Review: The Northman
Set in Medieval Iceland, Alexander Skarsgaard stars as Amleth, who as a young man saw his Viking ruler father Aurvandil (Ethan Hawke) meet his demise at the hands of his own brother Fjölnir (Claes Bang), who takes the King’s wife Gudrun for good measure too. Amleth thankfully escapes before he can be harmed. Over the years Amleth broods and seethes, plotting to avenge his father’s death and rescue his mother. Anya Taylor-Joy plays Olga, Amleth’s love interest. 1958’s “The Vikings” still reigns supreme as the best Viking film of all-time. However, this 2022 film from director Robert Eggers (whose “The Witch” largely bored me to tears) and co-writer Sjon makes for an enjoyably loopy Viking version of “Hamlet” . It’s based on a Scandinavian legend that apparently inspired The Bard. It’s a good-looking, well-shot film. I also thought the music score by Robin Carolan (no other credits thus far) and Sebastian Gainsborough (who composed the trailer music for “The Handmaiden” ) was to