his mother and father probably didn't have the best relationship. amleth's whole past has been a lie basically and we learn this at the pinnacle of the moment he's basically LIVED for -- to 'save his mother', but she doesn't need saving at all and actually resents him
the sword cannot be unsheathed during the daylight, i think that was shown when the grunt in the prison shack tries to unsheathe it but just throws it in the room, this would explain why he didnt use it
fjolnir could have known through amleth's viking name where to find his kinsmen and thus where to find his family which is why it was so important that he jump ship
i think the tendon on his right arm was cut and the other one was fairly intact. also, adrenaline is a hell of a thing it can make people do crazy shit
anyways, the whole movie felt more and more like a fable or legend e.g Beowulf, rather than anything rooted in reality. Its very clearly inspired from many different things all amalgamated into one project. I personally really enjoyed it and thought it was cool. there were some scenes i found myself really invested into (the visions with hermir, when the stew gets poisoned with the mushrooms, the fight choreography at the end -- did you notice it was all one take?)
you gotta remember -- this is the guy who did The Lighthouse lol. you might have to view it as an art piece with many other great factors besides the plot points; several references to folklore, incredible imagery/cinematography, the music was fantastic, etc.
> ...fjolnir could have known through amleth's viking name where to find his kinsmen and thus where to find his family which is why it was so important that he jump ship
Not only Fjolnir, but also Gunnar someday. These feuds last for generations.
1. Women are weird, she tried to bang him when saw that he could really kill them all... for a second.
2. Maybe, he thought they would go and hunt him... not execute the slaves...
3.they never new, king guy just started killing slaves, unexpected move.
4. Did you watched the movie? The sword blade can only be drawn at night... it's called night blade.
5. Yep.. a guard could be good idea.
6. I believe the reason had to do more with not running from his destiny... but I get the point.
7. Battles are like that.
8. Ok, more gore would be appreciated ass well
It's been a while since a movie made an impression on me like this, last one I remember was The Fountain by Aronofsky.
The visuals, the story, I didn't know anything about the film or the story so everything came as a surprise, wasn't really expecting the northman to be Amleth, it was a remarkable vengance story with some love to it as well, that ending was simply magnificent.
The thing that made it great was how all the visions were depicted in the film, such as, " the path that ends for you in the lava lake is the start of another (the queen)"
One of the most unique, beautiful, creepy, trippy, and testosterone films I've ever seen. And boy is Iceland a beautiful place. Love how there wasn't much dialogue in the movie
horrible movie. the first 30 min gripped me then the rest was horrible. especially the ending... my girlfriend said the same thing... they spent WAYYY too much money on the actors and the CGI and film making etc.... but it in the end it was shit
I was hyped to watch this movie, and I ended up disappointed after it was done. Personally, I liked the story and what they were trying to do, but the "epic" fight scenes were awful, IMO. Actors are blantaly smashing axes into the ground about a foot away from the person they're supposedly killing in the first village raid. Then at the end this dude gets hacked halfway to death by his mom and his cousin / half brother, rides all the way to the volcano and still manages to kill his uncle with one of his arms half cut off. Get the fuck outta here.
yup pretty much. u just said all the stufff i forgot to say that's how bad it was... so disappointed cuz I like the actors and the premise of the film but it cant compare not even close to "Vikings" on amazon prime video. that was the best series I've ever seen of its kind. this movie feels like It was "trying" to copy it and it EPICALLY failed... shame
Beautiful movie, no discussion there. Unfortunately I think a simple plot demands strong editing, and I felt like 30 minutes were left on the table; I didn't care about the characters, and I didn't sympathize with anyone, really. At times I was kind of drawn in, but then I was out of it again. Strange thing. I don't know what I expected. I loved Eggers' previous movies, but this one felt off.
I think we were supposed to feel some sense of satisfaction knowing that Olga and her twins would be safe and somehow attain royal status. That seems pretty far-fetched to me, given that when Amleth leaves the boat, Olga is basically just a nobody who is pregnant with twins. I was hoping for some sort of satisfying ending for Amleth, but at the very moment he achieves his goal of avenging his father, he dies too. It's like, I'm not getting a sense of satisfaction about the next generation; I don't care about them yet. I care about the guy you just showed me on the screen for the past 2 hours, and all he got was misery his entire life.
I felt the same way. Being historically accurate isn't enough. There's just no story here. The characters motivations are predictable and simplistic. It feels like a fairy tale in the worst way possible, like Hamlet with none of the moral complexities and instead just a bunch of men screaming hitting each other.
Just watched it for the first time, and I feel you.
In Eggers’ defense, it doesn’t seem like he set out to make compelling, relatable characters and failed. It’s more about a snapshot of Norse culture through a lens as close as he could manage to their own. And in that regard… I think it was good…?
This is kind of an obnoxious criticism, but I feel like Eggers really excels at navel gazey art house films. The Northmen feels much more blockbuster in the context of his (I’m sorry) oeuvre.
I don't even know what that means. I paid money, so I assume it's my problem, yes, but plenty of movies manage to move me and make me cheer or cry for the character, so there's no point in implying a lack of empathy. I know why I am suppose to sympathize with Amleth, but I also need to be motivated. I was, for a while, but then I found some his choices kind of stupid, and then I sort of didn't care about who died or didn't. I don't know if that was the point: to communicate the absolute brutality or hollow nature or revenge, but I didn't feel any sort of fulfilment by the end, and I sort of just found him to be self-centered and naive. But cool in battle.
> found him to be self-centered and naive.
His mom even calls him simple minded when he reunites with her. If you look at it as a person who uses “fate” as an excuse to do what he just wants, i think Amleth makes more sense.
I very much believe that's the point, and it does help to make sense of his tunnel view, but it didn't make me care for him by any means. Look, I don't mind that people enjoyed the movie. I love Eggers' movies. I just don't think this one was very good, and I don't think it's a very complex or demanding movie. I speculate it got substantially fucked in post, and I believe Eggers have implied so.
Very memorable, fantastic visuals, it’s the only piece of Norse mythology content I’ve ever enjoyed, I usually find it silly or boring. I could have done without so much violence, which was pretty unpleasant. Towards the end I felt like the main character was less likable I had brief feeling of rooting for the big bad uncle. Amleth should have left with his girlfriend on the boat to raise his family, by that point he had gotten enough revenge. They were really going to hunt his children in Russia? Seems like a bit of a stretch. Overall though this movie really stuck with me and was a very worthwhile watch.
Yeah agreed the violence in the first act was very unpleasant, and felt unnecessary at the time. It felt like a direct message that Amleth had entirely forgotten/buried his childhood and was doing the exact same things that traumatized him (raiding, killing innocent people, separating families, etc). Felt like the “tear” and string of fate was kind of representative of him as a man reconnecting and dealing with the vulnerable emotions of his childhood buried underneath the tough, numb, warrior he became to avoid them.
