Film Review: "The Northman" (2022).

"Conquer your fate" with The Northman. This epic historical action drama film directed by Robert Eggers, written by Eggers and Sjón and based on the legend of Amleth. The film follows a young Viking prince on his quest to avenge his father’s murder.

Alexander Skarsgård has been fascinated with Viking history and mythology since childhood, and has long sought a Viking-themed project with producer Lars Knudsen. In 2011, he was attached to a Warner Bros. epic with the working title The Vanguard, which ultimately did not materialize. Following a 2016 trip to Iceland with his wife, who is a fan of Nordic sagas, Eggers became interested in making a Viking film. During the trip Eggers met Björk, who in turn introduced Eggers to Sjón. In 2017, Skarsgård met Eggers to discuss future projects, but the discussion quickly turned to a Viking Age‐themed film. Eggers subsequently reached out to Sjón and the two began researching and pen the script. Eggers described the film as Andrei Rublev (1966) meets Conan the Barbarian (1982). Archaeologist Neil Price at Uppsala University, folklorist Terry Gunnell at the University of Iceland and Viking historian Jóhanna Friðriksdóttir served as historical consultants on the film. In October 2019, the film was officially announced. By August 2020, Alexander Skarsgård, Nicole Kidman, Claes Bang, Anya Taylor-Joy, Ethan Hawke, Björk, Willem Dafoe, Bill Skarsgård, Kate Dickie, Ian Whyte, and Ralph Ineson were cast. However, In September 2020, Bill Skarsgård announced he had dropped out of the film due to scheduling conflicts and was replaced with Gustav Lindh. At the same time, principal photography commenced and wrapped in December. Filming took place throughout Northern Ireland. Filming was originally set to begin in March 2020, but it was halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The actors were already present on set and rehearsing before the production shut down. This setback, however, had some advantages: the delay allowed the already constructed sets to weather realistically, and the Viking beards of several actors could grow out even longer in the meanwhile. The film was originally scheduled for an April 8, 2022 release date, but was later pushed back to April 22, 2022. Due to this being his first big studio film, it was the first time that Eggers didn't have final cut, but it was "a risk that [he] was willing to take". In a New York Times interview, Eggers, who was used to some small suggestions from investors on his smaller movies The Witch (2015) and The Lighthouse (2019), admitted that he experienced heavy pressure from New Regency studio during post-production, based on feedback from test audiences who had trouble understanding the movie.

When it comes to the great performances and characterisations in viking cinema, it doesn't get much better than this.

Skarsgård stars in this mythical beast of a movie, based on the legend of Amleth. He's good as the titular prince hellbent on revenge, and the film is technically splendid, especially in the first long one-take battle sequence.

Simon says The Northman receives:

Also, see my review for The Lighthouse.