The Northman Honest Review (some spoilers)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 27 ก.ย. 2024
- Well, I did it!
It's late, it involved upload speeds of one mbps (that isn't broadband, guys, come on), but here's the review of The Northman at last! Directed by Robert Eggers and starring Alexander Skarsgard, Anya Taylor-Joy, Willem afoe, Nicole Kidman and Claes Bang, it's been touted and hailed as the most accurate depiction of the Norse and the Viking age in cinema history.
But is it as good as everyone says?
And is it as 100% accurate as some people have claimed?
Join me as we have a look at some of the best and worst parts of this definitely epic movie, and have a good old chat about some of the teeny tiny props and costume details that you may have missed, or that made the film for you!
Also I say "leather speedos" a lot. Enjoy that.
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I liked this review, but I have one big quibble: Chopping up Olga's motivation to "child rearing" is really disingenuous. Her motivation throughout the film is primarily vengeance against her enslavers. Over the course of the story she and Amleth fall in love, and by the end her character values escaping with their lives over simple vengeance, but that's a totally reasonable change of heart. Yes its revealed by the end that she's pregnant, but that hardly changes her valuing her own life and Amleth's over killing Fjolnir. If anything her being pregnant ends up affecting Amleth more than her since its what makes him decide to fulfil his oath of vengeance, since he expects Fjolnir to come after his children.
Which he probably would. Son for a son and everything if he even heard a whiff of the name amleth
@@johnathankorkie4984 I agree.
No Xena warrior princesses is one of the best aspects. The women are feminine and so feminine things. Just like they were depicted in medieval source material.
Well said.
By the way, wasnt Amleth one of her enslavers and murderer of the people in her village? Or do we just forget about that? Oh, okay then.
"You have two wolves inside you, both of them howl and wear leather speedos" is a hilarious and spot-on sentence.
I don't think I'm going to see this, but this video is an excellent summary of both why I might want to and why I actually don't. :-)
Nearly choked on my tea when he said that😅
LOL, I had to stop and mop up my spilled tea at that point :)
I was, thankfully, not drinking anything. :-)
I knowwww 🤣🤣🤣
I had to pause the video at this point because I was laughing so hard 😂
In fairness, there is some historical evidence for leather helmets, though not by Vikings. In the right context, they are fine.
Admittedly, that context is "the character is flying a biplane in the early 20th Century", but still...
Or playing american football, or riding in early tdf
@@jakubfabisiak9810 - I recall my old high school line coach saying, "when I was in school, we'd fold up our helmets and put them in our pocket" more than once.
That makes me feel old now, too.
The chinese of the same period of the movie had them afaik. In fact they still wear them to this day passed down for generation among the Nuosu of Sichuan.
I'm also guessing his helm is meant to be Light in order to be worn frequently to hide his nose if im guessing what the director might have meant.
Yeah leather helmets were veey widespread in Europe by the 14th century. Now, does that mean that we have any sources on leather or hide helms in the viking age, no.
But, i would be 0%suprised if we found one in Hedeby.
My understanding (from a Robert Eggars interview) is that he really wanted some of the warriors to be entirely naked but had to settle for the "speedos"...
Sad
And possibly a bit un-nordic 😋
I don't know about you but if I'm all armoured up with a long pointy thing in my hand ,all I'll be thinking about the naked guys running towards me is "easiest fight ever"
*stab stab stab stab*
Thats is just silly, nothing wrong with a few naked man running around.
@@muurrarium9460 Have you ever run naked? It isn't comfortable. Things squish.
The scene with the blacksmiths shop was awesome, literally was mesmerized by the amount of tools he had.
Oh I forgot the smith!
“inside you there are two wolves; they both howl and wear leather speedos” made me actually laugh out loud in the airport!
You must be a wizard because as I scrolled down to your comment he immediately said that quote! 😯
Did you _howl_ with laughter
Let’s be honest with ourselves, ANY skaarsgard brother in a leather speedo makes for a decent movie. There are many many forms of human beauty, masculine/feminine and lots of nifty mixtures of both and damn it if one of my favorite ones is a skarsgaard brother in a leather Speedo.
Especially when they look this hench lol
To me it's all about Dafoe pulling Da Foe out
@@withnail-and-i Hahahahahaha, da foe was quite a sight indeed!
Yes, the visual is enjoyable...
One of my *favorite* visual details was that the male priest wearing the oval brooches usually only seen on women's clothing. I felt like it was a great visual callback to the almost throw away line about not seeking to know women's magic, yet here's a man who did so and is wearing brooches traditionally worn by women. I thought it was such a clever way to visually tell the story if you know what to look for!
I did also really appreciate that while yes, Amleth has personal stakes in taking vengeance, it was emphasised that he is first and foremost bound by moral duty to slay his father's killers. And that is why he has to kill all of them, even his little brother, because otherwise the blood feud might get visited on his unborn children. It really goes out of its way to convey that part of the sagas. I thought that was neat.
To be fair, he wasn't planning on killing his mother or his little brother. He had to kill them because they attacked him, and he very clearly felt remorse for having done it.
@@littlesnowflakepunk855 And his mother thanked him for slaying her. Maybe because he released her from her torment.
The comparison between Skarsgaard and Bjornsson’s physical appearance is especially good because they actually fight each other in the Northman. Bjornsson is the huge guy dominating the game they are playing in Iceland
What I really liked was how people talked and how their mindset was presented. I'm not a historian, but it feels very authentic to me and really emphasizes the difference to modern people. I am really fed up with historical or fantasy shows where simple farmer boys have conversations like they had a modern secular high-school education. In the Northman, the mysticism was really the foundation of how they understood and conceptualize the world. Remote farmers/slaves were shown as simple people. It's so refreshing.
That the characters don’t parrot woke platitudes is a definite plus for this movie.
@@albertito77 shut up you're not saying anything
I think they would have had more of a sense of humor
Hey, Gabriel :D
@@Kick0a0cat wtf where can you see my name?
