Directed and co-written by Robert Eggers (The Lighthouse; The Witch) and starring Alexander Skarsgård (The Hummingbird Project; The Legend of Tarzan; Battleship), Nicole Kidman (Being the Ricardos; Moulin Rouge!; Cold Mountain; The Goldfinch), Claes Bang (The Girl in the Spider's Web; The Last Vermeer; The Bridge (TV Series)) and Anya Taylor-Joy (Last Night in Soho; The Witch; The Queen's Gambit (TV Series)).
Historical action drama; 136 mins; 15+
A dark, brutal, violent and gritty historical drama starting out in AD 895 in Iceland, travelling to Russia and then back to Iceland, With twists akin to a thriller.
Amleth (Alexander Skarsgård) witnesses his Viking father's murder by his uncle Fjölnir The Brotherless (Claes Bang) who carries off Amlet's mother Queen Gudrún (Nicole Kidman). Amleth goes into hiding (in Russia), passing himself off as a slave, growing wiser and biding his time in this epic revenge drama.
Years later, he manages to return to Iceland, meeting Olga of the Birch Forest (Anya Taylor-Joy) along the way, with whom he forges an alliance.
He endures much hardship but finds his uncle and mother - now with their own family as well as slaves - farming sheep in a harsh environment. All this together echo Shakespeare and his writings, especially Hamlet.
The characters are developed gradually over the course of the film that is quite a bit over two hours long, with some growing and some evolving. The acting is very well done overall, with both the male and female lead and support roles surprisingly well cast considering they are best known for more feminine roles.
The soundtrack is both serene and haunting in equal measure, emitting feelings from the climate to terror of rampaging Vikings.
Filmed in Iceland and Northern Ireland (landscape scenes, etc.) and other scenes in Belfast's Harbour Studios.
Not for the faint-hearted.
Currently being screened by Kineplois in Luxembourg.
