There isn’t an ounce of subtlety in The Northman.
There isn’t a battle that isn’t dripping in cruelty, a gender role that isn’t strict and unbearable, a plot point that isn’t vocalized and explained, an emotion that isn’t gutteral.
Edgers has taken the story of Hamlet (moved the H to the end) and boiled it down to its most simplistic ideas. And it feels like in that he has lost all the nuance and beauty, the mystery. Instead he focuses on the rage, pulling necessary story points out of thin air when it suits him, and focusing on shock value over story telling. Until he reaching his climax which boils down to two bloody, naked (yet penisless???) men pounding each other with swords wordlessly, only grunting as they finish each other off.
There just wasn’t enough here to keep me engaged. The ideas were simplistic, the story cheating when developing character or plot points would bog it down. I could never feel anything for what I was watching. And for a film that didn’t take the time to tell story points in an organic way, it sure was long.
This kind of myth making feels cheep, feels presumptive, like we’re supposed to be on board with it already and if we’re not, the film doesn’t make the effort to make it authentic. It like blood and betrayal are supposed to be enough. But for me that’s not what Hamlet is about and certainly not what makes it endlessly fascinating. The Northman felt like it took all that I wanted from a story, threw it out, and just gave me more and more of what I found the least engaging.
The Northman
Starring: Alexander Skarsgård, Nicole Kidman, Anya Taylor-Joy, Ethan Hawke, Willem Dafoe, Claes Bang, Björk, Gustov Lindh, Kate Dickie, Ralph Ineson
Director: Robert Eggers
Writers: Sjón, Robert Eggers
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