One little detail in the movie that could have been done better, as pointed out by Dr. Jackson Crawford is the runic inscription on the magic sword in the mound. The runes on the sword say 'Draugr' but they say it in Elder Futhark runes, which were no longer in use by the early 10th century. The barrow-dweller was probably buried there a couple hundred years before the movie takes place, so in Elder Futhark times, but the language would also have been different. Instead, you would expect the inscription to read 'Draugaz', which was the word in Proto Norse back when the Elder Futhark was used.
Nitpicking of the first water! Huzzah!
Agree, but if you really, really want it to fit, there was a period after the language began to change but before the futhark were shortened where you get an early form of old Norse in a transitional form of elder futhark. There's also one or two elder futhark inscriptions in old Norse where the carver appears to be showing off and/or using the archaic runes to obscure or riddle the text.
That the nitpicks are this precise make me like the film more tbh haha, way better than the "no they didn't use leather segmentata" type nitpicks that are common to period movies/shows
You're absolutely right! It would actually have been a neat little detail if, since it is a magic sword, the carver is using older runes to riddle the inscription! However, I think in the case of this movie they simply didn't pay attention enough to the language aspect of the inscription. The mound-dweller's helmet is clearly Vendel Age, and very similar to helmets from the 6th and 7th centuries found in Scandinavia, so we can clearly tell that he has been buried there for hundreds of years by the time the movie is set. So well within the Elder Futhark and Proto Norse period.
Wow, that would be some epic detail!
The film is more accurate than most portrayals in Hollywood but despite that its not 100%. Its based on legends and has lots of creative freedoms taken. Doesn't make it a bad film. Just means its a film and more like grim Viking fantasy vs say a documentary on the history of Norse cultures
I think a lot of love for this movie about the As-Accurate-As-Big-Budget-Movies-Allow depictions of the Old Norse culture and costuming should be attributed to Dr. Johanna Katrín Friðriksdóttir, as she was a main consultant to the film. From her interview with Dr. Jackson Crawford, it seems like she really pushed for as much authenticity as she could.
Exactly. The next most accurate period piece is The 13th Warrior 🤣
I will add from an ecological perspective I do have to nitpick Iceland a bit, as during that time, it was a lot more covered in forest. I understand why they may have not known that, or chose to ignore that detail, but it would have been nice, even as a small background thing, to see the deforestation of Iceland occurring, as that was one of the primary industries going on in the region, timber harvesting.
I was wondering where the wood came from for their village lol
It's so satisfaying for me that finally we got a movie that represents "well" the norse culture. Of course that's still a movie thus It won't be fair for us to don't expect odd things within It. But I think Is a step forward.
Im not even norse im american but have studied the norse (amateurly) for my whole life and noticed they paid great attention to detail. I especially like how they portrayed the berserkers and their rituals before battle, the indoctrination process, and even fighting in the nude were all accurate to what i had read. Skarrsgard was perfect for this movie! Question is who is a cooler viking alex skars as tamleth or gustaf skars (brother) as vikings floki?
@@mercilessforever What do you mean your not “norse.” There’s no such thing as being American besides the Natives. Most white people in America are from Scandinavia and the UK.
@@georgefreemon2935 What? I'll say I'm of Nordic/English descent or that I have Nordic/English ancestors, but I'm not going to say there's no such thing as an American when I was born in America. Pretty sure even the natives would look at you a bit funny for that assertion.
@@moralityisnotsubjective5 I didn’t say there was no Americans idiot. I said the Natives are the only Americans. He said “I’m not Norse, I’m American” which I’m assuming he’s white, but if he’s actually an American than that’s my fault and I will accept that.
Me and my girlfriend saw the movie yesterday.
As you said, the material culture (clothes, weapons, props) were excellent, loved that!
A small detail I also loved was in the very beginning when King Ethan Hawke arrives and the people hail him, you hear someone say "Ringgiver!" That was a really nice detail!
And when I saw the Draugr's ringpommeled sword and boar helmet, I squee:d in nerdjoy :-) (loving the similar scene in Conan the Barbarian, this was really really nice!)
My main quip was with the valkyrie. Yes, I understand kind of what they wanted to do, with an over the top dream:ish sequence, but her attire just felt like anachronistic Wagner opera to me.
For my girlfriend, biologists as she is, she noted that they changed the horses, sometimes they were proper islandic horses but at other times they were not. So she could tell when they were filming on Iceland and when they were shooting elsewhere, pretending to be at Iceland.
Also, when cutting the head of a horse, they cut way too low, too close to the chest. They would more likely cut higher up, closer to the head (where the neck is thinner and has less meat and muscle to cut through). See, noticing things like that is why we are together :-)
this almost feels like when marvel fans react to easter eggs in the movies. i like the idea of adding tiny historical details to make easter eggs for history buffs
I think the Valkyrie outfit was deliberately more over the top as a way of depicting how otherworldly she is.
Possibly also that it was a complete hallucination on Amleth's part. I think a filmmaker is allowed a little creative license when depicting a character's hallucination of a mythological creature. For instance depicting an someone having a dream of an angel could go many different ways.
The costuming was absolutely stunning, but historic accuracy be darned. Alexander Skarsgård in leather briefs was definitely the best bit of consuming in The Northman.
"Doesn't this objectify me?" Yes, Alexander. Puttemonn.
I would think leather speedos would be de rigueur, considering the kinds of activities they were involved in, in those days, just like cowboys and chaps! This was an important film because of the historical artifacts that were replicated, the revisiting of the story of Hamlet but also, the efforts in bringing to light more aspects of the culture of the Vikings that some of us aren't as aware of. Can someone confirm if this happened during pre-Christian Viking era? I can't imagine all the cult of the occult and in particular, the rite of passage ceremony being allowed by the Church, once you adhere to christianity.
@@ninaroy5574 thank you for putting in words a train of thought when Jimmy mentioned all the blood sacrifice . That was the old me. I've seen ( and been affected by years of battle scenes etc) At animal sacrifices; horses!! ✋
I had a good chuckle watching Nicole Kidman have literally no idea what to do with the tablet weaving she was sat in front of, and also that she didn’t seem to have anything to use as the weft which would definitely make working on that hard to do….I’m sure she had an amusing actor moment realizing she didn’t know what to do but had to look like she did and also say her lines.
