Fire And Ice – Eggers Explores An Old Norse Revenge Tale with Mixed Results in ‘The Northman’

Fire And Ice – Eggers Explores An Old Norse Revenge Tale with Mixed Results in ‘The Northman’

By Lynn Venhaus
For all its relentless fury and fire, “The Northman” has a remote iciness that hampers emotional investment in the Shakespearean heroes and villains.

That said, its vast medieval-era storytelling is stunning in its vivid and realistic presentation and sets in motion a bloody, savage revenge tale.

A terrified boy sees his father slaughtered, his mother kidnapped, and his tribe decimated. To escape from death, he runs for his life, and his future path is set by trauma – horrible violence and emotional pain.

The young prince repeats this phrase over and over, first as he escapes: “I will avenge you, Father! I will save you, Mother! I will kill you, Fjölnir!”

It’s a simple plot, really, but like his other two immersive historical films “The Witch” (2016) and “The Lighthouse” (2019), director Robert Eggers takes a long time getting to where he wants to go.

The ambitious and singular Eggers, known for his visionary aesthetic and meticulous historical details, has wrapped this gruesome adventure with dark Norse mythology and mystical elements.

Set in the 10th century Iron Age in Scandinavia, this brutal testosterone-fueled exercise  honors Nordic rituals and customs in a painstaking, sometimes surreal, way. Don’t expect inaccurate horned helmets or any out-of-sync aspect.

The Icelandic and Northern Ireland landscapes are a portrait of an emerging agrarian civilization whose marauding barbarians have their own laws and behaviors. Those seafaring Vikings were in their land-taking phase then.

Those familiar with Vikings’ television programs, and such grand-scale movies as “Gladiator,” “Braveheart” and even “Conan the Barbarian,” will understand the power struggles and the tribal need to conquer.

The Nordic characters are faithfully portrayed in the blood-and-guts action, with intense swordplay and more than a few beheadings. With such characters as Finnr the Nose-Stub and Hersveinn the Battle-Hard, you can imagine the chest-thumping and loud growls.

Women, naturally, are marginal characters, but in Eggers’ screenplay, co-written by Scandinavian author Sjon, Queen Gudrun (Nicole Kidman) is given a hefty character arc. Unfortunately, ethereal Anna Taylor-Joy as slave Olga of the Birch Forest needed more to do – but does display a fierceness.

Singer-actress Bjork shows up in one scene as a seeress, who reminds Amleth of his destiny.

Similarities to “Hamlet” are obvious. After all, he was the Prince of Denmark — whose father was killed by his uncle who married his mother. But was Shakespeare inspired by Amleth’s odyssey, not vice versa? Hmmm.

The strange, trippy quality is enhanced through Jarin Blaschke’s atmospheric cinematography, Craig Lathrop’s impeccable production design and a propulsive musical score from Robin Carolan and Sebastian Gainsborough. Those drumbeats are ominous.

Blaschke, who has worked on all Eggers’ films and was Oscar-nominated for “The Lighthouse,” frames the starkness brilliantly, often working with candles and fire. So has Lathrop, whose primitive design was influenced by historical consultants, including archeologists and literary scholars.

The plot doesn’t offer much complexity, and although there is an interesting twist revealed about two-thirds of the way, most of the characters don’t have enough passion to engage. They can be admired for their mental and physical toughness but keep us at a distance.

The once lively little boy (well-played by an all-in Oscar Novak) has turned into a sour, dour and buff he-man who is so singularly focused he can’t fully enjoy the love of a good woman.

The likable Alexander Skarsgard is physically fit for the role, with his lanky physique, and has taken on blockbuster roles in “Kong vs. Godzilla” and “The Legend of Tarzan” before without making a mark. This fearless beast starts at 11 and has nowhere to go in ferocity.

However, Skarsgard has previously demonstrated he is best-suited for dramatic turns in independent films and prestige television – the suave guy with some simmering issues (Racist husband in “Passing,” jilted groom in “Melancholia”). He first gained notice as the Viking vampire Eric Northman on HBO’s “True Blood” (2008) and later won an Emmy as the menacing, abusive husband of Nicole Kidman in “Big Little Lies” (2017).

