Jonathan Livoff

I really enjoyed this film, I have also enjoyed reading other peoples critique of it. There is a lot that can be said about this film.. I read Hamlet the play in my youth and was awed at the depth of the dialouge and the story. Hamlet was an excellent derrivative interpretation of the Amleth saga which I have not read and this film is (In my understanding) another derrivative of the same source material. Where as Hamlet is a very philosophical perhaps even nihlistic take on the source material. The Northman is a more spirtual rendition of the same source material. Albeit a spirtual journey that is unfamliar to many people in todays Monotheistic cosmogony. I read the exact opposite view in another review that the Northman is a nihlistic interpretation of Hamlet lol. I want to just argue against that point briefly: in the old nordic beliefs that are somewhat accurately depicted in the film, the fate of people/men ( and women) is controlled by 'Nornorna' who weave the threads of life ( typically unevenly) for each person. So the film is showing the spirtual mindset of someone with a purpose who is fated to do something i.e having a meaning in their life which is the opposite of nihlism. This and many other subtle points of spirtual and historical accuracy of that period, which are not presented like an education documentary, rather the film almost assumes one has some understanding of old norse religion before going in to the cinema. I can imagine this may ailenate some viewers totally. Also if you are expecting a film like, Thor god of thunder or the hit tv show Vikings or the last kingdom this will not be like what you expect! This film is not a film that overemphasises the comparatively advanced societies and legal systems of the nordic tribes of that time. It rather drops you into a totally violent tribal era and shows the horrors of that time without trying to justify the time period. Which feels rather honest in a way. Now I am almost tempted to give the film 4/5 because there were some moments that felt somewhat drawn out and predictable however the film actually did have enough twists and turns to somehow challenge the narrative direction I pressumed it was going in. So yeah in summary best Viking film I have seen this year!