I saw that and while I don't weave I thought something looked off. I said to my sister in law: I don't think she has any idea what to do with that weaving set up. " lol.
Director to Kidman…. ‘ Nicole, please come away from the fire’
Nicole, ‘why’?
Director’ your face has melted onto to your left boob darling’.
I was actually quite put off by that, given I was looking specifically for that scene after getting a heads up. I'd have thought, knowing they had a professional tablet weaver providing some of the materials, that they'd have given Nicole a lesson. I don't know, maybe the shuttle got lost....*eyeroll*
Incredible review :) love to see someone get as excited as I do about the textiles! My nit pick though, and apologies if it’s been said already (Tiny detail!):
When we see the tablet weaving occurring she turns the tablets without passing the weft through the shed, there doesn’t actually appear to be a shuttle or a weft thread so she’s essentially just twisting cards aimlessly 😅
True.. she didn't pass any weft. Still I find it amazing she worked on an Oseberg loom. That's exciting to spot such details :)
And how many takes a consideration.
I noticed that too. Still, it was, at least, nice to see some sort of attempt.
I was excited to see the tablet weaving but in now way expected Nicole Kidman to have learned it for the role 😀
@Alicja Mega I was excited to see the setup for the loom, I was amused to see the "weaving". Imagine the worth of a trim woven by Nicole Kidman on the set of a film 😀
I loved the historically accurate costumes and buildings. I liked the fact that they depicted the religion and culture in a somewhat accurate way. But there were scenes I just could not watch. I was squirming in my seat so much. The draugr scene was my favorite, though, and I’m really glad they had him defeat it in the proper way according to legend.
For me it was when the Northmen put all of the children and old people, and pretty much everyone but the young women they were going to rape in that house and burned them to death. That was just too brutal.
"Put the head in the butt!"
Re. the leather speedos: in an interview Eggers said he wanted them to be naked, but was somehow prohibited by regulation. (Which surprises me, because I thought nudity was allowed in R rated movies. The Northman as it is could be PG-13 as far as I can tell.) But it was a censorship compromise.
I agree that Amleth scaling the wall, and then floating down the other side on wires, was not realistic.
You're saying Ibn Fadlan's observations about the Rus do not reflect on vikings?
My biggest complaint about the film is the crudely computer-animated fox. I wouldn't cut out half the violence, since violence is a big part of the sagas, and embedded in the definition of "viking"--Norse pirate.
I feel that there‘s still a difference between female and male nudity on screen, where displaying a completely naked woman is ok but if it‘s a guy it‘s a reason for pearls to be clutched.
Saying that his observations should not be taken as observations on Vikings or the Old Norse. The Rus were distinct and heavily Khazarised and Slavic by that point
@@anska7475 Theatrical releases must have a different set of standards than Netflix then. Because (unfortunately) we are shown Jack Randall's dick in Outlander.
Isn't it too gruesome for a PG-13?
@ IDK where the line is. But PG-13 movies usually have scores of people getting killed. And blood. And decapitation (the Other Boleyn Girl).
"Nobody in this film is likable"
Amleth and Olga are.
I watched this in the theater with a couple SCA people, we went in garb and had a grand old time!
I really felt like I was watching a medieval ballad or something
I miss the SCA, I need to find out if my local chapter is still going.
I went in garb too. Had a lovely conversation with a curious theater-goer.
IMO, the best part is where he kills the Draugr.
According to the saga, there is only one ways to finally kill a draugr. And he did it!
I'm a gay man and I have to say that leather speedos arem't a deal breaker for me. I'm glad that the film was trying to be accurate and your excitement for the details was palpable and infectious to a degree. Thanks for the video and pointing out these things for someone who really had no idea. Slán.
"the chaffing...THE CHAFFING"
I love your commentary because you strive for fairness, including saying, "we don't know, so this thing that looks off-the-wall, could certainly be what happened, because we just don't know what they did, only know what material goods have survived the centuries" (paraphrasing, obvs)
I squealed when you mentioned the tablet weaving - I've developed a slight obsession with it this year hah. I feel it's so unknown to a lot of people and it's just so incredible!
I love how excited you are about the attention to detail. The bit that excited me the most was seeing colourful clothes and clean people in a medieval film for once. I really enjoyed the berserker raid, just cause it was a really engaging action sequence, same with the final action fight in the volcano, very Revenge of The Sith😂. I really enjoyed the story and characters, acting was really good, just an all around excellent film. Robert Eggers has once again knocked it out of the park.
Yes! I kept waiting for the whhrrumm of a light sabre 🤣
Well, Beowulf in the poem fights Grendel naked (mainly to show off), so it wasn't out of character...
I kept wanting to yell, "but you were the chosen one!" It was a great fight.
Bärsückkäre warriors - forgotten heroic trope :D
"And so did Olof, his head sucked by two bears, smite and lay waste to and fro most mightily upon and besides the enemy for reasons not quite apparent." - Boing Edda, Barsukkirmal 3
You can't call that heroic trope forgotten, it's still well-known at leather bars and Turkish baths.
so glad someone else hates those stupid blue filters that make colours wrong. I don't need a blue filter to feel the gravity of things. (also the filter gives me a headache)
Happy belated birthday :) I'm not really a fan of excessive amounts of blood and gore on screen (or irl for that matter...), so I probably won't see the movie, but thank you for screen shots and references.
(I was forever scarred watching the opening scene of Luc Bessons Joan of Arc in 1999. It's probably quite accurate and horrific in terms of how the vikings behaved on raids, but a little too much realism for my 19 year old heart to endure)
I just feel like it slightly detracts from all the effort they supposedly put into having, as Eggar put it himself, the most historically accurate movie to date (a low bar) by having absolutely shredded men with bodies mostly only achievable by 21st century workout and diet routines that require complete dedication and entire teams of dieticians, personal trainers etc.
The purpose of these physiques are explicitly to look good and are unachievable to most people nowadays given we don't have teams of Hollywood chefs and nutritionists and trainers nor are we being paid to basically work out and look amazing. I'm not diminishing the absolute effort and work that would go into achieving those physiques, but at the end of the day, it is work for actors. It is what they are paid for and it is what they do well, I don't believe however the Norse would be as inclined nor as able to get as ripped as Skarsgard is in the film.