Interesting that he and Kidman team up again, only she plays his damsel-in-distress mother here. Kidman gives the film’s best performance.

In typical wacky Willem Dafoe fashion, “The Lighthouse” star is Heimr the Fool. Ethan Hawke is impactful in his brief role as King Aurvandil War-Raven.

Things tend to get weird if Eggers is in charge, and he likes to explore evil forces’ effect on ordinary lives, how it messes with fate. With a bigger budget and broader in scope, “The Northman” delivers as a spectacle but falls a little short of its lofty goals.

The gripping action scenes of the first chapter give way to repetitive combat in the final ones, and even though the big showdown is one primal scream, by then the narrative has lost steam.

“The Northman” is not for the faint of heart. It’s a difficult challenge to meld artistic vision with blunt-force action, and the rage is never harnessed. For all the modern talk about toxic masculinity, this is an early example, and therefore, hard to watch in 21st century times.

But as a period piece, its sheer weight is enormous, and deserves to be explored.

“The Northman” is a 2022 action, adventure, drama directed by Robert Eggers and stars Alexander Sarsgaard, Nicole Kidman, Claes Bang, Anya Taylor-Joy, Willem Dafoe, Ethan Hawke, Bjork and Oscar Novak. It is rated R for strong bloody violence, some sexual content and nudity and runs 2 hours, 20 minutes. It opens in theaters April 22. Lynn’s Grade: B.

‘The Northman’: Savagely Violent, Captivating, Yet Underwhelming

‘The Northman’: Savagely Violent, Captivating, Yet Underwhelming

By Alex McPherson
A snarling, fever-dream rampage of vengeance, director Robert Eggers’ “The Northman” can’t match its stunning attention to detail with an emotionally satisfying narrative.

Set during the Dark Ages, Eggers’ third feature is based on the text that inspired William Shakespeare’s “Hamlet.” In the fictional kingdom of Hrafnsey, King Aurvandil (Ethan Hawke) returns home from a long voyage and ordains his son, Amleth (first played by Oscar Novak, then Alexander Skarsgârd), to become the tribe’s future ruler in an elaborate ritual featuring crawling on all fours, farting, levitating, and Aurvandil’s innards morphing into a magical family tree.

Soon after, tragedy strikes. Amleth’s cold-hearted uncle Fjölnir (a menacing yet layered Claes Bang) assassinates Aurvandil, wreaks havoc on the populace, and kidnaps Amleth’s mother, Queen Gudrún (Nicole Kidman). Young Amleth escapes via boat by the skin of his teeth, vowing to get revenge, restore honor to his family, and fulfill his destiny.

Decades later, Amleth has become a ruthless killing machine, raiding nearby villages with a band of like-minded berserkers. After torching a barn full of townspeople, a feather-laden seeress (Björk) reminds Amleth to rejoin the path to slay Fjölnir. Amleth then disguises himself as a Slavic slave en route to Iceland, to the farm where his uncle eventually fled.

Along the way, he meets another slave, the alluring Olga (Anya Taylor-Joy), who presents a different path to take — if he has the will to recognize the power of love amid chaos.

Ultimately, “The Northman” shines less in terms of thematic depth or provocative characterization than it does in Eggers’ pure, balls-to-the-wall style. If nothing else, the film viscerally immerses us into a specific time and place, where heinous violence is an accepted way of life, and strict traditions dictate one’s future.

Indeed, Eggers throws viewers into an unfamiliar land of rugged vistas and simple-minded cruelty. Amleth’s mentality seems out of his control, forced upon him by what society expects, leaving little room for personal agency and boundless space for blood-letting. 

There’s definitely merit in how “The Northman” unapologetically depicts its Icelandic setting and Viking cultural customs, visualizing the characters’ psychedelic visions in blunt, matter-of-fact fashion that doesn’t seem sanitized or toned-down for general audiences. Like his previous features, “The Witch” and “The Lighthouse,” Eggers depicts the mystical as co-existing with the ordinary, feeding into the characters’ archaic attitudes.

Bizarre rituals underscore their sense of “honor,” but also the traditions they are unable to break away from. The cinematography and editing emphasizes a mystifying and off-kilter world of gods and spirits they’ve devoted themselves to. 

