The Northman (Robert Eggers)

Sad Professor · 20-12-2021 3:13pm #1

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=oMSdFM12hOw&feature=youtu.be

Viking revenge flick from the director of The Witch and The Lighthouse. Due out in April (if cinemas are still open here).

speedboatchase · 20-12-2021 3:24pm

Looks stunning

pixelburp · 20-12-2021 5:43pm

Looks amazing as I'd expect something from Eggers would do, but at this point I'm kinda done with Hollywood actors "doing an accent". I fully understand the pragmatic reasons why it happens, but it still disappoints. Especially when ... uh, some actors look more distractingly "contemporaneous" than others.

pjcb · 20-12-2021 5:46pm

Vikings. Seen it.

Slydice · 20-12-2021 10:13pm

Jaykers! 😲 Alexander Skarsgård looks like a beast charging through the village in that one scene!

silverharp · 21-12-2021 9:58am

looks great

JP Liz V1 · 22-12-2021 3:01am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118353794#Comment_118353794

Eric Northman Returns

Slydice · 22-12-2021 11:26pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118359348#Comment_118359348

I was totally wondering if Godric might make an appearance!

No sign on his (Allan Hyde) imdb though: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2956731/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUEzcaaYLtM

Shred · 28-12-2021 1:52am

This looks great, it feels like a cross between Skyrim (the music at least) and Assassins Creed Valhalla (thematically,

specifically its beginning).

I'll most certainly be catching this one on the big screen (Covid permitting)!

ShaneU · 01-01-2022 2:08am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118380524#Comment_118380524

Story looks almost exactly like Valhalla to me

fitz · 01-01-2022 12:14pm

A touch of Conan the Barbarian about this too. I'll watch Skarsgard in anything, tbh, and this d looks like good medival fun.

p to the e · 12-04-2022 11:11am

I just watched the trailer and am I mad or is this not just "Conan the Barbarian" with more style?

Wombatman · 12-04-2022 11:17am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118399629#Comment_118399629

Christ, the start is almost scene for scene Conan the Barbarian from the trailer.

Shred · 14-04-2022 7:52pm

The reviews seem pretty positive for this from what I’ve seen, I won’t get to see it until next Tuesday but can’t wait!

johnny_ultimate · 15-04-2022 9:40am

A very impressive achievement, this! It has certainly been a while since a relatively big budget film has dared to be quite so eccentric and full-on.

It’s an interesting contrast with The Green Knight. I think that was an arthouse film in the guise of an historical epic, but this is very much a big old action film in the guise of an arthouse film. By that I mean Eggers has made a film that very much looks like an Eggers film - it has a very particular look, is full of visual flights of fancy (the film liberally dips into mythology for some of its more striking asides), and even has one or two big old farts ala The Lighthouse. The man really enjoys flatulence, it must be said! But at the same time it’s a relatively straightforward and familiar revenge movie (based on Hamlet) at its core, just told with uncommon conviction. It should all be very silly, but Eggers plays it all with a mostly straight face, and it works to the film’s benefit. The film has one of the most absurd, dialled up to 11 final fight scenes I’ve ever seen in a film, and yet it does feel of a piece with the strange, raw and intense film that preceded it. Skarsgaard is 100% locked in to it all, and fair bloody dues to the man!

Anyway, it’s violent, it’s dark, and it never really lets up for its running time with its roaring soundtrack and unusual cinematography. It’s exactly the type of ‘Viking revenge film’ you’d expect from the director of The Witch and The Lighthouse, and for him to have made this film that somehow crosses his idiosyncratic sensibilities with big-budget genre storytelling is a pretty impressive feat!

gmisk · 15-04-2022 1:32pm

Saw this morning at a fairly busy screening.

Thoroughly enjoyable, kind of what I was expecting given Eggers past films. Epic (for good and bad) well worth seeking out in the cinema, doubt it would have same impact at home, MVP for me was Claes Bang, but everyone pretty solid despite the hodge podge of accents.

All a bit predictable and simple storytelling wise I thought but hey.

