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WARNING! THIS EPISODE CONTAINS FULL SPOILERS FOR THE NORTHMAN! (2022) WARNING!
This week, Kyle and Trevor review Robert Eggers', The Northman (2022)!
Eggers' third feature following the modestly budgeted The Witch (2015) and The Lighthouse (2019), The Northman serves as the director's first foray into the realm of large budget/large scale filmmaking.
While the difference in production scale is immediately noticeable from frame one, The Northman nevertheless bears many of the core traits of Egger's oeuvre, most notably a perpetually grim and nihilistic atmosphere cast upon actors and set dressings that seem directly pulled from a bygone era rather than recruited from Central Casting.
Despite an action heavy marketing campaign, in actuality The Northman pulls double duty as both a bombastic and mythic tale of violent revenge, as well as a beautiful and detailed rendering of a place and time.
While quite successful in conveying these pillars of it's presentation, it's aesthetics and elemental, visceral thrills, The Northman's true depth comes from it slyly pulling triple duty in the form of quietly, and scornfully condemning the violence and sensibilities of the world it so lovingly recreates for it's viewers.
In contrast to a films such as Zack Snyder and Frank Miller's, 300 (2006), The Northman eschews veneration or glamorization of the culture and time it depicts, in favor of starkly and earnestly recreating the intricacies of said culture, and allowing its brutality and absurdity to be eked out by discerning viewers.
Adapted from the Nordic tale of Amleth, The Northman can be read straightforwardly as both a Conan the Barbarian (1982) esque revenge epic, complete with a “triumphant” ending (from a certain point of view), as well as a curious dissection of said tale, occasionally outright judging, but always questioning the sanctity of the beliefs and culture of it's denizens.
The Northman was, for this reviewer anyway, a puzzle that vexed more than delighted over the course of it's 137 minute run time, however after the fact, with time to ponder, and opportunity to discuss, one that proved to be quite satisfying in spite of it's insolvable nature.
Perhaps too busy or layered for it's own good, possessed of innumerable quirks and riddles in it's presentation that may never be fully explained, The Northman revels in the savagery and philosophies of a more brutal era, while never fully abandoning the perspective and sensibilities of it's 2022 lensing.
A challenging film that likely doesn't care how you feel about it, so long as you think about it, The Northman is, in spite of its poor audience ratings and even poorer box office returns, a fine offering from Robert Eggers, more than worthy of his growing filmography of “The” films.
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