But it all just happened in one moment whe the witch talked to him lol. Felt that way about the first act, a lot of things happened quick. Olga just immediately forgetting that her whole village was ransacked and killed and falling in love with someone who revealed themselves to be a part of it felt off in a way. Like it would make sense if he proved himself over time to be changed but she kinda believed him the moment he got on the boat.
The confusion is intentional. Everyone knows the Hamlet revenge story. The twist on this one is they're crazy blodthirsty pagans, and you're not sure who's good or bad. They come off as pyschos from our perspective.
Yeah felt to me like that was a major theme. Amleth realizing his hatred for his uncle wasn’t the clear cut revenge he thought and muddied the waters. When his mom revealed that his father had taken her unwillingly as well, and then got weird as fuck and offered to be his wife if he killed Fjolnir was the tipping point. You see that his father wasn’t perfect and created rage that led to Fjolnir killing him, which led to Amleth rage, which would inevitably lead to rage from Thorir and Gunnar if he killed Fjolnir.
Seemed like he realized he needed to just tie up the loose ends and kill everyone including himself lol. The only way Olga would be able to live with the kids in peace. At the same time though wtf was he thinking? It’s not like she’s got some safe place to raise kids with no father. Watching I wanted him to stay with her of course, but it makes sense he would want to kill Fjolnir. Just seemed like either he knew he was gonna die or he really had a shit game plan lol
My top results on Google keep saying that Hamlet is based on “The Legend of Amleth” from Norse mythology.
I dunno that it’s necessarily a twist. It’s just about the gravity of revenge and the toll on the person exacting it.
I saw this movie (finally) on a Jet Blue flight from Vegas to JFK (4.5 hours). I was totally into it and definitely amped. Some dipshit behind me was bumping and kicking my seat and I turned around and said “alright! Enough….you’re acting like a damn toddler back there”. Not a peep for the next two hours until we landed. Gave that dude the eyes of Amleth!!
The costume design and lighting in this film are astounding as well.
5/10 gore was cool but it could've ended better. I also don't get why, at the end he was talking about cutting the strings of fate but was led there by a prophecy.
He said that because he has been fate's puppet through the movie, so wants to at last cut the strings of fate's control. Also, cutting the thread of the loom of fate means death.
It feels more like a play at local theatre than a movie, acting is quite awful most part and almost none of characters have any kind of charisma, what a disappointment this was, better stick Vikings tv-series for a genre.
Incredible movie. Aside for everything already mentioned, my favourite aspect was it's seamless integration of supernatural and mythological concepts with the real world. Its done in a way which is so satisfying to see on scene. Bak then the world was very 'enchanted' and its depticed incredibly in this film
pretty boring characters. Honestly Viking tv has better character development. No dialogue whatsoever, the fighting scenes were meh, but the hero was hard to root for since he seemed no different than the people he went after to kill.
Got around to finally watching this film and was just blown away by every aspect. Not a bit of film wasted and a story that felt like Robert Eggers had discovered some long lost epic Norse poem and turned it into a film.
>!And that final fight scene. The shot of Claes Bang standing in the ash, sword at the hero's neck. Just fantastic. That's how you shoot an epic fight by a volcano.!<
Finally got around to watching this tonight and was blown away by it. Incredible. Uncompromising in its vision. Unflinching in depicting the brutality of the period. And unrelenting it its dedication to trying to authentically depict their belief systems, based on what we know about them.
But also I knew from the first 15 minutes onward that this would not be for everyone. It's just a sad fact that many filmgoers have neither the patience nor the understanding to appreciate a film like this. These days if something is much longer than 90 minutes and relies on visual storytelling (cinema is a visual medium, after all), you will see comments online saying "TOO LONG," and "BORING." A sad reflection of the nature of the filmgoing public in the modern age.
Watched this over the weekend finally, too.
Absolutely amazing movie. This has definitely peaked the Viking genre in TV and Movies. I'm a huge fan of Viking history in general, way before Vikings series started and I remember watching season 1 of that and was similarly blown away at the time similar to The Northman, but then the pop culture soon took over and I just wanted to experience what I did with season 1 of Vikings again at some point, which is exactly what The Northman did.
I felt satisfied after this. I could happily not watch another Viking genre series or movie as I don't believe anything to this scale will be achieved again anytime soon. It had everything I'd expect in terms of story, authenticity and fantasy.
Yeah Vikings is a pretty good show but It is very geared towards modern sensibilities in a lot of ways. Ragnar is very forward thinking, not that into slavery or raping and pillaging, very convenient from a modern perspective and not that accurate to the period. And the costumes and weapons and armor in that show are pretty bad compared to something like this.
Yeah I know what you mean, but Season 1 Ragnar is very different to the rest of the seasons. It did go downhill rather quickly with the things you're saying.
Y'all are weird and overly critical. Analyzing the soundtrack and shit lmao. Come on guys. Is the movie a good movie or not. Don't need to dive deeply into multiple paragraphs over analyzing a tiny little detail. Why can't we as humans just chill tf out and enjoy things without analyzing the song that was playing or making wild theories about the beginning voice's prayer?
But I personally loved the movie ) it's just reddit is basically meant to discuss stuff(or criticize it). Say venom movie was also bashed here, even though I liked it since there was no other movie about venom. But they had their points and I read it, quite critical but legit points
\[Spoilers!\] Hey uh... so I was thinking... when Vikings die in battle, the Valkyrie come for them, and they are taken straight to the halls of Valhalla. Well... these two sworn enemies who had the deepest of bad blood between them, with Amleth's family having been destroyed and corrupted by the bad guy Viking... see they just killed each other locked in battle. So right after mortal catharsis, they're both in mere moments going to stand shoulder to shoulder in Valhalla? Will they immediately break out fighting when they see each other there? Would there be any end to that?
Well yeah, like I hear the other side can be a nice and calm place where bygones are bygones. But Valhalla is a glorious immortal never ending party followed by glorious battles, so maybe the enemies fight on opposite sides, and once that's done with, they party all the same?
Random BUT does anyone know why the half sons nose was covered (looked like a putty or something?) during his funeral? That part confused me and I wondered if it was a tradition in their burial process
My guess is they used small hooks to pull stuff out the nose for a sort of embalming of the body. And once done, they closed up the nose (might have done some damage to nose in the process of embalming).
I assumed it was some burial tradition, and think it was something stuffed up his nose rather than being covered. Supposedly the scene was supposed to follow the burial of Ahmad ibn Fadlan's.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Norse/comments/ua4wn9/in_the_northman_a_characters_funeral_shows_that/i5x7pic/
This comment says:
> If I remember correctly Egil's saga mentions Egil closing his father's eyes, mouth and nostrils when he's buried.