I did like how it left the supernatural stuff very much ambiguous...they could have been tripping balls for want of a better word most of the time!

silliussoddius · 15-04-2022 5:41pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118929839#Comment_118929839

To be pedantic, isn't Hamlet based on the Norse myth that this is based on? From what you say and from other reviews it looks like he has struck a decent balance between mainstream and arty. Without trying to sound pretentious, but how do you think it will go with mainstream cinema goers? it would be nice to see big budgets being given to directors who bring something different (I'm reminded of Mark Kermode saying that Batman Begins was jus a huge budget art house film).

johnny_ultimate · 15-04-2022 6:14pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118931680#Comment_118931680

You are entirely correct re: Hamlet / Amleth!

TBH I find it hard to know how it’ll go over with wide audiences, but I think it has a fair shot at winning over lots of viewers. It’ll likely be a bit too eccentric for some, but I think the historical action / revenge film at its centre will be widely appealing. I hope it does well! It has a much better chance than The Green Knight of having big crossover popularity, but it also has the benefit of the support of a major studio.

santana75 · 16-04-2022 9:32pm

Saw it early and I found it to be a slog, not an easy watch. It's very violent, unnecessarily so I think. Alexander skarsgard is juiced to the gills, he's got the steroid traps going on. He's totally committed though so can't fault his performance. Ditto for anna Taylor joy, she's very good. Lots of lads shouting at each other with wild bulging eyes, plenty of blood and guts but all in all just not very Interesting.

Wombatman · 17-04-2022 12:01am

Disappointing.

Visually great although some of the CGI looked a bit cheap. Fight scene at the end was stunning to the eye, brilliantly shot and choreographed. Performances excellent apart from Kidman who seemed to be phoning it in a little.

All for naught though. Story is junk with cardboard cutout characters you feel nothing for. Speaking Norse one minute and English the next. Horses, boats and clothes appearing out of nowhere. Maybe I'm missing the meaning of some mythological metaphoric symbolism but I don't really care.

5/10

ThePott · 17-04-2022 11:06am

Saw it last night and liked it more than I loved it.

It's definitely Egger's most accessible film but still has some of his hallmarks. Like stark contrasts of black and white, some off-kilter cinematography at times and a mix of some lowbrow humour with some highbrow dialogue. I think the comparisons to Green Knight are apt, I thought the same felt like Green Knight, Midsommar and Thor mixed in a blender, although that might be a trite comparison.

I would say it's probably my least favourite of his films to date. The plot and even 'twists' were very straightforward and predictable. It's a revenge plot, that's how it starts and that's how it ends. I think the problem with revenge films is that if there's not many added wrinkles to them, they can become a bit drawn out, I felt that here to a certain degree. I did think it was a gorgeous looking film as to be expected and the booming score was excellent. I did find the handling of the fantastical/mystical elements interesting, not always embracing them and at times showing them as false, it rarely went all in on magical elements which I was fine with. In some regards there was a few mythological elements that felt a bit crammed in or out of place as much as they provided good visuals.

There were things I didn't like necessarily. Firstly the accents, they were all over the place. It didn't detract from the film but it did seem like few had a consistent accent. Some sounded like they were Irish, others English and some tried their best Swedish chef. I thought the performances by and large were good, I thought Alexander Skarsgard did an admirable enough job, often in some of the quieter scenes. I do think the uncle was excellent as was Ethan Hawke. I do feel like Eggers wasn't as invested in this world as he has been in his previous ones. What I loved about the Witch and the Lighthouse was the richness of the dialogue and the mythology surrounding them. Maybe it was because so much of Norse mythology is already known to the public but it felt like there was less depth to the world as a result. The dialogue in the Lighthouse for example felt layer and you could dig into it to find more about mariner's and legends about the sea, here I felt that was not the case. The dialogue was good overall, Hawke's monologue comes to mind but I do think it was a bit more straightforward than his previous works. Which makes sense as this is a far bigger film for him, I'm shocked a studio threw this much money at what will likely be a divisive film. I did think the final scene was a bit underwhelming and muddy looking for my liking. From the audience I saw it with I got the sense that it left them wanting more.

On the whole I felt ironically the same about this as I did about Green Knight. I liked the movie but I wanted to love it. It's definitely the closest Egger's has come to making a mainstream film but it's certainly not that. It straddles the line meaning I'm not sure anyone will be fully happy with the end result. I felt a lot of befuddlement from the crowd I watched it with. It's a bit overlong and a bit overwrought for what it in essence a very simple story that wants to pretend it isn't but it's still a very good film with a lot of artistry behind it that is definitely worth seeing and supporting if you want more 'mainstream' adult blockbusters.

