The Northman - We Need More Movies Like This

The Northman wasn't exactly the movie I was expecting, but it turned out to be the movie I needed. Join me as I review this excellent historical epic from director Robert Eggers.

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[PriestlyBlock]

I like how eggers made NO attempts of ever trying to make any of these characters relatable, instead he forces you into a journey to understand their mindset

[lilrosetattoo]

As soon as the "professional" critics criticized it for "toxic masculinity" I put it on my "To be watched in theatres" list.

[James_F_Ewart]

The Northman is the only movie this year where you’ll see two Vikings battle it out, butt-ass naked, while surrounded by lava.

[MasterIceyy]

Yes, this is the most historically accurate depiction of Norse culture ever put to film and was designed to be that way, the director actually changed the film slightly multiple times to accommodate what the historical expert was telling him

[bobmalibaliyahmarley]

This movie is actually based on real Scandinavian history/folklore, which also later became the template inspiration behind William Shakespeare's Hamlet.

[NickNapoli]

A movie that tells a good story, has great characters and respects the lore/history…sign me up.

[deusex]

There's a making of video where Willem Dafoe comments about how Eggers approached The Northman with the same level of detail as The Lighthouse despite it being a profoundly larger production. Eggers himself comments on how the production crew had to basically ignore everything about viking culture in popular culture, films, TV shows, etc, and instead look at museums because he didn't want stuff that looked 'cool', he wanted stuff that looked as authentic as possible with the budget he had.

Also the score and sound design for this is phenomenal, it's a rare example of a 'cinematic film', something that is definitely best experienced in a cinema where you can feel the bass rumbling around you.

[chewiewookthevindicator]

Spot on!! But you didn’t even mention William Dafoe’s short but creepy-awesome performance!

[lakobause]

What I love about Eggers' work isn't just how he captures the look of historical times, but the mindset. People didn't just talk and dress differently back then, they THOUGHT differently. Their values and morals weren't just different, but utterly alien to anything we'd recognize today. People inhabited worlds that were smaller, more dangerous, and more incomprehensible than the ones we inhabit today. Things that we explain with modern science were back then rationalized as the work of spirits and gods that were temperamental and lurking behind everything.

[paulrippcord]

My favorite thing about this movie is that they didn’t try to add heroic traits to Amleth, he was out for vengeance and butchers countless people to get it. The tragedy is he’s a giant Viking Berserker made out of nuclear hot rage who only knows his anger and even when he has the opportunity to live in relative peace he can’t give up his vengeance.

[nightwishfan]

Just saw the Northman with a friend and this was my first Robert Eggers movie. My buddy that I saw it with is a huge fan. I wasn't sure about this movie but I got sucked in immediately. This is the first movie in a while where I was fully immersed. Even the weirder elements felt real. At no point was I pulled out of the movie or even feel like I was "watching" a movie. Instead I felt fully immersed in this world and when the screen went black I looked at my friend saying "that was awesome!". We need more movies like this.

[holyshades]

I remembered watching this in the cinema it was such a satisfying cinema experience. The volcano fight at the end was so memorable, dark, brutal and nihilistic. Two men who took everything from each other killing one another with nothing but death as an empty prize.

[BDC_Loot_Goblin]

Ethan Hawke is a woefully under appreciated actor. Has massively improved with age

[Osric]

When his "go away now" sounds like a friendly uncle encouraging the kids to go outside and play, you know this movie is good

[muhammadshahmeerqureshi]

The lighthouse was a masterpiece. The northman is Robert eggers going bigger and more ambitious with his style. Good to know people are appreciating movies like this

[Vykandar]

That part where he catches the spear and throws it back, has got to be one of the most primal things I've ever watched on film. You really felt like you were watching barbarians attack a town. It was also a trick that real vikings would do in order to gain prestige

[tomdillon]

A movie that "just wants to tell a good story"? Heresy! On a happier note, I finally got my Critical Drinker Plushie. It's perfect.

[petriew]

Eggers is one of those increasingly rare directors who fully understands that movie making is VISUAL story telling. A lot of 'The Northman' is simply immersive world building, time taken to transport you back in time so you can lose yourself in the setting. It's not really critically important to moving the plot, but it makes the movie better than the sum of it's parts, so it's also not wasted time. It was the same with 'the lighthouse', which wasn't an overly complicated plot but the look and tone of the movie helped give the plot impact.

Many other directors these days from the the 'JJ school' of packing everything single minute of screen times with just stuff going on as if they're afraid 30 seconds of just admiring the scenery is enough for the entire audience to up and leave, which leads to ever more convoluted plots or actual wasted time as characters do nothing of any importance just to provide white noise

There is nothing wrong with minimalism, or retreading age old ideas in interesting ways. There are very few original stories left to tell, and the really good storytellers are the ones who know the devil is in the details.... not the quantity. A simple story told well will stand the test of time, and movies like 'The Northman' will be remembered long after most of it's contemporaries are simply forgotten.

[sebastiansilverfox]

Years ago, my dad took me to see the movie Gladiator in the theater. To this day, it is one of my favorite films as well as one of my favorite movie-going experiences.
Hearing all the positive feedback, I decided to invite my dad to go see the film as his birthday is coming up. He rarely sees movies anymore but if the Northman is as good as people say, it will be a good film with a great memory attached.

[jakedajuggernaught]

The scenes with the Valkyrie are some of the most beautiful/artistic scenes I have ever seen in any movie and they make the mythological character believable as an immortal deity-like being without being over the top, I really loved this movie.