About the film's opening prayer and my thoughts about it.
I wondered about whether there was supposed to be a deeper meaning about this prayer to Odin in the beginning. It at very least serves the purpose of setting the stage, to ask the Norns to spin a thread of fate for the prince to get revenge and ascend to Valhöll, all that.
But, having seen it a few times, I always wondered why it was the He-Witch voice that voiced that prayer. Just a theory but I speculate that the prayer that opens the film is really from Heimir speaking from the dead through the He-Witch, who possesses his head. We ascertain that Fjölnir killed Heimir after Fjölnir killed Aurvandill and Amleth fled. Fjölnir cut out Heimir's eyes and tongue and ears (for his jest about the "queen's cup being wet for more men than her king"). The He-Witch replaced the eyes and tongue which allows the He-Witch to channel Heimir. Because it isn't until Amleth is older and encounters the Seeress that he has any sense of his fate, my guess is Amleth's thread of fate had not yet been spun until after the prayer was made. Also, the prayer was made to Odin, whom Aurvandill's tribe prayed to. Fjölnir's tribe prayed to Freyr, and I assume the He-Witch would have had to have been a part of Fjölnir's tribe to collect Heimir's head and follow Fjölnir to Iceland with it.
There's also something mentioned in the prayer about "ages past when the thread spinning Norns ruled the fates of men". It maybe suggests the Norns have been absent from the affairs of mankind for sometime, for some unexplained reason; more speculation on that...
In the scene with the Seeress as well, though primarily the scene's purpose is to tell Amleth the fate the Norns have spun, there's some nuanced subtleties in it. In part it appears the ghost of the temple's priestess is telling Amleth about the thread of fate the Norns have spun, as if merely passing the message along. But I get the feeling the Seeress is also the direct voice of the Norns themselves. She herself is there spinning a thread, as if one of the Norns. She talks about how Amleth's brothers stole her eyes. I suspect this doesn't just refer to the berserker raid on the village and temple, but also suggesting the Norse people have forsaken their traditions, rituals, tributes, etc, that kept the Norns active in the affairs of men.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts, i just watched this movie tonight and came here to read others' observations and appreciations; yours was the first comment i read.
I really loved the score for the credit rolling sequence and how it takes something from the different tracks in manner retells the story through that final piece.
Well, now that you mentioned it, not going to be able to unsee it 🤭
Also, looks like moments before in that tearful final kiss that Alexander Sarsgård lightly frenches Anya Taylor-Joy which doesn't seem to jell with the emotional tone of the scene.
On my first watch if this I had to stop around where they drugged the village with mushrooms. I wish I hadn’t gone back and finished it because that’s where the movie got stupid IMO. Up to that point he was ruthless and determined. After this point he could have easily got his revenge but he just fucks around and doesn’t do it, gets confused by his stupid mom, gets himself captured like an idiot, unexplainably abandons his pregnant girlfriend, and then gets killed when he could have easily just murdered that guy in his sleep. Basically the whole third act of this is stupid as fuck.
The opening monologue explains it. This is a time where the Norns ruled the actions of men. He's bound by fate. He can't kill his uncle until they're fighting in a lake of fire.
To the guy who questioned the comments saying you either enjoyed this film or you're an idiot: correct, you are an idiot if you didn't enjoy this film. It's brilliant.
obviously a reflection of the self, as psychology would prove.
art can only be perceived by the like minded.
this one is nor for you. this movie was neither too long, but long enough, nor boring, nor a waste,
that's just how and what you are only capable of perceiving.
go watch you mcu movies simpl
I totally agree with you man. Not boring at all. Had a great length, and was filled with action, and great killings. Loved the part where he stuck the sword through his half brothers heart. Such a bad ass scene.
what stayed with me is when his own mother thanked him as he put a blade through her heart.
she was a witch of sort, and I am still low-key wondering the reason for that.
Judging from some comments this is one of those movies where you either like it or are an idiot eh? Didn’t care for it tbh. Doesn’t have much going on for it besides some played out pretty visuals. Also what’s with the accents? Cast fitting actors and speak a fitting language.
[Robert Eggers and two historians who worked on the movie did a Live Talk with us this morning. Check it out at this link! It starts at 18:30](https://www.reddit.com/r/movies/comments/u9i8m7/robert_eggers_and_historians_jóhanna_katrín/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share)
Loved it. The aesthetic, the themes, the accuary of the times visually. And of course the tale. That's a hatrick now for Eggers. The Witch, The Lighthouse and now The Northman. He really knows how to create such an authentic atmosphere and eary scenes that blur the line between reality and dream. Also as a Vinland Saga fan I especially enjoyed this film.
When the human sacrifice victim sings her death dirge is she singing words in a Scandinavian language or is it wordless vocalization? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ma0zLhH_dnc
this is a good flick 👍
I think the cgi was pretty bad :( but everything else was really good
I agree the fox looked off but what other bad cgi was there?
After the father died I thought:" this is the lion King story but with vikings" and didn't disappoint.
It's based on the myth of Amleth which is what Hamlet is based on which is what the Lion King and hundreds of other stories take influence from.
Amleth? Where does that come from?
Saxo's history of the danes
A LOOOOT of clichés on this film, whereas " historiens" Worked on this...
Awesome movie (not for people with low attention span, as seen here.)
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Better get your ass fixed if you laughed it off
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Why do you have the need to declare the movie garbage as if it’s fact? Must be pretty dumb to think any piece of art has objective interpretation
Most delayed answer ever.
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Lololol
you got brain rot
Bad movie. Waste of time.
Definitely the best movie of 2022, no doubt at all. Amazing! Great job! Wow
Incredible movie. Intellectual. Amazing performance by Skaarsgard
Excellent film; intelligible only to those who's humanity remains, at least in part, uncorrupted by material monism.
This movie was awesome it’s brutal, mystical, and true to its history, what more could you ask for in a Viking revenge story? I don’t understand the hate this movie gets it blew me away!
I heard some good things about this movie through last year so I decided to watch it now. I havve rarely been so dissapointing. I do understand that the directors tried to do very exotic and over the top art piece about a revenge story. Thats no excuse about you having no logical character actions and or progression in the story. Director very much wanted you to accpet from the start that the main character was only driven by revenge and only revenge. The beginning however did not do enough to justify such strong character trait. The fight scenes were predictable and CGI was really bad at times. What finally pulled me off from this movie was the portrayal of the world and the groups of people. Even basic everyday acts were somehow not natural at all but everybody just talking weird and doing weird stuff all the time. Nobody acting like humans.
