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Before we get into the plot, I just want to quickly say that a very small complaint I have with this movie is some of the action looks a bit awkward and stiff, though maybe I'm just used to modern movie choreography. If I'm wrong, let me know.
The movie starts out with a certain king as he returns from a long pillaging trip. And right at the start here, the movie shows but then quickly tries to hide the slaves also being brought in, but I was not so easily distracted with the later theatrics. You see, we follow his son, Amleth, as he celebrates his father's return and later gets formally initiated as a viking. For the viewer, I imagine we're supposed to get emotionally caught up in all this, but I remembered those damn slaves, so, right after the initiation, when the father is suddenly ambushed and killed, I was like, "Good."
Turns out it's the kid's uncle who's behind all this and the uncle also orders the kid be murdered. That is far less good. In the process of escaping, the kid also sees his mother being carried off. With this part, I didn't actually notice that the mother was laughing though.
Anyway. We skip forward many years. The kid has grown up. And it turns out he becomes just another asshole pillager. He is VERY good at what he does though. He later finds where his uncle is at and goes over to him to finally have revenge. In the process though, Amleth meets and falls in love with a woman who is way too good for him. Then later, he learns that his mother was in on his father's killing due to his father raping her when she was his slave, and she even hated Amleth. Maybe this was supposed to be a big revelation or something, but for me, it was completely believable and hardly surprising. So he's now torn between leaving his now wife and getting his revenge or staying with his wife and escaping to live another life. I actually hoped Amleth would leave her because in my eyes, Amleth has way too much innocent blood on his hands due simply to his pillaging days. He deserves to die and has deserved it for a long time.
Amleth thankfully decides to finish what he started, but in the middle of his search to find out where his father's killer is, Amleth's mother attacks Amleth. He then kills her. Her younger son, Gunnar, also attacks him in direct response to this. Amleth also kills him. I really don't know if that was all necessary. He's strong enough. He could have just restrained them, but regardless, it's done. Amleth's father's killer finds Amleth just after he had finished killing them both, then says nothing except that they would meet at the Gates of Hel for the last time. Amleth agrees to this and goes to said place. They then both land killing blows on the other and that is the end of that.
Turns out it's the kid's uncle who's behind all this and the uncle also orders the kid be murdered. That is far less good. In the process of escaping, the kid also sees his mother being carried off. With this part, I didn't actually notice that the mother was laughing though.
Anyway. We skip forward many years. The kid has grown up. And it turns out he becomes just another asshole pillager. He is VERY good at what he does though. He later finds where his uncle is at and goes over to him to finally have revenge. In the process though, Amleth meets and falls in love with a woman who is way too good for him. Then later, he learns that his mother was in on his father's killing due to his father raping her when she was his slave, and she even hated Amleth. Maybe this was supposed to be a big revelation or something, but for me, it was completely believable and hardly surprising. So he's now torn between leaving his now wife and getting his revenge or staying with his wife and escaping to live another life. I actually hoped Amleth would leave her because in my eyes, Amleth has way too much innocent blood on his hands due simply to his pillaging days. He deserves to die and has deserved it for a long time.
Amleth thankfully decides to finish what he started, but in the middle of his search to find out where his father's killer is, Amleth's mother attacks Amleth. He then kills her. Her younger son, Gunnar, also attacks him in direct response to this. Amleth also kills him. I really don't know if that was all necessary. He's strong enough. He could have just restrained them, but regardless, it's done. Amleth's father's killer finds Amleth just after he had finished killing them both, then says nothing except that they would meet at the Gates of Hel for the last time. Amleth agrees to this and goes to said place. They then both land killing blows on the other and that is the end of that.
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It sounds like I'm shitting on the movie as I'm describing what is going down in it but I'm honestly not. I just needed to get through it all as fast as possible so the groundwork is laid and I will be able to talk about it in more detail. The Northman is, full-stop, about the cycle of violence. And two popular sayings come to mind for this. "Those who live by the sword, die by the sword." And for the second, "If you seek revenge, first dig two graves." Throughout this entire movie, we see so much violence being done because this person did that terrible thing. But violence is ugly, abrupt, and, well, incredibly destructive. You may not even be intending it whatsoever, but in your thirst to get revenge or get even, others can easily get caught in the blast radius. And even if nobody does, you could simply just get shredded yourself in the process of seeking revenge.
Putting that aside, this movie is also a simple commentary on the history of institutionalized or culturally accepted violence and destruction to an extreme degree. As a kid, Amleth was raised to be another weapon who mindlessly follows orders from his father and king. Weakness is stomped out. Mercy is stomped out. But very, very quickly, we see what that all leads to. An inevitable destruction as someone smarter than you and/or better than you who has the means and the motivation rises to take you out. Live by the sword and die by it. Amleth's father can bitch about betrayal all damn day, but he was just as awful, if not way more so, to the innocent people he sought to pillage, enslave, and destroy. Who is he to say what is right or wrong? Honorable or dishonorable?
As to Amleth, yes, it is clear that he was raised directly around violence and murder, but nurture only has so much power. Nature is also a huge factor as well. And with that, does Amleth deserve any pity whatsoever? Any reprieve? It certainly doesn't look like it to me. How can one just sit there and blindly accept innocent villagers getting raped and killed and enslaved around him? What kind of man would find that any sort of acceptable? The answer is that a man wouldn't. Just an animal. Which the movie definitely does fully point out to its credit, but then towards the ending, I got confused by the creator's intentions here. Amleth falls in love with Olga and develops a much softer side, but is this an attempt to make me sympathise with him more? Because if so, it's not working. Someone like that in real life doesn't just magically start having feelings and become a better person. If that wasn't the intention though, then nevermind. Carry on.
Putting that aside, this movie is also a simple commentary on the history of institutionalized or culturally accepted violence and destruction to an extreme degree. As a kid, Amleth was raised to be another weapon who mindlessly follows orders from his father and king. Weakness is stomped out. Mercy is stomped out. But very, very quickly, we see what that all leads to. An inevitable destruction as someone smarter than you and/or better than you who has the means and the motivation rises to take you out. Live by the sword and die by it. Amleth's father can bitch about betrayal all damn day, but he was just as awful, if not way more so, to the innocent people he sought to pillage, enslave, and destroy. Who is he to say what is right or wrong? Honorable or dishonorable?
As to Amleth, yes, it is clear that he was raised directly around violence and murder, but nurture only has so much power. Nature is also a huge factor as well. And with that, does Amleth deserve any pity whatsoever? Any reprieve? It certainly doesn't look like it to me. How can one just sit there and blindly accept innocent villagers getting raped and killed and enslaved around him? What kind of man would find that any sort of acceptable? The answer is that a man wouldn't. Just an animal. Which the movie definitely does fully point out to its credit, but then towards the ending, I got confused by the creator's intentions here. Amleth falls in love with Olga and develops a much softer side, but is this an attempt to make me sympathise with him more? Because if so, it's not working. Someone like that in real life doesn't just magically start having feelings and become a better person. If that wasn't the intention though, then nevermind. Carry on.
So, does it deserve a recommendation? I think so, yeah. The historical accuracy alone is pretty astounding, though with the main character, your mileage may vary in terms of if you find him a character deserving of any kind of sympathy or not and whether that was Robert's intention for the character.