18-04-2022 8:13am

His worst to date. Thought it was overly long and I didn't care about anyone by the end. Thought Anna was decent but the rest meh.

muloc · 19-04-2022 3:00pm

Very disappointing. Thought it was muck.

buried · 19-04-2022 8:56pm

Thought it was absolutely brilliant. Definitely Eggers most mainstream output to date, the first 20 minutes had some nice semblance of the weirdness you would be expecting from him, but then it does transcend into a bunch of other film motif's and themes that we have all seen elsewhere countless times before in mainstream outputs, but was still very very enjoyable. The tracking shots that go from side to side and veer into other directions were very cool. The scene with the funeral in the boat was brilliantly done. I thought it was class, everybody did a great job.

titan18 · 19-04-2022 10:56pm

I liked it. A few walked out during the screening I was at and looking at the expressions after, I'd say a lot weren't impressed.

But then I think those people likely didn't know what they were getting and were probably expecting something like The Vikings.

Homelander · 22-04-2022 2:22pm

I liked it a lot. It wasn't actually as out-there as I expected to be honest, I expected a little more "fever dream" energy from Eggers but the core movie is fairly conventional and well-done at that.

I could understand why people, if they were expecting The Last Kingdom or Vikings, would've been left a bit cold. It is a solid movie though, good performances, lovely aesthetic and pacing, and a genuinely excellent score.

The story is undeniably simple on one level, but I think that ceases to matter when it's handled with such finesse and attention to detail, and pushed by a mostly excellent cast.

It's also not just about revenge nor is it about good and bad, it's more a tale of a man finding himself and a window into a way of life, but I won't go too much into it for those who haven't seen it.

I think the cast was mostly very good; there's something off about Nicole Kidman in the role for me personally. Not that she's bad - I'd actually say she's perfectly good, but I just couldn't warm to her in that particular role the way I could with say, Stellan Skarsgard as the titular Northman.

I don't think Skarsgard is a particularly good actor but he has great physicality and presence in this movie to be fair, it works well. Claes Bang and Anya Taylor Joy were particularly great; everyone else at worst was perfectly competent, can't fault the cast.

I don't at all agree that it's comparable to The Green Knight. I thought that movie was OK; but it's absolutely an art-house experience through and through. The Northman isn't that at all. Someone said it perfectly above - it's a conventional movie with a veneer of art-house, basically, rather than the opposite.

I genuinely thought it was excellent. A very finely crafted slice of historical mythical thrills wrapped around a simple enough premise, a good balance is struck between being relatively accessible for mainstream, whilst offering more to fans of films that are slightly off-centre.

I think it has to be commended that the studio committed to the project. I'm glad to have seen it in the cinema and it's one of the few movies I will probably pick up on Blu-Ray as well just to support it.

Spon Farmer · 24-04-2022 10:13pm

I saw this earlier today.

I was expecting violent battles and axe fights mixed with weird and surreal imagery of some sort as the young Prince grows and gathers a band of warriors to retake his kingdom. The father’s murderer was even obvious from the start.

However, the story had a few twists and turns that stopped it being predictable.!I really like that about it but also I couldn’t just relax and go with it and I was constantly trying to image what was next.

Thinking back over though - it is a great film with great performances and it looks fantastic is every way.

Lefty2Guns · 29-04-2022 8:37am

I seen it last night. Overall I enjoyed it, would recommend going the cinema to watch it as it added to the overall experience that I don't think you would take from the film if you watched it at home.

I didn't read up on the film before I went so went in kind of blind and not knowing what to expect.

Positives, the action scenes and some of the cinematography of the shots.

Negatives, the accents. At times it sounded like have the cast where speaking with Irish accents. Also one or two of the CGI scenes were border line terrible. Also, I felt some of the non-relevant scenes in the film dragged and I didn't think they were needed.

Thelonious Monk · 03-05-2022 8:22pm

I loved it. The only Irish accents I heard were on slaves so they were prob nabbed out of some coastal town in Antrim or something. Loved the final scene. It was all just so weird and it took me a while to buy into it but once I did it was a unique cinema experience for me.

Wrongway1985 · 09-05-2022 1:52am

I quite liked it rather than loved it myself but there's no doubt about it Eggers is a very interesting filmmaker. I wasn't too keen on The Lighthouse but it was one of those films that stuck with me, he has a knack for an experience seemingly rather than a cut and dry.