99% of men don't look like that, nor do they have the facilities at hand to look like that. Also, seemed pretty impressive that 99% of the time these unarmored half naked vikings manage to dodge and are practically impervious to spears, arrows, and melee weapons yet they cut through the armoured individuals like butter. Seems about right.
Edit: I understand that there are historical depictions of men with physiques akin to that of Skarsgard in the film, mostly in the form of Classical Roman and Hellenic sculpture, however I feel these same body types would not be prevalent amongst the Norse, who did not have the same gym culture that the Greeks and Romans did (I cannot speak for the Norse specifically as I am primarily a classicist, but we do know that the Greeks and Romans stood out in their dedication to achieving impressive physiques for aesthetic purposes, particularly in the higher classes to emphasise both their masculinity and their high status of actually being able to go to the gym). The Romans and Greeks were essentially the gym bros of the ancient world. I am not saying that Amleth should look unfit, but I feel like it would have been nice had they taken a similar approach to say Robert Pattinson's Batman, where he explicitly stated "I think if you're working out all the time, you're part of the problem... you set a precedent. No one was doing this in the '70s. Even James Dean - he wasn't exactly ripped." Pattinson didn't look shredded in Batman, but he still looked great and it made sense for the character. You can still have a beautiful body and physique without a BMI under 10 or an insane muscle mass, I just think it would be nice if cinema didn't continue to propagate highly unrealistic body standards. Of course Amleth needs to look fit, but in my own opinion it would be nice if they displayed positive depictions of more realistic body types that are still clearly strong and fit, but look less like they've been dehydrating for 3 days to have the skin really cling to the muscle (an actual Hollywood practice for shirtless scenes). Also, as highlighted by Jimmy, they lived in a cold climate; they drank beer and ate carbs. Even if they did far more physical labour than the modern man, diet is still a major (if not the primary) contributor to one's physique. I feel like Skarsgard would have looked just as good with his physique more akin to this imgur.com/m6xfiqI , which still makes him look imposing and fit whilst appearing slightly more realistic.
But also, it is a film, and a good one at that in my opinion, and yes to complain about something as specific as this really goes to show how good the film is. I find this to be an issue that pervades most cinema, not just 'The Northman', but it just seemed particularly evident in this film given the emphasis on historical accuracy and context.
All that being said, I am only human, and I too do enjoy seeing a shirtless Skarsgard as much as the next human.
I did chuckle to think that an actual viking would probably look at shirtless Alexander Skarsgård and back up nervously. not just because he's shredded, but merely being that shredded says things about his diet and lifestyle that would be super impressive to ancient peoples
I liked Jimmy's juxtaposition of the shredded Skarsgård and the mighty Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson.
I mean, it's still a movie. I doubt most people in that age were movie star good looking, or spoke so clearly without the occasional "Um" or misspoken word. Hell, most fights do not have any semblance of choreography, and lighting rarely follows a person so that they are always readable to an observer. Rarely do you get to have a dramatic conversation without some silly interruption, and sexual encounters are rarely so tidily arranged as they are in film. That's just the cost of making something to entertain instead of to document or witness. The stories this was based on were the highlight reel of their reality, and I've no doubt the men and women were stronger and prettier and braver and impossibly better in them than the reality for those times as well.
In that vein one might consider the nearly impossible level of physical fitness an accurate detail to the tale, if not to the time.
Guys, he is supposed to be a hero from a saga. Of course he is supposed to seem better than most men. It's the whole point of epic stories,, talking about people who are above the simple mortal.
If you come to this level of nickpiking (sorry, I'm French) it must be that the movie is very good on all other domains ^^
@@gwalchmai9638 it didn't bother me, I just found it amusing. the movie also intentionally disguises the difference between Amleth's observations and his imagination, so you could easily explain any exaggeration as possibly being his perception of things, and not necessarily real
24:46
The shirt he is wearing around his waist like a skirt, is the same shirt he is wearing in his adult introduction scene where he is rowing the ship.
If you look at the shirt in that scene aswell as the scene just before he spots the raven and cuts his hair, his shirt has metal thingies (idk the name) which has similar functionality to buttons.
So he can open his shirt like if it was a modern dress shirt.
Ah, so it *is* just an entirely anachronistic shirt made up to allow shirtless scenes. Good spot!
Something I really enjoyed were the callbacks to Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks with the sword having very strict conditions to being drawn, and the prophesized draug barrow. It's a really underappreciated saga in my opinion, and i'm glad someone with some filmmaking power read it (even if it was just the Hervararkviða). Too bad there was a migration-era barrow in... iceland (as cool as it wouldve been to see Hamlet fight some very pissed of Irish Papar).
I tried not to notice that. I did end up whispering "how the f*** did he get there?" in the cinema.
I remember one thing i found to be a major plot hole in the movie, considering the sword's conditions in the movie. It could only be drawn at night/when it's dark. However, the story is supposed to take place in Iceland... During summer... (and the only reason there is any darkness at night in the movie is because those scenes were filmed in Ireland)
@@ragnhildmd5063 i didnt even think about that hahahaha
Didn’t it look more like an early Vendel period boat grave? As far as I’m aware, we have no crested helmets in Scandinavia from the migration period, or boat/ship graves with that kind of content. To me it looked like a somewhat beefed up late 6th/early 7th century boat grave.
I finally had gotten to see the Northmen yesterday. Have been experiencing high heat where I am am needing a break for a bit.
Loved this movie, my love for Vikings and all things related (have even lived in Iceland for 2 years 😁) I had found myself fascinated seeing the materials and the stitching and watching Ms Kidman tablet weaving, I was floored. I am actually excited to see this one again, to see even more on the background and such.
Thank you as always Jimmy for another amazing take on this movie.
