The Northman is a retelling of the Amleth story from Danish historian Saxo Grammaticus.\u00a0 This is the story that forms the basis of Shakespeare\u2019s play Hamlet.<\/p>\n
(Spoiler Alert \u2013 Skip down to last paragraph to avoid spoilers and read recommendation)<\/strong><\/p>\n The story begins when Amleth is an adolescent.\u00a0 His father King Aurvandill (played unrecognizably by Ethan Hawke) has just returned from a Viking raid.\u00a0 He was wounded badly and tells his Queen Gudr\u00fan (played by Nicole Kidman) that he\u2019s decided it\u2019s time to initiate Amleth into the rituals associated with being king.\u00a0 The father and son participate in a rite that involves them howling like wolves and lapping food off a plate on the floor of an underground temple.\u00a0 During the ceremony Amleth has a vision of the chain of life from generation to generation and he swears to avenge any attack on his family.<\/p>\n Immediately afterward, his father is set upon and murdered by his bastard half-brother Fj\u00f6lnir and his followers.\u00a0 Amleth barely escapes with his life but as he rows away from his island home, he swears to revenge his father and rescue his mother who has been seized by his uncle.\u00a0 He swears to kill Fj\u00f6lnir.<\/p>\n Next, we see Amleth years later.\u00a0 He\u2019s a grown man who has become a berserker who participates in Viking raids for some chieftain.\u00a0 He is fierce beyond the bounds of his comrades and he cuts through his enemies like a knife through butter.\u00a0 While involved in the sack of a Slav settlement he meets a priestess in the local temple and learns that his fate is still determined by the vengeance he has sworn against his uncle.\u00a0 She tells him that his fate is to kill Fj\u00f6lnir surrounded by a lake of fire.<\/p>\n Back in Scandinavia he learns that his uncle was dispossessed of his island kingdom by the King of Denmark.\u00a0 Fj\u00f6lnir has fled to Iceland and is now a petty chieftain with just a few retainers and using a small slave force to raise sheep.\u00a0 Amleth decides to disguise himself as a slave and work on Fj\u00f6lnir\u2019s farm in order to have his revenge and free his mother.\u00a0 During his voyage to Iceland, he meets a Slav prisoner named Olga to whom he is attracted.\u00a0 The two slaves form a bond and when Amleth manages to rise in the slave ranks to foreman Olga is given to him as his woman.\u00a0 The two plot Amleth\u2019s revenge and their escape.<\/p>\n Now Amleth meets another seer who tells him the details of his fate.\u00a0 He must go to the gates of Hel and there recover the magical sword Draugr.\u00a0 Accomplishing this feat, he prepares his revenge.\u00a0 Under cover of darkness, he kills some of Fj\u00f6lnir\u2019s men and nails their bodies to a cabin wall.\u00a0 Using a drug that Olga prepares for him he poisons the garrison and they become confused and slay each other during the night.\u00a0 While this is going on Amleth goes to Fj\u00f6lnir\u2019s house to kill him but instead meets Gudr\u00fan.\u00a0 He reveals his identity and tells her he is there to kill Fj\u00f6lnir and free her.\u00a0 But she laughs and tells him that she planned his father\u2019s murder because she was a slave and never loved Aurvandill.\u00a0 Amleth is horrified and kills Fj\u00f6lnir\u2019s son Thorir and cuts out his heart.<\/p>\n Fj\u00f6lnir threatens to kill Olga and Amleth exchanges himself for her.\u00a0 While Fj\u00f6lnir performs his son\u2019s funeral Amleth is freed from his captivity by ravens (Odin\u2019s messengers).\u00a0 Then Olga carries him away on a horse to the coast.\u00a0 There he finds out that she is pregnant with his children (twins).\u00a0 They plan to escape to the Orkneys where Amleth has kin.\u00a0 They embark on a ship but as they\u2019re sailing away Amleth has a vision of his fate.\u00a0 He knows that Olga will give birth to his son and daughter who will carry on his line.\u00a0 But he knows that his fate is to fulfill his oath.\u00a0 He jumps from the ship and swims back to shore.<\/p>\n Amleth kills the retainers and sets the slaves free to burn down the farm.\u00a0 He heads for Fj\u00f6lnir\u2019s house but finds Gudr\u00fan.\u00a0 He does not intend to kill her but she attacks him with a sword and finally he stabs her.\u00a0 Then her young son attacks Amleth with a knife and finally Amleth kills him.\u00a0 At this point Fj\u00f6lnir arrives and tells Amleth to meet him at the Gates of Hel to settle things.\u00a0 Then he carries away his wife and son for burial.<\/p>\n Badly wounded by the wounds he\u2019s already gotten Amleth fights Fj\u00f6lnir amid the flowing lava of the volcano.\u00a0 As Amleth is weakening he gathers his strength for one last flurry.\u00a0 As Fj\u00f6lnir buries his blade in Amleth\u2019s chest he beheads his uncle.\u00a0 And as Amleth is dying he has a vision of Olga telling him that his children are safe and to relax into his fate.\u00a0 He does so and we see him carried by a Valkyrie to Valhalla.<\/p>\n Wow.\u00a0 That\u2019s a lot.\u00a0 Okay, so this is an unusual movie.\u00a0 It\u2019s a mixed bag.\u00a0 The intent is to recreate the frame of reference of a Viking prince of the ninth century.\u00a0 In some ways this seems successful.\u00a0 But as a movie the dramatic content is difficult for a modern audience to accept.\u00a0 Seeing a man and a boy howling like wolves seems bizarre, almost silly.\u00a0 But I can see how this might be a way to convey the berserker mindset.\u00a0 The fighting scenes are well done.\u00a0 Despite the unusual content of the plot, I thought the main characters were very well acted.\u00a0 But I had a hard time empathizing with any of the characters.\u00a0 Their worldview was so far from my reality that I just couldn\u2019t believe in it. This being said I enjoyed the movie.\u00a0 It was grim and bizarre but I saw what they were trying to do and I enjoyed the experience of trying to believe in that frame of reference.\u00a0 I can\u2019t recommend this movie to anyone who doesn\u2019t think this description is interesting.\u00a0 It\u2019s not a normal movie.\u00a0 Probably people interested in Viking history are the primary audience.\u00a0 Your milage may vary.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Northman is a retelling of the Amleth story from Danish historian Saxo Grammaticus.\u00a0 This is the story that forms the basis of Shakespeare\u2019s play<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[239,237],"tags":[3752,887,43,3751,38,1355,3750],"class_list":["post-20580","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-movie-reviews","category-reviews","tag-european-history","tag-hamlet","tag-movie-review","tag-nicole-kidman","tag-review","tag-reviews","tag-viking"],"yoast_head":"\n