Admittedly The Green Knight did pop through my head as a comparison whilst it was unfolding but also agree this isn't that, The guy who was literally "The Green Knight" (Ralph Ineson) did show up on the boat escorting them though funnily enough, Kate Dickie happened to also be in both films (and both in 'The Witch' with Anya too).

The pillaging the Village scenes and the camera movements thereof were super...like an actual great video game adaptation that never was in one sense.

flasher0030 · 10-05-2022 2:00pm

Just a quick question on this - are there subtitles for some parts. I think I can stream it, but from a site which generally does not show the subtitles. So wouldn't get the same enjoyment if not knowing what they are saying for some parts. I saw a reference in one of the posts about speaking in Norse.

shootermacg · 10-05-2022 2:24pm

It was a unique experience more than it was a great movie. Overall, I'm glad I watched it.

Lefty2Guns · 10-05-2022 2:41pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119041018#Comment_119041018

Yes. Sub-titles in some parts. Not a lot though.

ThePott · 10-05-2022 5:06pm

The film will be on-demand from Friday not sure if that is strictly for the US or internationally in general but just a heads up for those who might prefer to check it out at home.

Roxxers · 12-05-2022 7:31pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118946678#Comment_118946678

like wise

pixelburp · 14-05-2022 2:26pm

I was surprised when during the big volcanic finale, Amleth declared, "it's over Fjölnir, I have the high ground!" 🤡

Definitely Eggers weakest film for me, but not without a brutal, animalistic charm that separated it from being an entirely mainstream creature. This was a Norse tale with zero deference to modern social or narrative niceties; muddy and bloody, with violence codified within the very DNA of this world. While the (apparent) cultural authenticity only further emphasised just how little removed from savagery the period was: a time of men, naked and spattered with ritual blood, roaring wildly like wolves as they tripped out on mushrooms.

The story was boilerplate to a fault but I don't think this was a flaw in hindsight. A simple narrative structure was the wiser choice when its surrounding aesthetics were this alienating and raw. The mythological interstitials added a little ambiguity within the story, leaving it to the viewer to decide if this really was a world of gods, or if it was simply that everyone's default state was being high as a kite.

Snake Plisken · 15-05-2022 12:55am

Epic Movie. My favourite of Robert Eggers 3 movies. It was a brutal time to live as shown when they invade the village. Skarsgård is great as is Claws Bang and Taylor-Joy. Reminds me a bit to The Green Knight which I also loved. Yet it won't be for everyone friend of mine messaged me that he gave up after an hour as he found it boring. For me a solid 8 out of 10.

Btw fair play for the studios that backed it probably won't make it's money back

pixelburp · 15-05-2022 6:42am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119064793#Comment_119064793

I didn't enjoy it as much as you but 100% on the last sentiment. It's quite astonishing to watch something this raw and adult, looking this epic and getting a wide release, in 2020+ Hollywood.

Unfortunately it has only made $52 million from its reported budget of $90 million. So a definite flop - unless more territories are due to open.

Apparently the "Iceland" section on the farmstead was filmed in Northern Ireland and those grass houses legitimately grown, from native Icelandic grass n all.

Snake Plisken · 15-05-2022 9:37am

@pixelburp I am going to do my bit and buy it on 4K Blu-Ray when it comes out as I think it's important supporting studios willing to take this much of a risk saying that it probably won't happen again.

Yes I was looking at the farmstead thinking to myself that it looked very much like Ireland.

I look forward to see what Robert Eggers does next.

ThePott · 15-05-2022 10:16am

It was an absolutely insane decision to greenlight this with that budget, shocked that it happened but as grateful as I am for it, it's definitely going to be a film the studios point to when it comes to why there aren't as many high budget films for adults anymore.

pixelburp · 15-05-2022 10:40am

It has enjoyed critical praise so I'd not count it out just yet. This was extremely bloody, savage stuff and the bus adverts claiming this a Viking Gladiator was an extremely incorrect pitch. I would say word of mouth did damage to those just looking for a brain-off crowd pleaser. Many would have been turned off by the movie, easily.

ThePott · 15-05-2022 11:04am

I don't think they knew how else to market it. I mean they got what they paid for a Robert Eggers film through and through and while critics and cinephiles love it, general audiences not so much. Even this one probably has the least critical praise of all his films. It might find an audience eventually but I think studios will be very hesitant with giving period films for an adult audience this much of a budget for a while, The Last Duel helped that argument too. I'm honestly surprised it has made as much as it has, it could have been much worse.