I've seen The Witch, and I haven't seen this movie, but from your description I'm not sure I like how Eggers writes women. I think it's difficult for men in particular to write women historically, without either turning them into a plot device for the man (eg. Braveheart), toughened up for a modern audience as their only character trait (eg. Keira Knightly in King Arthur), or villainized (The Witch). It probably doesn't help that there isn't as much surviving evidence of women's lives and their personalities from history. The pitfall of the thousands of years of patriarchy. Still...
That being said, I'm really excited to hear and see costuming departments in movies upping their authenticity game. I truly believe it's because of people like you, who knows your shit, constantly calling them out on it. I hope it's a trend that continues!
I feel like I need to watch this like all Eggers' movies: At home where I can pause CONSTANTLY to screech over details.
Also I'm both flabbergasted and delighted that he's really making his oeuvre in meticulously propertied and wardrobed historical stories with bananas fantasy elements that ALMOST (but don't) throw the first bit out the window. Actually interested in watching this now (and think warmly on elderly weavers in Poland).
More power to polish weavers!
Now all I need is highly coloured picture book of all the accurate/believable stills from the film. Many thanks Jimmy, Happy birthday and I politely anticipate the promised pants.
The fact that the valkyrie's teeth wear actually filed, was really impressive. Sure it wasn't ever mention that the filings were dyed, but I think they did that because it looks better on film. Now that I really do appreciate. So many things in the movie just amazed me visually.
I can't find the source, but did read once that the filed grooves were stained for an effect
It's so funny that one mention about berserkers not wearing armor turned into what it is today. It's like fan fiction. One time some character from the original work mentions some minor detail and fic writers will absolutely turn it into that character's whole personality and make allusions to that detail so often you'll roll your eyes each time you see it.
I loved the movie and was very much looking forward to learn more about the details from you. Thank you for being thorough as always! This was great.
I like your theory the vegvisir was Eggers trolling us.
I loved the little Arabic coin Amleth wore. It was a nice detail and a great way to mark the character.
As someone who is an artist and crafter focusing on nålbinding I think it's amazing that they had Runa D Fjellstad to make socks. She's amazing and worth all the credit.
I thought it played out well as a Saga. It was a "Fairy Tale". And yes, one of the first things I did was remark on the hand sewn seams of the dresses and tunics.
My personal theory is that the wolf armour is them shapeshifting into wolves and having magic protection as such, but over time the recipe and rites got lost and that's why people don't do it anymore.
I liked that the characters did not act like 21st-American suburbanites doing cosplay. Slavery is there, our hero does not oppose it (or the inevitable rapes) in an attempt to become more relatable. When offered the chance to not die at the mountain, and live as Mr. Anya Taylor-Joy, our hero choses to die at the mountain. So many modern depictions of the Norse turn them into super-Progressive diversity-loving feminists, and they weren't. They weren't even less evilly sexist than the Catholics, they were just differently evilly sexist.
I hated the color-grading. You can't even make out what's on the King's flag, which defeats the purpose of a flag.
I would looove one of these kinds of videos for The Green Knight (I really liked its adaptation from the original poem, like the symbolic emphasis on the colonization of Scotland) and while I'm CERTAINLY not an expert I really enjoyed the costumes in that film! These kinds of critique/review videos aren't usually my jam but I genuinely enjoy hearing what you have to say and hearing your opinion. Thank you for making great videos! I always learn something! (Sidenote: feels weird that there are two Robert Eggers movies where Willem Dafoe has to act like a dog. What does it all mean...)
Aside from everything you mentioned in the video, i discovered a major plot hole in the movie itself. The limitations around the sword Amleth uses to kill Fjolnir states that it can only be unsheathed when the sun has gone down/it's dark.
However, based on how green it is in the movie, the entire revenge part is supposed to take place in Iceland.... During summer.....
Ohoho!
Tbh alot of the sagas have plotholes.. and i also personally dont care about plotholes anymore because i find movies boring when eveyrthing has to make sense.
@@mustplay7212 yeah, i agree. Can't say the plot hole ruined anything for me. I just found it quite funny.
@@ragnhildmd5063 I mean its pretty obvious it was going to have a big plothole due to the fact it has a very stereotypical plotline haha. I feel like every revenge movie i see have that haha. I didnt care for the plot, although i felt like it was a typical plot a viking would like haha. But yeah, i agree it was funny. By no means do i think this movie was a masterpiece apart from some of the scenes (the valkyrie one was amazing, dont care for the accuracy of that haha)
@@mustplay7212 hah, that's true. Most revenge plots are very straight forward like that. I agree about the plot, and it isn't something that really exited me either. However, i think i would've preferred it if i had read it instead.
I have to say though, that there are other sagas that i like much more, like the saga about Gunnlaug Ormstunga (which we had to read as part of curriculum in high school). Though all norse sagas are fairly straight forward imo, especially in the way they're written.
Honestly, one of my favourite parts was where they directly quote a line from The Havamal, not just for fluff or fan service, but in relation to the overarching plot. Like, it would have been so easy to turn into mystic mumbo-jumbo guff, but they actually linked it in with the thematic elements. That being said... why the hell are they using those kind of frame drums? That's something modern pagans have appropriated from the Sami and Native American/First Nations cultures. Like, it's not like we don't have physical evidence of the drums that existed at the time. Why, Robert?
What do you mean? The Sami were living in Scandinavia at the same time as the Vikings. You really think they didn't interact and trade with each other?
Alot of europe Used drums since antique times ofc it would spread
It’s highly probable that the Norse borrowed elements from the Sami
@@albertito77 I’m sure they did. The opposite is also highly probable as well.. The Sami migrated into northern Scandinavia from what is now Russia only about 2000 years ago. Meanwhile the Germanic Tribes (Nords) had been living in Scandinavia for well over 8000 years. Yet the Sami are called the “indigenous” ones. It’s quite bizarre.