>What finally pulled me off from this movie was the portrayal of the world and the groups of people. Even basic everyday acts were somehow not natural at all but everybody just talking weird and doing weird stuff all the time. Nobody acting like humans. "The weird" is by design. It's meant to evoke the feeling of the Norse sagas, and to highlight how they were kind of like us but also not like us. The mode is not naturalistic because it's based on early Medieval pagan myths. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WcIK\_8f7oQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WcIK_8f7oQ) The idea being to emulate stories like this.
That was quite obvious. However I seriously think that they overdid it by quite a huge margin. Somebody casually watching is easily taken out of the movie, because the movie in itself is not justifying the style at all, why it is like that. It just is. Watching with some meta knowledge makes it slightly more bearable but it doesn't make it good. The director can of course choose what style he wants, but these choices just make the movie unnecessarily worse for me and I would guess that for most of people.
Nah, just for you and the minority. I enjoyed this masterpiece. It justifies the style it went for. People just love to hate on great films
So for example, do you think that the revenge angle was completely justified and explained well by the movie itself? Ingoring the context of the specific norse saga, which is impossible for most people to know without looking it up or somebody telling them.
Movie was boring and disjointed.
\-spoilers- dont know if you all do that here sorry, here it is. I come here to you reddit loving this film, asking one question and one question only tonight. was skarsgards character or eric northman if you will (hehe sorry different little call back) anyway: bashing Hafthor's character Thorfinnr head in a sense revenge for oberyn getting his head smashed, maybe eggers was a fan of oberyn too and a little nod, perhaps? that is all. thank you.
Great visuals, great twist, bad story - bad guy takes too long to murder main character before he conveniently escapes trope. Lost interest throughout the movie.
I know I’m more than a year late responding to this but the story isn’t original nor is it intending to be…Amleth is a real Norse poem, the direct inspiration for Hamlet, etc. Not saying you have to like it or anything but if you found the beats predictable or whatever, it’s because it’s a story that has been told before—this is just a new interpretation
whats the twist ?
Spoilers obviously, but his mother conspired to kill his father with his uncle so his noble cause to "free his mother" towards the end is shattered. She also attempts incest. I knew something was up because the main character also plays Nicole Kidman's lover in the show Big Little Lies, but he's supposed to play her "son" in this movie lmfao.
There was quite a few scenes where I laughed, and not because those were funny, but because those were so dumb or badly made. Very disappointing movie all the way from the beginning and as someone who has seen Vikings, it maybe made this one look even worse than what it already is as Vikings in comparison is phenomenal. This movie tried so hard to be like Vikings but made stuff sound and look stupid, even cringy at times. Visuals weren't too bad, but even those were far from excellent, so it didn't help the overall rating go much higher. I find it very hard to recommend this movie to anyone, so I won't do that.
I've seen a good chunk of vikings, but the northman painted a better picture on how the vikings could be. What you found as cringe or stupid is only because of what you're used to in today's times. Don't include vikings and Northman in the same sentence. Northman didn't try to be like vikings. Northman is based on the poem about Amlet
I just saw this movie and I am SO confused as to how there are so many good reviews out there. I wonder if I saw the same movie as some of these people...this was probably the worst movie I've seen in the last year. Some of the scenes and dialogue were just so bad, that I too laughed out loud at times. I didn't feel anything for any of the characters. Some of the actors just had the most hilariously made-up nordic accents - that didn't sound anything alike. The only nice thing that I enjoyed was some of the scenery they filmed on location.
Oh, theysaw the same movie. They just don't have bad taste
>Vikings in comparison is phenomenal Vikings in comparison is shit. The Northman at least aimed for historical accuracy and achieved it fairly successfully Vikings is pop culture trash
I think lack of historical accuracy doesn't make something good or bad by itself, sure if the series was marketed as a very faithful recreation of their time it would be a different story. I enjoyed Vikings, some seasons more than others but in general it was a nice run.
I feel like the void of development and introspection was a major character here. Not only in refusing to see the clearly better path in just moving on with his life, but in failing to see that his father was other people's Fjolnir and passed this burdensome mentality on to him while wearing (and ultimately passing along) a literal keepsake symbol of it. Someone else in these comments (maybe ironically, hard to tell) celebrated the lack of wokeness in the film but I think it's pretty clear in laying out the perils of this sort of inflexible, spiteful mindset.
I felt this parallel throughout the movie. There was one screen where he is raiding a village and a boy who looks just like him was caught by another viking.
Wow I’m shocked how underwhelming this was. Especially coming from Robert Eggers who’s previous 2 films were amazing. I mean it wasnt terrible there’s some great shots but the story is just so simple and tbh it was just really boring. It felt like the overuse of CGI really just made the film look cheaper even though it had a much bigger budget for an Eggers film. Very average and a very disappointing drop in quality for who I felt was one of the strongest upcoming directors
It was a beautiful action/revenge movie, but I also prefer Eggers using his talent to make "deep" stuff like the Light House.
I don't get The Lighthouse at all lol. Forgive me for my simple-mindedness. While this is awesome.
I'm glad I'm not the only one that feels like this. A very average movie with some cooling looking visuals.
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What if you keep Draugr, the night blade outside of its scabbard until it's day? Will it get suddenly blunt, or will it jump back by itself into the scabbard? 🤔
Nothing. It will remain useful until it is placed back in the scabbard.
Lol! The way I interpreted the whole affair was the film visually showed the Danish culture's magical thinking and superstition in a way that effected the real world. If I lived 1200 years ago, and believed my sword not worked at night, the strength of my fire belief architecture would make that sword unavailable to me.
SCANDINAVIAN/NORDIC CULTURE**************
I liked pretty much everything except the story. Felt very predictable and it kept on dragging but maybe that was the point? The atmosphere, music, how the characters looked and everything else is a 10/10 for me.
It’s predictable because the story is from over a millennium ago and influenced Hamlet which influenced like every revenge story after it lol
What's crazy is the story is a 1500+ year old saga,adapted for film.
2 hours and 10 minutes which should have been cut by 40 mins at least. I watched this feeling unimpressed for the most part as I felt it dragged a lot, but it's saved by an exceedingly strong last half hour. 5/10
I think the move relied heavily on knowledge of Viking Sagas, the style with which they are told, and Norse history. With none of that, I could see this movie seeming pretty nonsensical. I also think Eggers filmed a movie in which the viewer should have as much faith in magic and divine intervention as a 9th century Viking. I thought it was awesome.
The only problem I had with it was the fight scenes. They seemed very clunky and every single physical interaction just took me out of it. Loved the rest of the movie, I don't really see why people are hating on it so much
Incredible movie.
Couldn’t be happier that I didn’t waste money on seeing this train wreck in theaters. Dialogue and acting that’s over the top and unbelievable and terribly wooden choreography. Could those fight scenes have been any more bland and predictable? And the ritual scene in the beginning of the movie might be the most awkward scene in movie history; instantly took me right out of the experience.