16-05-2022 6:44am

Watching the first half hour of this was like a 2022 Nordic Conan the Barbarian. I think it was the director paying homage to the original movie as there was almost a dozen scenes and perhaps double that amount of nods to the Stone/Milius film.

*Spoiler Alert* Right from the beginning the narrator almost started with ...'in an age undreamed of when the oceans drank Atlantis.." The boy even looked like the boy from all those years ago, what happened to the father, the way his uncle appeared at the scene in the mask, the head chopped off, the destruction of the village, the mountain of power, the Tree of Woe, the snake turning into a rope, the blonde/Valeria.... riding through the countryside together, the walking with neck manacles as a slave, the male witch had the same props as the Conan wizard, I could go on and on, it was quite remarkable how close it was to that film.

The first half hour to an hour aside though was as long as it kept my interest as a brilliant piece of work compared to Conan. The story lost its charm and intrigue after a while, and had none of the epic draw of Conan. It meandered a bit and retreated to a tiny almost worthless revenge plot. The lead became too stiff and his character shrank rapidly instead of growing, becoming this suddenly inflexible mound of old rock compared to the marauding ferocious man he was earlier, it was like he aged 30 years in the span of a year in the movie. The whole thing lacked a soundtrack to really bring it onwards, all well and good having your typical viking era music but then you compare it to the opera Poledouris wrote for Conan which elevated that movie to magnificent heights during the battle scenes, and really gave every scene its own character. The Northman didn't have this making it repetitive with the same sounds, and in the end it was dull predicable battle scenes to finish it off. I really didn't care anymore in the last 15 minutes it became run of the mill of any writer that runs out of steam and finishes it off with a fight scene that we have all seen in any action film ever made....serious yawn time after 3 hours.

Overall what gripped my attention in the beginning had lost it completely by the end. His Uncle was a sheep farmer for Gods sake, he could have strolled out of his hut and killed him the first night. Two additional hours to find out Nicole Kidman was a **** and to have a sword fight with his Uncle. What a waste of a great start.

speedboatchase · 16-05-2022 1:35pm

This is available as a 'premium rental' now.

Fandymo · 16-05-2022 1:49pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119065452#Comment_119065452

100%. I saw it reviewed as "Gladiator for this generation". I've seen Gladiator, and this is no Gladiator.

Thought it was awful.

Snake Plisken · 18-05-2022 9:32am

Glad to see it doing well in VOD it should make it's money back hopefully

https://www.joblo.com/the-northman-vod-sales/

pixelburp · 18-05-2022 9:46am

Wouldn't be the first cinema flop to make waves in its home release; pity there's no reliable way to aggregate that data within something like boxofficemojo or whatnot; get a fairer reflection of any given movie's success.

Good to see this get a lease of life in VOD though, hopefully Eggers vets some reward for a larger project.

monkeyactive · 18-05-2022 4:14pm

*SPOILER ALERT *I enjoyed the northman , I liked all the shamanic madness stuff but I felt that once the movie closed into that small sheep farm that it became claustrophobic and that it shrunk back from something that seemed to be going Epic and became more run of the mill. Still great though.

The Continental Op · 19-05-2022 1:21pm

I found it slow, quite boring and unbelievable.

Not a bad film to watch but nothing that should make it past 6 on imdb.

cheezums · 30-07-2022 11:27pm

Can't believe all the great reviews this got. I thought it was dogshit. I actually laughed out loud at some of the lines in it. Lead actor has the personality of a paper bag, no presence whatsoever.

If people want to see this kind of thing done well, check out valhalla rising.

Slydice · 14-08-2022 11:49pm

Finally got round to watching this.

Worked for me though I was surprised at how much more fantasical elements were in it than I'd been expecting from what I remembered of the trailers.

Definitely felt like this had influences from a bunch of other works. Like Conan the Barbarian for example or around the end even Star Wars Episode III Revenge of the Sith.

Reminded me of the feel of the 1981 version of Clash of the Titans for some reason. Something about the feel of the journey.

I'd probably be recommending it on the basis of it being a fantastical film more than a gritty Viking film.

The Northman (Robert Eggers)

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