@@SoloTravelerOffTheBeatenPath the Sami were in Scandinavia long before any Germanic people in the region. In fact, there's genetic evidence to suggest they've been there since the end of the last ice age, though the language arrived later with Finnic migration (both are Uralic languages). The proto-Norse on the other hand probably didn't arrive until around 4000 years ago.
spoilers! i was so hoping you would mention the last scene with olga and her giant babies where it looked like her tortoise brooches were halfway down her chest? that's haunted me since i saw the film. i really did enjoy it though, i got far too excited when i saw gudrún tablet weaving (albiet somehow without any weft thread)
Oh, I forgot that bit! Yeah, that was a disappointing miss from wardrobe I guess
I'd say it's a vision of Amleth who fantasises her in this sexy way :)
Do we need to find you a key to their props store? ;-)
Let’s start looking; I want some of those clothes and maybe the fancy helmet and some of those swords
Maaaaaaaaybe
So this is where today's likes come from :D Thank you so much for mentioning me ! You are a true reenactment influencer :D
I love your work too :)
~love, Hrafna
You're amazing and you make amazing things and thank you for putting them in a big film!! *fangirls*
"Oh for fu-" what an entry! Brilliant! Your excitement & passion really feeds mine! I can't wait to see this movie! Thank you so much for brightening my day with your posts! I genuinely get all *happy dance*, when I see you've posted!
Much love & respect from Arizona!
History nerds unite!
🖤🌻🌻🖤
oh for fu-thark ?
Wait, so in regard to the lament, everybody is quoting a movie that nobody remembers? I‘d never thought the 13th warrior had any impact whatsoever as it seems to be largely forgotten.
Dreary, grim tale set in a dreary, grim world with dreary, grim weather is a thing that just simply works, I guess, as a short cut to set the mood. If the same tale is set in a light-filled, colorful surrounding, the difference between set and story might feel more like a comment on the story (showing moral decline or shallowness etc) than a setting to enhance it. So, turning the argument around, are there any none-grim stories set in the time that would benefit from all the lovely colors?
Anyway, „make it 45 minutes longer and cut out half the gore“ has to be my new favorite movie review. =)
Everybody has seen (and forgotten) the 13th warrior afaik
'Honey, its made of honey' was more or less the highlight of "new guy knows best" boredom-filled flick.
Is wasn't bad, it just never let you connect with any of the actors on a visceral level, everybody was just a touch too cliche.
I've seen and haven't forgotten 13th Warrior, although there definitely are moments in it I wish I could forget.
Mostly, though, I think people like to act like it was terrible, because objectively it is, while secretly liking it, which is roughly my case. :D
@@beth12svist I loved the little horse :)
I have always been an Antonio Banderas-fan, but it was hard to like his character.
But the overall tone of the film was just too depressing, just lots of mud, gore and despair.
@@muurrarium9460 Yeah, pretty much. That, and it has an awfully uneven tone where at times it really can't decide if it wants to be grimdark, or super-cheesy.
@@beth12svist Nicely put, I think you got it spot on!
I really liked the horses in this movie! I always pay attention to this. Robust, fluffy coldbloods (or mixes) and not warmbloods for the majority. Also the use of Icelandic horses in Iceland!
Also Hafthor Björnson was a nice touch to the Iceland part
Did you ever see Prince of Jutland? They rode small shaggy ponies. Until Amled gets to England, where the horses are huge warhorses. I loved that.
I've been binge watching your vids. Your enthusiasm and joy in this one is lovely to see.😁😁 Diolch.
so, what I'm hearing is that as someone who mostly got introduced into the Viking-world through the Sagathing podcast, I will probably be a lot less bothered by this movie than I expected when I heard 'viking movie' 😅
Probably won't see it anytime soon though. My tolerance for viewing violence has plummeted since having kids.
Happy birthday, and good luck with the move
It's pretty graphic, so yah no kiddos allowed.
@@crispytoast6936 oh yeah, zero chance. I think the most violent thing they've seen was "Aladdin".
I meant I wouldn't watch it, even by myself, because I just find extreme violence too difficult to watch anymore. Having kids turned me into a big softy.
To me it felt like listening to a sagea. In the Volsung saga, Sigurd meets Odin, and fights the dragon, Fafnir. He tests the reforged sword Garm, by splitting an anvil with it down to the base. And that is presented as fact in the sagas.
In that way, the fantasy elements in The Northman work just as well as if you were watching a saga.
I can guarantee you that actually happened, I was employed as the court photographer to the Volsungs, unfortunately the negatives got lost in a house move.
I'm really looking forward to seeing this, hopefully one day we'll get Hrolf Kraki's Saga done with just as much attention to detail. Who doesn't want to see a massive bear wrecking house after all hahaha.
The best thing about this film is…we got a Jimmy video out of it.
😜
Also, Happy Birthday, mate.
To be fair, they only wear leather speedos cause he wasn’t allowed to make them naked. But as far as I know and I’m sure YOU know, that was a much more ancient thing that the Gauls and vets did in mainland Europe. And even if he didn’t all the exact details right, I thought it was an incredible movie and is one of my favorite movies to date. I especially loved the berserk gang scene and the following raid on the Slavic village.
also had a bit of a laugh at Nicole kidman tablet weaving without a wave thread in that one scene
bless them but they tried though. Well done on interrupting her with dialogue to avoid showing her lack of skill too
There is one movie that got Viking Age completely right, Eggers didn't even scratch what makes the real masterpiece so great. *Erik the Viking*
I wondered when someone was going to bring that up!
Oh, Happy Birthday Mate! I hope your move is going well.
I was tickled by the fact the the old due acting as a volva was in drag - inaccurate, yes, but still a nod to the sensibilities of the time. Possibly suggestive of channeling Oðinn? In any event, I had fun watching the film, and will enjoy watching it again to immerse myself in the details. :)
Credited as 'He-witch' as well, with a pair of tortoise brooches!
I dont think thats accurate to the viking society tho. remember, we are talking about a very patriarchal society here. And maybe vikings wouldnt agree with Snorre or any of the sagas that were written about them.
It's because 'women's magic' was powered by semen, how do men aquire semen one asks, well that was part of the conversation of the time.
One thing I noticed was the male volva wearing part of an apron dress, with the two broaches. I thought that was a neat way to visually convey him doing traditional 'women's magic' without lingering on it in a distracting way.