During several extended action sequences, enhanced by Vessel and Robin Carolan’s pulse–pounding score, “The Northman” opts for long-takes, which break that spell, illustrating the grueling nature of combat and encouraging us to judge Amleth as he becomes a beast before our eyes.

The spectacle is enthralling, for a while, as the utter intensity of Eggers’ filmmaking allows us to feel like we’re right in the muck along with him.

The initial adrenaline-fueled carnage becomes repetitive in the film’s latter half, though, where the previously expansive action is restricted to one primary location, and Amleth’s single-mindedness devolves further into grotesque, blackly comic delusion that’s even harder to care about. 

Sadly, despite its spectacular style, “The Northman” doesn’t do enough to peel back the layers of Amleth’s damaged psyche. It follows a fairly standard revenge narrative, even resembling a video game at some points as Amleth receives instructions to “go here, get this item, and kill the bad guys.”

Moments of quiet reflection are few and far between, as Amleth — often saddled with clunky dialogue — goes about his murderous ways. His transformation from an innocent young man into a hardened killing machine is abruptly glossed over, as are the moments between the slaughtering where he starts to question his actions. He essentially remains a broken husk for much of the runtime, unable/unwilling to be vulnerable or consider the risks his acts of violence entail for those he cares about.

Skarsgärd does what he can with the material, roaring with gusto, but Amleth’s arc checks off archetypal plot beats without actually saying anything new about the price of revenge. Similarly, the ever-talented Taylor-Joy is given a simplistic love interest role that mainly serves to check off bullet-points on the way to an inevitable conclusion. The standout performer is Kidman, who lends Queen Gudrún an unpredictably unhinged quality that keeps viewers on their toes.

When the last drop of blood is spilled, “The Northman” lacks the heart and soul necessary to ascend into legend, but there’s enough achingly well–crafted filmmaking on display to declare it an honorable effort.

“The Northman” is a 2022 period action-adventure directed by Robert Eggers and starring Alexander Skarsgard, Anna Taylor-Joy, Nicole Kidman, Claes Bang, Ethan Hawke and Willem Dafoe. It is rated R for strong bloody violence, some sexual content and nudity and runs 2 hours, 20 minutes. It is playing in theaters April 22. Alex’s grade: B

‘The Last Vermeer’ Offers Art, History Lesson with a Robust Guy Pearce

‘The Last Vermeer’ Offers Art, History Lesson with a Robust Guy Pearce

By Lynn Venhaus

War criminal or war hero? Man of mystery artist and art dealer Han van Meegeren became a man of infamy after World War II. But his true story has been mostly forgotten until “The Last Vermeer,” which recounts this notorious case in a melodramatic and twisty narrative.

The time is 1945 and the place is Holland. The found painting is “Christ and the Adulteress” by Dutch Master Johannes Vermeer of the 17th century baroque period.

van Meegeren (Guy Pearce) is suspected of selling stolen Dutch art treasures to Hermann Goering and other upper echelon Nazis during World War II. Now that the war is over, Joseph Piller (Claes Bang), a Dutch Jew, becomes an investigator assigned to identify and redistribute the paintings. Van Meegeren is accused of collaboration, which is a crime punishable by death. Piller and his assistant (Vicky Krieps) are convinced he’s innocent – despite mounting evidence – and will fight to save his life.


The procedural screenplay, written by Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby, is based on an adaptation of Jonathan Lopez’s, “The Man Who Made Vermeers,” and gets considerable mileage from Guy Pearce as the flamboyant van Meegeren.

The role gives theb Australian actor plenty of scenery to chew, for the art dealer was a smooth operator. After the Germans occupied the Netherlands, he threw lavish parties and showed no signs of a moral compass.

Pearce, who disappears into every role he’s in, from “L.A. Confidential” and “Memento” to “Priscilla, Queen of the Desert” and “Iron Man 3,” digs in and is quite saucy about the secrets he’s hiding.  

All that hedonism rubs stoic soldier Joseph Piller the wrong way, although he’s not above resorting to shenanigans to keep the government stooges out of his way. As colorful as van Meegeren is, Piller is lacking in flavor. Bang, so good in “The Square” and “The Burnt Orange Heresy,” both movies dealing with art, is rather dull and stiff here.

