Our Take
A dark Scandinavian tale, tightly woven into the mystical world that Eggers builds so masterfully. I have to admit, this is a director who surprises me more and more with every new film. Sometimes I can't even understand how he does it, but the worlds he creates pull you in so deeply that you feel less like an observer and more like a participant in his stories.
The Northman is the story of a young prince, Amleth, son of King Aurvandill, whose world collapses in a single moment when his father is betrayed and killed by his own brother, Fjölnir, and his mother, Queen Gudrún, is taken captive. The boy becomes a warrior, and as he grows, his hunger for revenge only sharpens, until all he wants is vengeance and his mother's rescue.
And all through the film, Amleth carries a vow he repeats to himself like an incantation: I will avenge you, Father. I will save you, Mother. I will kill you, Fjölnir. Three promises that carry him across his entire life. And only by the end does it become clear at what cost.
On paper the story sounds like something traditional, in the vein of Gladiator, where revenge is the engine. But Eggers manages to wrap it into a mystical legend, where every step the hero takes is not only a path toward his goal but also a way of coming to know himself. The style the film is built in may push away viewers unused to less conventional forms of imagery, but anyone who dares to trust its strange, almost hallucinatory language will come away with an experience few films can offer.
Synopsis
Prince Amleth is on the verge of becoming a man when his father is brutally murdered by his uncle, who kidnaps the boy's mother. Two decades later, Amleth is now a Viking who's on a mission to save his mother, kill his uncle and avenge his father.
Cast