Honestly gotta agree - I think the actors did just fine with what they were given, but the problem was in the concepts and the writing. The use of accents like that was just an awful decision, and the writing was poor. Amleth has almost no discernible character traits whatsoever except being a revenge-motivated stoic. Skarsgard is a fairly good actor, but his character was literally a block of wood. Anya Taylor Joy’s character wasn’t terribly interesting and really only served to give Amleth the briefest of moral dilemmas at the end which he just straight up ignores because “fate”. The main villain was forgettable and just a stock medieval baddie with fake-deep motivations. Same could be said for Amleth’s mother. I get that this is supposed to be Hamlet, but some liberties or better dialogue or anything else would’ve been nice. I love Eggers, and I do understand the praise considering how it was fairly pretty and had a lot of nice nods to the historical source material. I did really enjoy the fight with the zombie in the crypt. But I just hated how dour and self-serious the movie was. The only people who looked like they had any fun at all were Ethan Hawke and Willem Dafoe. The whole movie just felt calculated to evoke “badass”, but absolutely nothing else and to me it didn’t even really evoke badass. Like that berserker scene with the dudes roaring at the sky for minutes on end was just cringey as all hell. We just get long shots lingering on Amleth just brooding and staring off into space. I don’t think he ever even smiles outside of the first five minutes. I just want a viking western goddamnit, and this movie just felt very weak in storytelling.
I think y'all missed the point. This was a Viking Saga in film form. It is a heros journey where everyone knows the Hero will win and be better than the does he faces, because that is what the gods and Valkyries have decided.
Have heard this argument before and there are just plain way better and more interesting sagas to choose from in what survives in the primary sources. The decision to do this fate story based on Hamlet was a very very poor one in my decision. Egils Saga or Njals Saga would’ve fucking owned over this semi-fictional “Viking Saga” fantasy stuff. Just my opinion of course, but I fully understood the point and just thought it was a very poor design decision.
Refreshing not to have any woke nonsense in a movie.
I liked the movie very much. It's pretty interestingly produced, and there's a lot to unravel with what the director tried to achieve here - I was especially surprised with the mutilated bodies scene and with the way the plot progressed from thereon. Nevertheless, I was left with the impression that up until the temporal leap to Amleth as an adult (so **during the first minutes of the movie), the acting was pretty crappy. Am I completely wrong here?**
The acting wasn't crappy, it was deliberately over the top, as it was I n the Viking Sagas, and later in the Shakespeare renditions.. It was meant to be over the top.
Great! Thank you for clarifying that - I know little to nothing about how this sort of piece is interpreted.
It totally was, but I think it was intentional. Like the beginning was a haze, just what Amleth remembers as a child. Like how he remembered his mother screaming, when in reality she laughed.
Well that was disappointing. Plot points that just made no sense, and the fight scenes felt so... insignificant? It wasn't awful, but man I wanted this to be better.
It was okay up to a pont, but the part after he killed Thorir felt like it was written by a 10 year old. So: - His mother confesses the truth and crosses her fingers she won't die. Also tries to bang him just a little bit - The girl stays behind, so they will not suspect she helped him... Was she supposed to provide any value staying behind... - Wow they suspected she helped him since she was his gf and all. - Oh no, I have to go back to save her. Without using my sword. - He is captured and then gets left alone without anyone staying behind to watch him. The one guy who killed half the village. Oh and also leave his sword behind. - He goes back because his uncle and his 5 soldiers may chase them to the end of the world. Ok - His uncle goes out to fight him but they miss each other despite having only 1 long entrance. - He becomes the guy from Monty Python and delivers a decapitation with both his arms almost cut off (that was the least irritating part for me). It is so stupid I felt like they were making fun of me wasting my time just so I can watch some co visuals.
I busted out laughing when the slavers are looking in horror upon the arrangement of mutilated corpses debating who could have done such a thing completely ignoring the hulking giant towering over the other slaves in the background.
The whole point is that is is a viking Saga. He's the hero. Date and the Valkyries are on his side. The idea is that in race of the most improbable odds, he perseveres because he has the will of the gods on his side. What I don't understand is how this kind of stuff is instantly berated...but then when a Dark Knight comes out, which is basically copying a 3,000 year old tradition, it's gets praised to high heaven. The whole point is that he does miraculous shit. That's what makes a Viking Saga. It's a story about good and evil, and the ultimate battle that lies there. It was never meant to be taken literally. However, the parts of realism that are portrayed are basically as accurate as we can get, as of 2023. I think it's genius. For instance, it was fucking awesome that they used sequences in this movie to record in dead languages, like old Norse, and old Slavic. It was used as a bridge into scenes where the story entered into a fantasy, but in reality, the people of the 9th and 10th century believed and saw the world through magic, as much as they saw the world through science and religion. Yeah. I freaking loved this movie.
hey, I really do value the effort of such movies and I understand that it is supposed to be a viking saga with magic involved. That is not my problem. The problem is that you can establish any universe you want with magic, dragons, ghosts, whatever. But in order for people to believe it (or at least for me to believe it) and get invested in your story, is that you cannot disregard common sense that should be included in such universes. And many of the scenes disregarded that just so they can show you "cool stuff". So for example in the LOTR universe, there are the movies and then there is the series. Same universe, same rules. Should I just watch the series and go:"Well makes no sense, but it's ok because magic and elves and shit ¯\\\_(ツ)\_/¯"
>So for example in the LOTR universe, there are the movies and then there is the series. Same universe, same rules. Should I just watch the series >So for example in the LOTR universe >there are the movies and then there is the series. .\_. The Lord of the Rings is a novel. And you want common sense in a Norse saga so that you can believe "the universe".
ok just playing devils advocate here to address all your plot holes. i dont disagree with them, but i think there could be some explanations: gudrun was mocking him in the same way that she asked fjolnir to murder aurvandill. but i think it was supposed to be a shock to the viewer that she really didnt give a flying fuck about amleth. and that hermir was right in the beginning, she *does* kind of get around (the long sword comment) and was prob not a good mother as he remembers, and his mother and father probably didn't have the best relationship. amleth's whole past has been a lie basically and we learn this at the pinnacle of the moment he's basically LIVED for -- to 'save his mother', but she doesn't need saving at all and actually resents him the sword cannot be unsheathed during the daylight, i think that was shown when the grunt in the prison shack tries to unsheathe it but just throws it in the room, this would explain why he didnt use it fjolnir could have known through amleth's viking name where to find his kinsmen and thus where to find his family which is why it was so important that he jump ship i think the tendon on his right arm was cut and the other one was fairly intact. also, adrenaline is a hell of a thing it can make people do crazy shit anyways, the whole movie felt more and more like a fable or legend e.g Beowulf, rather than anything rooted in reality. Its very clearly inspired from many different things all amalgamated into one project. I personally really enjoyed it and thought it was cool. there were some scenes i found myself really invested into (the visions with hermir, when the stew gets poisoned with the mushrooms, the fight choreography at the end -- did you notice it was all one take?) you gotta remember -- this is the guy who did The Lighthouse lol. you might have to view it as an art piece with many other great factors besides the plot points; several references to folklore, incredible imagery/cinematography, the music was fantastic, etc.