I was so excited for this movie while simultaneously holding no expectations for it. I loved seeing it with friends so we could laugh at one well set-up fart joke and I could ramble about tortoise brooches and the Norn's drop spindle spinning. Would I ever watch it again? Probably not. It had lots of things I personally disliked, and a lot of bloated scenes of Amleth skulking thru the night with gamer neck, so there's very little for me to go back for. But I'll always be happy that the clothing was orgasmically correct.
@GiRayne As I said, it's things I personally dislike. Trippy psychedelic sequences, revenge stories in general, etc. And I didn't find either of the women's stories to be particularly "feminist" although I enjoy Anya Taylor-Joy in anything and Nichole Kidman's character was fascinatingly complex. I didn't find Amleth to be someone particularly worth rooting for, and there wasn't nearly enough time for any chemistry to grow between him and Olga.
None of those things may ruin the film for other people, but they were things I just don't care to watch again, as gorgeous as I found a few individual shots and appreciate the research put into the material culture. It's probably a perfectly good movie overall, just not made for me, and that's fine. I got what I wanted out of it most.
@GiRayne the films sympathies are not at all “clear” in the way you’re describing, you’re projecting your personal (and explicitly modern) politics on to it.
Pedantic detail critique: The landscape of Iceland at that time would have been forest and farmland.
Love this review! Thanks for pointing out all the precise, material details and the highlighting the tropes and departures from the source material.
Yeah the modern riped bodybuilder type got me too. Just have him lean,broad shouldered,barrel chested and chunky. Also hafthor is a strongman not an average norse.
Editing: he must be medium height. Not tall not short.
Thank you for starting off and ending with props. Love your videos. Its nice to see you give praise to the lots of hardwork that went into making this film :)
I'm going to steal the line.
Inside you, you have two wolves. They both howl and wear leather speedos.
so, the end of the video.
Happy Birthday.
And I keep the watching of movies with sweaty muscular men wearing leather speedos for private.
A cool pedantic point to make: Watch Conan the Barbarian (1982) with Arnold Schwarzenegger side by side with this film, they track similarly. For ex: The entire scene with the underground mound has to be a nod to the scene where Conan finds his sword (without the sword fight of course). I think Eggers even said that Conan was very much an unconscious influence on the film as well.
You have made me want to go to a movie for the first time in years. I really need to upgrade my kit. Happy belated birthday 🎂
I think the reason for the leather speedos is because Robert Eggers wanted to lean into the fantastical idea of some berserkers fighting naked, but he studio forced him to clothe them all. The final battle was also supposed to be naked, but the studio again made him clothe them. I know it is not historically accurate, but I guess he just though it would be interesting
Robert Eggers said for the Berserker scene he wanted everyone to be Naked but decided against it lol
I find Fjolnir’s choice of Frey as his patron god very interesting: A «Love God» (choosing the love of Gudrun over the loyalty to his king and brother), and a god of Fertility, when he is exiled to a barren land and (spoilers) gets both his sons killed.
A fertility god is a god of peace and prosperity. Othin was a war god of revenge and violence. It’s fitting since Fjolnir seems to be a competent and fair ruler of his little farmstead.
@@albertito77 I partially agree: Fjolnir SEEKS peace and prosperity, but the story is steeped in Norse morality when it shows that kinslaying and betrayal (the actions of a “niding”, the lowest of the lows in the Norse honor society) will have a “karmic” payback, bringing disfavor from the Gods and revenge-seeking men. As such his “sins” have already condemned him and made his efforts worthless: Driven him from his home and in the end losing all that he did his niding-actions for. As a slave owner, I struggle to call him fair and when one single man can unravel the entire settlement, I struggle to call him competent.
Your comment on Odin as a war god is interesting, because while other Aesir gods are straight up Warrior Gods (Tor, Tyr etc.), Odin is sort of a fusion of the Aesir Warrior Gods with the Magic of the Vanir Gods of Fertility and Sorcery, learning it from Freya and hanging on the Yggdrasil. As such the movie also shows the irony that the “macho” god of the “macho” berserkers, also is an androgynous god of “seid” (female sorcery), “soft boy” things such as wisdom & music and a god that often is both subtle and a practical joker, who hides his Identity both for his schemes and to test people as a God of hospitality.
Thank you for the video! When I watched "The Northman" in the theater I sometimes wondered what scenes and choices would end up in one of your videos. I really much enjoyed the film AND your video! But I would have been also interested in whether you think that Eggers was successful in "pissing of " right-wing-viking-real-men-idiots. I get that the main focus of this video was on historical accuracy but if I am honest I think a good film is not supposed to be about "real viking culture", because that would be a documentary. Of course it is about stuff we deal with today, told in a certain way.
(I think it was subtle enough but I think the story was at least uncomfortable for some guys sitting behind me that were loving, loving, loving the berserker scenes, the violence and all the muscles but seemed to be confused an disappointed when it was hard to make him a real hero in the end. So maybe Eggers did it? But was it too subtle?)
Hard to say with most art how exactly an audience will respond. They may learn something fro. The film or ignore parts they don't like and incorporate what parts they like into their own personal aesthetics.
It really is hard to tell how audiences will take things because I've heard of people being inspired to join the army after reading All Quiet On Western Front, one of the most famous anti-war novels ever written...
I always think of Scarface, and how some people idolize the main character. Uh, he went crazy and ended in a bad way...
@@beth12svist These must be the same people who came away from Fight Club thinking Tyler Durden is a character worthy of emulation.
Okay. Definitely thought that the Valkyrie was supposed to be wearing braces. Every time I see that frame of the movie, it looks to me like she is wearing braces. Even immediately after you said it was ground teeth with dye in it and I went back to look, required squinting and enlarging the stopped frame to make my eyes and brain recognize it as anything other than braces. Had just been presuming to this point that we were going with anachronistic modernism to sell the fantasy element of the story. Whooops! Thanks for setting me straight!
So many people saw that as braces! 😆
I'VE NEVER CLICKED ON A VIDEO SO FAST IN MY LIFE
Very nice review, honestly. Quite the kind I was looking for.
I really appreciate a guy making a reference to a maxi dress and how they are put on.
Leather jockstraps? I mean if you like that sort of thing... that's the sort of thing you like
Hey, no shame!
I might catch this for the bits you admired.
