Around them, an ensemble of veteran talents weave themselves into the grimy, atmospheric tapestry. Danish actor Claes Bang (BBC’s Dracula) brings menace, but also relatability to ostensibly ‘evil’ uncle Fjölnir. Nicole Kidman is far more than a mother in need of rescue as Queen Gudrún, as is Ethan Hawke more than the father in need of vengeance as the brilliantly-named King Aurvandill War-Raven. Best of all, however, are the extended cameos by Willem Dafoe as Heimer the Fool and legendary Icelandic musical force Björk as an unnamed, elaborately-headdressed seeress. Performed with impish otherworldliness, both are key to driving Amleth’s quest, and connecting the film’s muddy, bloody realism to its transcendental flights into the realm of Norse gods and monsters.
A literal epic that careers, across its 137 minutes, from bloodthirsty war-raids to trippy moonlit murder-sprees to a climactic sword fight in the glow of an erupting volcano, it is tempting to describe The Northman as a pure cinematic distillation of heavy music’s incendiary ballast, but the comparisons run deeper than that. In its callous animal-skinned berserkers, blood-curdling ritual sacrifice and unflinching, fastidiously-researched period detail, there is the fact-driven fervour of latter-day Amon Amarth. Its cold, volcanic landscapes evoke the strange grandeur of Enslaved. Even the undertones of inexorable tragedy conjure the same doomed heroism as Bathory.
Much as Amleth’s oft-muttered mantra “I will avenge you father; I will save you mother; I will kill you Fjölnir!” goes from chest-thumping battle-cry to hollow justification of the butchery unleashed, Eggers’ film ultimately sheds its action-adventure skin to reveal his most gut-lurching horror to date, built not on impressive body-count but the narcotic, soul-rotting nature of revenge. Staggering.
Verdict: 4/5
READ THIS: Amon Amarth's Johan Hegg's guide to Vikings