The women characters are underserved and the supporting cast plays standard characters all in service to the story, which leads us to a climactic court scene full of fireworks. Van Meegeren’s argument is that he defrauded the Nazis, no collaboration.

The movie’s a tad clumsy under the first-time direction by Dan Friedkin but redeems itself in the final third.

With “The Last Vermeer,” there seems to be an endless stream of World War II characters whose story is enough to build a film around, like “Resistance” earlier this year.

The film’s courtroom drama outshines its thriller elements. It serves a purpose as both a history lesson and an art tutorial.

“The Last Vermeer” is a drama, directed by Dan Friedkin and stars Guy Pearce, Claes Bang and Vicky Krieps.
Rated R for some language, violence and nudity, the run-time is 1 hr. 58 minutes. Lynn’s Grade:: B-. The film opened in theatres on Nov. 20,

Stylish, smart ‘The Burnt Orange Heresy’ Is a Juicy Art World Mystery

Stylish, smart ‘The Burnt Orange Heresy’ Is a Juicy Art World Mystery

By Lynn Venhaus
A juicy neo-noir thriller, “The Burnt Orange Heresy” has a lush backdrop, a steamy love affair and a fascinating setting in the international art world.

James Figueras (Claes Bang), a charming and ambitious art critic, spends his days in Milan lecturing tourists about art history. It’s an easy way to make a buck and he is quite good at it. He is invited to the estate of wealthy art dealer Joseph Cassidy (Mick Jagger) and brings along new love interest Berenice Hollis (Elizabeth Debicki), an American on holiday. Also living on the property near Lake Como is reclusive artist Jerome Debney (Donald Sutherland). 

As James has fallen from grace, a shot at redemption is appealing – and provides a financial opportunity. But is this scheme worth it? Turns out, everyone has secrets! As a web of intrigue gets more tangled, we learn more about the four people who are integral to this story.

Based on Charles Willeford’s 1971 novel, the film has much to recommend. The script is adapted by Scott B. Smith, whose book-turned-into-film “A Simple Plan” followed a similar pattern of a too-good-to-be-true scheme that goes horribly awry. 

We’re in Milan as the story begins with witty banter between smart and attractive people — and sparks soon fly between Claes Bang and Elizabeth Debecki. 

Once we arrive at the luxurious northern Italian villa owned by the rich and roguish Joseph Cassidy, there is a palpable air of mystery. What fate awaits?

Man of the house Mick Jagger, who is only in two scenes, makes the most of his mischievous international wheeler-dealer. With a twinkle in his eye and hints at danger, he’s fun to watch. 

So is Donald Sutherland as a reclusive aging artist. Debney’s reputation rises and falls, a sign of art’s hard-to-interpret and sometimes fickle nature. Director Giuseppe Capotondi shows both the sophistication and the pretensions of the art world.

This is Capotondi’s first English-language feature after the intriguing “The Double Hour” in 2009, and he is good at setting up symbols and clever with details. With cinematographer David Ungaro and production designer Totoi Santoro, they give us breathtaking panoramas and an opulent estate. Composer Craig Armstrong’s score enhances the ‘something’s afoot’ tone.

Bang, who made the art satire “The Square” a few years ago, and Debecki, good in “Widows,” have terrific chemistry from the start. Her small-town teacher character is more enigmatic than he is, and the men are all captivated by her. 

That is why the third act, which some find problematic, worked for me. It may stretch logic a tad, but all film noir has delicious zigs and zags. 

As a luscious summer escape, sink into a gorgeous place with pretty people and signs of temptation everywhere – where will it lead? Follow the twists and turns, and you will be rewarded.


“The Burnt Orange Heresy” is a thriller directed by Giuseppe Capotondi, starring Claes Bang, Elizabeth Debecki, Mick Jagger and Donald Sutherland. It is Rated R for some sexual content/nudity, language, drug use and violence. Run-time is: 99 min.
Lynn’s Grade: A-
Video on Demand and Select Theatres This film closed the Venice Film Festival last fall and is now available on demand and is playing in select theaters, including the Hi-Pointe Theatre, as of Aug. 7.