Many stars in MCU films work out and diet quite seriously. So we usually get one shirtless shot to show off their work. Not running around in leather speedos, fighting in cold climates...
I haven't seen it yet (I really don't want to sit in the theater at this point, just plain not ready for that,) a friend of mine who is very into Norse recreation saw it and loved it, so I'm glad you found a lot to like in the movie. It does sound amazing as far as the artifacts and plotting goes.
Regarding the note about Seithr, as I recall in Lokasenna Loki accuses Odin of disguising himself as a woman to learn it, so yeah, that goes way back, at least legendarily.
It's weird Loki would taunt Odin for practicing seiðr in the Lokasenna, considering the Gylfaginning has Loki turning himself into a mare to seduce the stallion Svaðilfari to keep its unnamed owner from completing the walls of Asgard within the agreed-upon time and thus cheat him out of the agreed-upon payment, an episode which led to Loki giving birth to Odin's eight-legged horse Sleipnir. Norse mythology is wild.
Fabulous, absolute joy to watch. So entertaining. I’m one of those who will not go and see this. Gratuitous violence just isn’t me. But so happy with this review as it’s amazing to know that all those wonderful accurate costumes and pieces were actually used in this film. BTW… not a fan of leather speedos either. Thank you for this good natured romp through this film review.
Hmm, not loving you fail to mention Claes Bang. Pretty Hollywood just naming the biggest celebrities rather than the Actors. It was after all rather big part 😉
And I think he killed it as Fenge.
On another note I get what you are saying about the funeral. It’s pretty much how every Dane feels about every Viking movie or show. Things that took place in Denmark or things done by Danes. Is always transported to Norway or Island because the landscape is more dramatic.
Also I don’t like the scene were the slaves were divided up to go to different places. I think they would all have gone to a slave market somewhere like Hedeby or something.
Overall I really liked it the bastardization level was significantly lower than the usual Hollywood standard.
I would have had Viggo Mortensen play the dad, for symmetry (both brothers Danish) and because sometimes in the correct light he and Alex looked a like.
Loved your video and review, lots of things to ponder
Definitly the best viking movie outthere. The innacuricies don't bother me because I know they were made on purpose and they do not take me out of the movie. If I had to describe vikings to someone who doen't know anything about ancient scandinavia, I woudn't be ashamed to recommend this movie
I love the movie!! The mistakes I saw were when the cross dressing seer had the vegsvisir symbol on his headband which is actually a 19th century symbol and may be Christian. Also there are no snakes in Iceland. There is one in the movie- I can’t remember the scene- it’s yellow.
Alexander Skarsgård did an interview on Colbert about the movie. I was so pleased to see someone else in the comments on the video going "I'll wait to see what the Welsh Viking says about the accuracy." 😂😂😂
NO EFFING WAY!! Omg this is getting out of hand 😆😆
Egyptians did wear leather undies! It was slashed into mesh (so it could breathe), with a little square of unslashed leather over the butthole. But there's a bit of a difference between that and a leather speedo on a "Viking"
Brilliant video... and the post credit sting has me giggling like a loon 😂 Thanks Jimmy!!
One thing I really liked is the fact that they had read hundreds of trip reports, to reconstruct the vibe and feel of a Henbane trip in the initiation ritual with Jester-dafoe... Because Henbane is what has been found in graves with ritual specialists.... The cave they do the trip in, is inspired by these ancient stone structures on the Orkney that the Norse have used and graffitied... And that is cool as the fictional kingdom of Hrafensey is located out of Orkney.
Also Svantevit, Dead ghost seer Bjork stands infront of the idol of Svantevit in a temple that is a very good reconstruction of a Slavic temple.
And the Birka woman warrior, has to cameos... She commands the other Viking ship in the raid, and after the raid she rides through the desolated village complaining about the slaves.
The burial ritual is not a 1 to 1 copy of Ibn Fadlans account, beside being more vanilla - The boat is shown in a half open mound, just like the Oseberg ship that stood like that for seasons before being entirely covered up.
The lore scene where the he-witch-vølva is explaining the mythology of the sword, it is mentioned that giants bones have been used.... This is a direct reference to a theory that Scandinavians used bone-charcoal to steel iron when making swords - probably also human bones, and that this might very well have a relation to the percieved magical powers of some swords.... Google "Terje Gansum - Role the Bones" for more... its wildly interesting.
I would have preferred for this to be a TV show. It felt like a bunch of the story was missing and I want to see it.
I really appreciated the detail of the dried amanita muscaria eaten before the berserk attack scene
i THINK in the berserker scene he might we wearing a kaftan with the an open front which is how he wears it like that, rather than a tunic. Also I noticed at the farm in Iceland, they were using authentic chains and shackles! and they delivered a tapestry into the hall that was a replica of the actual Oseberg tapestry! I also love the depiction of vengeance and the honour culture and how the film is there to, I think, criticise this honour-obsessed hypermasculine society, show how it's traumatising and destructive. It's undermined by Anya-Taylor Joy's characterisation, I think, which was very disappointing, but still really appreciated! It felt like a living saga.
Hard to tell aye, but then if so, just take it off?
Yesss! I tried in vain to find a shot of the Oseberg tapestry replicas! What a touch!
I saw a video of the costume director of this movie. She said he was wearing an eastern-style buttoned tunic or something like that so yeah. There it is.
''criticise this honour-obsessed hypermasculine society''
Seeing what you want and agreeing with the mainstream outflow of mediocre movies' messages while insering it in the exception is quite the feat.
The runic inscription on the blade is wrong, they got the elder and younger mixed up. I forget exactly what it was, but I think they spelled a younger futhark word with elder futhark runes.
Your response to the leather speedos implies direct personal experience. (smirk). Love you and thank you for the review.
It does, but also... I'm a woman with absolutely no direct personal experience and my mind was drifting in the exact same direction when he said it, soooo. Not necessarily. :D
@@beth12svist You are correct. Do you remember the comic, Rita Rudner I think, who said that her mother stated that the reason the dog wanted to drink from the toilet bowl because the water was cooler. Then she asked, "How does she know?" lol
No, I'm not familiar with that.