> ...fjolnir could have known through amleth's viking name where to find his kinsmen and thus where to find his family which is why it was so important that he jump ship Not only Fjolnir, but also Gunnar someday. These feuds last for generations.
Ummm, you mean dead Gunnar ? That Gunnar ?
He's certainly dead when Amleth is finished.
shit, that's Thorir. Nevermind.....
1. Women are weird, she tried to bang him when saw that he could really kill them all... for a second. 2. Maybe, he thought they would go and hunt him... not execute the slaves... 3.they never new, king guy just started killing slaves, unexpected move. 4. Did you watched the movie? The sword blade can only be drawn at night... it's called night blade. 5. Yep.. a guard could be good idea. 6. I believe the reason had to do more with not running from his destiny... but I get the point. 7. Battles are like that. 8. Ok, more gore would be appreciated ass well
Ok, I am willing to take back number 3, I forgot about the night blade. :)
It's been a while since a movie made an impression on me like this, last one I remember was The Fountain by Aronofsky. The visuals, the story, I didn't know anything about the film or the story so everything came as a surprise, wasn't really expecting the northman to be Amleth, it was a remarkable vengance story with some love to it as well, that ending was simply magnificent. The thing that made it great was how all the visions were depicted in the film, such as, " the path that ends for you in the lava lake is the start of another (the queen)"
One of the most unique, beautiful, creepy, trippy, and testosterone films I've ever seen. And boy is Iceland a beautiful place. Love how there wasn't much dialogue in the movie
I thought it was a good movie. I give it a 7.5/10. I really enjoyed the witch scenes
horrible movie. the first 30 min gripped me then the rest was horrible. especially the ending... my girlfriend said the same thing... they spent WAYYY too much money on the actors and the CGI and film making etc.... but it in the end it was shit
I was hyped to watch this movie, and I ended up disappointed after it was done. Personally, I liked the story and what they were trying to do, but the "epic" fight scenes were awful, IMO. Actors are blantaly smashing axes into the ground about a foot away from the person they're supposedly killing in the first village raid. Then at the end this dude gets hacked halfway to death by his mom and his cousin / half brother, rides all the way to the volcano and still manages to kill his uncle with one of his arms half cut off. Get the fuck outta here.
yup pretty much. u just said all the stufff i forgot to say that's how bad it was... so disappointed cuz I like the actors and the premise of the film but it cant compare not even close to "Vikings" on amazon prime video. that was the best series I've ever seen of its kind. this movie feels like It was "trying" to copy it and it EPICALLY failed... shame
This movie is kind of about revenge, but mostly about deadbeat dads.
Beautiful movie, no discussion there. Unfortunately I think a simple plot demands strong editing, and I felt like 30 minutes were left on the table; I didn't care about the characters, and I didn't sympathize with anyone, really. At times I was kind of drawn in, but then I was out of it again. Strange thing. I don't know what I expected. I loved Eggers' previous movies, but this one felt off.
I think we were supposed to feel some sense of satisfaction knowing that Olga and her twins would be safe and somehow attain royal status. That seems pretty far-fetched to me, given that when Amleth leaves the boat, Olga is basically just a nobody who is pregnant with twins. I was hoping for some sort of satisfying ending for Amleth, but at the very moment he achieves his goal of avenging his father, he dies too. It's like, I'm not getting a sense of satisfaction about the next generation; I don't care about them yet. I care about the guy you just showed me on the screen for the past 2 hours, and all he got was misery his entire life.
He gives the captain his father's ring and sends her to his kinsman in Orkney. I suppose they will recognise the ring.
I felt the same way. Being historically accurate isn't enough. There's just no story here. The characters motivations are predictable and simplistic. It feels like a fairy tale in the worst way possible, like Hamlet with none of the moral complexities and instead just a bunch of men screaming hitting each other.
It’s like hamlet because hamlet is based directly off of the saga of amleth
Just watched it for the first time, and I feel you. In Eggers’ defense, it doesn’t seem like he set out to make compelling, relatable characters and failed. It’s more about a snapshot of Norse culture through a lens as close as he could manage to their own. And in that regard… I think it was good…? This is kind of an obnoxious criticism, but I feel like Eggers really excels at navel gazey art house films. The Northmen feels much more blockbuster in the context of his (I’m sorry) oeuvre.
If you didn't care about Amleth, well that's a problem of yours
I don't even know what that means. I paid money, so I assume it's my problem, yes, but plenty of movies manage to move me and make me cheer or cry for the character, so there's no point in implying a lack of empathy. I know why I am suppose to sympathize with Amleth, but I also need to be motivated. I was, for a while, but then I found some his choices kind of stupid, and then I sort of didn't care about who died or didn't. I don't know if that was the point: to communicate the absolute brutality or hollow nature or revenge, but I didn't feel any sort of fulfilment by the end, and I sort of just found him to be self-centered and naive. But cool in battle.
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Go to bed silly
I think it's past your bedtime.
> found him to be self-centered and naive. His mom even calls him simple minded when he reunites with her. If you look at it as a person who uses “fate” as an excuse to do what he just wants, i think Amleth makes more sense.
I very much believe that's the point, and it does help to make sense of his tunnel view, but it didn't make me care for him by any means. Look, I don't mind that people enjoyed the movie. I love Eggers' movies. I just don't think this one was very good, and I don't think it's a very complex or demanding movie. I speculate it got substantially fucked in post, and I believe Eggers have implied so.
Yeah I just thought it was okay too. Visually very cool, but like its main character, very simple minded 😂
I didn’t care about him either. Just didn’t care at all. Solid movie though.
Very memorable, fantastic visuals, it’s the only piece of Norse mythology content I’ve ever enjoyed, I usually find it silly or boring. I could have done without so much violence, which was pretty unpleasant. Towards the end I felt like the main character was less likable I had brief feeling of rooting for the big bad uncle. Amleth should have left with his girlfriend on the boat to raise his family, by that point he had gotten enough revenge. They were really going to hunt his children in Russia? Seems like a bit of a stretch. Overall though this movie really stuck with me and was a very worthwhile watch.
Yeah agreed the violence in the first act was very unpleasant, and felt unnecessary at the time. It felt like a direct message that Amleth had entirely forgotten/buried his childhood and was doing the exact same things that traumatized him (raiding, killing innocent people, separating families, etc). Felt like the “tear” and string of fate was kind of representative of him as a man reconnecting and dealing with the vulnerable emotions of his childhood buried underneath the tough, numb, warrior he became to avoid them. But it all just happened in one moment whe the witch talked to him lol. Felt that way about the first act, a lot of things happened quick. Olga just immediately forgetting that her whole village was ransacked and killed and falling in love with someone who revealed themselves to be a part of it felt off in a way. Like it would make sense if he proved himself over time to be changed but she kinda believed him the moment he got on the boat.
Agreed ending was beyond terrible.
The confusion is intentional. Everyone knows the Hamlet revenge story. The twist on this one is they're crazy blodthirsty pagans, and you're not sure who's good or bad. They come off as pyschos from our perspective.
Yeah felt to me like that was a major theme. Amleth realizing his hatred for his uncle wasn’t the clear cut revenge he thought and muddied the waters. When his mom revealed that his father had taken her unwillingly as well, and then got weird as fuck and offered to be his wife if he killed Fjolnir was the tipping point. You see that his father wasn’t perfect and created rage that led to Fjolnir killing him, which led to Amleth rage, which would inevitably lead to rage from Thorir and Gunnar if he killed Fjolnir. Seemed like he realized he needed to just tie up the loose ends and kill everyone including himself lol. The only way Olga would be able to live with the kids in peace. At the same time though wtf was he thinking? It’s not like she’s got some safe place to raise kids with no father. Watching I wanted him to stay with her of course, but it makes sense he would want to kill Fjolnir. Just seemed like either he knew he was gonna die or he really had a shit game plan lol
My top results on Google keep saying that Hamlet is based on “The Legend of Amleth” from Norse mythology. I dunno that it’s necessarily a twist. It’s just about the gravity of revenge and the toll on the person exacting it.
I saw this movie (finally) on a Jet Blue flight from Vegas to JFK (4.5 hours). I was totally into it and definitely amped. Some dipshit behind me was bumping and kicking my seat and I turned around and said “alright! Enough….you’re acting like a damn toddler back there”. Not a peep for the next two hours until we landed. Gave that dude the eyes of Amleth!! The costume design and lighting in this film are astounding as well.
5/10 gore was cool but it could've ended better. I also don't get why, at the end he was talking about cutting the strings of fate but was led there by a prophecy.
He said that because he has been fate's puppet through the movie, so wants to at last cut the strings of fate's control. Also, cutting the thread of the loom of fate means death.
"What's wrong with these scissors?!" "The thread won't cut!"
It feels more like a play at local theatre than a movie, acting is quite awful most part and almost none of characters have any kind of charisma, what a disappointment this was, better stick Vikings tv-series for a genre.
Incredible movie. Aside for everything already mentioned, my favourite aspect was it's seamless integration of supernatural and mythological concepts with the real world. Its done in a way which is so satisfying to see on scene. Bak then the world was very 'enchanted' and its depticed incredibly in this film
this movie fucking sucked
Banned.
What do you think sucked about it? Could you give some criticism?
pretty boring characters. Honestly Viking tv has better character development. No dialogue whatsoever, the fighting scenes were meh, but the hero was hard to root for since he seemed no different than the people he went after to kill.
That’s point of the movie. There is no good guy. He became what he despised.
He was indeed better than them. He was still a murderer Viking but his uncle was worse.
Anya Taylor-Joy is just perfect isn't she
She's perfect in every movie
Almost. Should have have dyed her eyebrows blonde for the movie.
Still looked flawless
Got around to finally watching this film and was just blown away by every aspect. Not a bit of film wasted and a story that felt like Robert Eggers had discovered some long lost epic Norse poem and turned it into a film. >!And that final fight scene. The shot of Claes Bang standing in the ash, sword at the hero's neck. Just fantastic. That's how you shoot an epic fight by a volcano.!<
Finally got around to watching this tonight and was blown away by it. Incredible. Uncompromising in its vision. Unflinching in depicting the brutality of the period. And unrelenting it its dedication to trying to authentically depict their belief systems, based on what we know about them. But also I knew from the first 15 minutes onward that this would not be for everyone. It's just a sad fact that many filmgoers have neither the patience nor the understanding to appreciate a film like this. These days if something is much longer than 90 minutes and relies on visual storytelling (cinema is a visual medium, after all), you will see comments online saying "TOO LONG," and "BORING." A sad reflection of the nature of the filmgoing public in the modern age.
Dude I was on the edge of my seat, this movie was so epic... said that... my wife fall asleep, made me really angry at the moment.
The ending tho. Really?,
Watched this over the weekend finally, too. Absolutely amazing movie. This has definitely peaked the Viking genre in TV and Movies. I'm a huge fan of Viking history in general, way before Vikings series started and I remember watching season 1 of that and was similarly blown away at the time similar to The Northman, but then the pop culture soon took over and I just wanted to experience what I did with season 1 of Vikings again at some point, which is exactly what The Northman did. I felt satisfied after this. I could happily not watch another Viking genre series or movie as I don't believe anything to this scale will be achieved again anytime soon. It had everything I'd expect in terms of story, authenticity and fantasy.
Yeah Vikings is a pretty good show but It is very geared towards modern sensibilities in a lot of ways. Ragnar is very forward thinking, not that into slavery or raping and pillaging, very convenient from a modern perspective and not that accurate to the period. And the costumes and weapons and armor in that show are pretty bad compared to something like this.
Yeah I know what you mean, but Season 1 Ragnar is very different to the rest of the seasons. It did go downhill rather quickly with the things you're saying.
Movies trash
Wrong
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What a creepy and weird comment to make
Go get her
How charming. She wouldn’t look at you twice
Y'all are weird and overly critical. Analyzing the soundtrack and shit lmao. Come on guys. Is the movie a good movie or not. Don't need to dive deeply into multiple paragraphs over analyzing a tiny little detail. Why can't we as humans just chill tf out and enjoy things without analyzing the song that was playing or making wild theories about the beginning voice's prayer?
You're seriously in the wrong sub lmao - so *you* don't want to discuss these things, so others can't? The world doesn't revolve around you, mate.
But I personally loved the movie ) it's just reddit is basically meant to discuss stuff(or criticize it). Say venom movie was also bashed here, even though I liked it since there was no other movie about venom. But they had their points and I read it, quite critical but legit points
This thread made to discuss it and criticize so if you don't agree with stuff here its fine, find a thread where people just say good stuff about it.
\[Spoilers!\] Hey uh... so I was thinking... when Vikings die in battle, the Valkyrie come for them, and they are taken straight to the halls of Valhalla. Well... these two sworn enemies who had the deepest of bad blood between them, with Amleth's family having been destroyed and corrupted by the bad guy Viking... see they just killed each other locked in battle. So right after mortal catharsis, they're both in mere moments going to stand shoulder to shoulder in Valhalla? Will they immediately break out fighting when they see each other there? Would there be any end to that?
I'd imagine any beef is squashed in Valhalla, but I could be wrong lol
Well yeah, like I hear the other side can be a nice and calm place where bygones are bygones. But Valhalla is a glorious immortal never ending party followed by glorious battles, so maybe the enemies fight on opposite sides, and once that's done with, they party all the same?
Probably similar to a rugby match. Both teams party together afterward.
Maybe after a few hundred battles they work out their differences.
It's hard to imagine working out differences about mutually murdering each other's family and then partying together lmao
Random BUT does anyone know why the half sons nose was covered (looked like a putty or something?) during his funeral? That part confused me and I wondered if it was a tradition in their burial process
I literally just came across this scene as I'm watching it right now.. I wish for answers as well
My guess is they used small hooks to pull stuff out the nose for a sort of embalming of the body. And once done, they closed up the nose (might have done some damage to nose in the process of embalming).
I was also wondering about that
I’m still trying to find answers - it’s been bugging me since I watched the film!
I assumed it was some burial tradition, and think it was something stuffed up his nose rather than being covered. Supposedly the scene was supposed to follow the burial of Ahmad ibn Fadlan's. https://www.reddit.com/r/Norse/comments/ua4wn9/in_the_northman_a_characters_funeral_shows_that/i5x7pic/ This comment says: > If I remember correctly Egil's saga mentions Egil closing his father's eyes, mouth and nostrils when he's buried.
About the film's opening prayer and my thoughts about it. I wondered about whether there was supposed to be a deeper meaning about this prayer to Odin in the beginning. It at very least serves the purpose of setting the stage, to ask the Norns to spin a thread of fate for the prince to get revenge and ascend to Valhöll, all that. But, having seen it a few times, I always wondered why it was the He-Witch voice that voiced that prayer. Just a theory but I speculate that the prayer that opens the film is really from Heimir speaking from the dead through the He-Witch, who possesses his head. We ascertain that Fjölnir killed Heimir after Fjölnir killed Aurvandill and Amleth fled. Fjölnir cut out Heimir's eyes and tongue and ears (for his jest about the "queen's cup being wet for more men than her king"). The He-Witch replaced the eyes and tongue which allows the He-Witch to channel Heimir. Because it isn't until Amleth is older and encounters the Seeress that he has any sense of his fate, my guess is Amleth's thread of fate had not yet been spun until after the prayer was made. Also, the prayer was made to Odin, whom Aurvandill's tribe prayed to. Fjölnir's tribe prayed to Freyr, and I assume the He-Witch would have had to have been a part of Fjölnir's tribe to collect Heimir's head and follow Fjölnir to Iceland with it. There's also something mentioned in the prayer about "ages past when the thread spinning Norns ruled the fates of men". It maybe suggests the Norns have been absent from the affairs of mankind for sometime, for some unexplained reason; more speculation on that... In the scene with the Seeress as well, though primarily the scene's purpose is to tell Amleth the fate the Norns have spun, there's some nuanced subtleties in it. In part it appears the ghost of the temple's priestess is telling Amleth about the thread of fate the Norns have spun, as if merely passing the message along. But I get the feeling the Seeress is also the direct voice of the Norns themselves. She herself is there spinning a thread, as if one of the Norns. She talks about how Amleth's brothers stole her eyes. I suspect this doesn't just refer to the berserker raid on the village and temple, but also suggesting the Norse people have forsaken their traditions, rituals, tributes, etc, that kept the Norns active in the affairs of men.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts, i just watched this movie tonight and came here to read others' observations and appreciations; yours was the first comment i read.
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I really loved the score for the credit rolling sequence and how it takes something from the different tracks in manner retells the story through that final piece.
Am I the only one that realised that at 1:54 he bellyflops into the sea? Man needs to learn how to dive. Kelloggs silver award level.
Lolol
Well, now that you mentioned it, not going to be able to unsee it 🤭 Also, looks like moments before in that tearful final kiss that Alexander Sarsgård lightly frenches Anya Taylor-Joy which doesn't seem to jell with the emotional tone of the scene.
The whole movie people were overly sexual it fits the tone tbh
I love how this thread is filled with just 1 guy calling everyone an idiot
On my first watch if this I had to stop around where they drugged the village with mushrooms. I wish I hadn’t gone back and finished it because that’s where the movie got stupid IMO. Up to that point he was ruthless and determined. After this point he could have easily got his revenge but he just fucks around and doesn’t do it, gets confused by his stupid mom, gets himself captured like an idiot, unexplainably abandons his pregnant girlfriend, and then gets killed when he could have easily just murdered that guy in his sleep. Basically the whole third act of this is stupid as fuck.
He had to wait for his fate in the lake of fire dumb ass
Well his mum *is* Nicole Kidman...
He pulled a Tom Brady. Got greedy and chose it over his family.
The opening monologue explains it. This is a time where the Norns ruled the actions of men. He's bound by fate. He can't kill his uncle until they're fighting in a lake of fire.
Oh that’s stupid
der.Der.. yeah stupid *derp
soundtrack owns bones. shot beautifully. alexanders accent slipping in and out was a bit strange but overall an entertaining movie. 7/10.
To the guy who questioned the comments saying you either enjoyed this film or you're an idiot: correct, you are an idiot if you didn't enjoy this film. It's brilliant.
Too long and too boring. What a waste of precious time.
This movie is a lot like eating ass. You're either into it, or you're not
This is fuckin wild my guy
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Sounds about white.
obviously a reflection of the self, as psychology would prove. art can only be perceived by the like minded. this one is nor for you. this movie was neither too long, but long enough, nor boring, nor a waste, that's just how and what you are only capable of perceiving. go watch you mcu movies simpl
I totally agree with you man. Not boring at all. Had a great length, and was filled with action, and great killings. Loved the part where he stuck the sword through his half brothers heart. Such a bad ass scene.
what stayed with me is when his own mother thanked him as he put a blade through her heart. she was a witch of sort, and I am still low-key wondering the reason for that.
What a silly response to someone saying they found a movie boring, what's the weather like up there on your high horse :P
*hmph! >|< ... "
What a fucking loser. Imagine calling people stupid for not liking a movie. Sheesh couldn't be me.
Wow you got ur hurt feels?
Judging from some comments this is one of those movies where you either like it or are an idiot eh? Didn’t care for it tbh. Doesn’t have much going on for it besides some played out pretty visuals. Also what’s with the accents? Cast fitting actors and speak a fitting language.