The Northman (discussion thread)

I viewed The Northman back on April 21 (in XD, no less) and found it "mediocre" and (thankfully) forgettable for the most part. My main problem with the film is that it tries to force its ideas and tone, relying too much on brawn than finesse (rather like its characters, I suppose). There is not enough nuance, not enough character development, and not enough focus on theme. Rather early, one can tell that The Northman is sort of a blend of Ben-Hur and Oedipus Rex, but when Nicole Kidman's mother character deliberately in some sort of attempt to reestablish her authority or intimidate him or whatever, the film effectively becomes a highly bizarre horror movie, at least for the moment. Either way, that whole scene proved way too freaky and repellent for me, to the point where I would never want to view The Northman again. And unfortunately, that scene is the only memorable one in the movie. 

There are some dynamic tracking shots early on (for instance, when the king returns home), and the early sequence in the forest where the marauders kill and the is eerily well-realized—tautly shot and edited in the mist. Overall, technical aspects such as cinematography and editing constitute The Northman's strengths, but they stand out more because the storytelling and character development are so lackluster in comparison. The cinematography and editing are not, in my view, Oscar-worthy, although I take the original poster's point about the Icelandic locations (I mean, they are better than CGI virtual mimicry). The movie's technical attributes, while better than the rest, sometimes call too much attention to themselves. 

Overall, the film is sort of a pastiche of traditional epic, action, horror, and mystical fantasy. Indeed, the movie's final portion cycles through a variety of potential endings, almost as if the filmmakers could not decide how exactly to conclude The Northman and kept extending the story instead. Had I seen it twenty-five years ago, when I was in high school, I might have liked the movie better, but in that case, that Nicole Kidman scene might have freaked me out even more. 

As for writer-director Robert Eggers, I liked The Lighthouse better—I viewed it twice in the theater in the fall of 2019, and it was more artistic and eccentric. Some of the shots and incidents in that black-and-white movie prove truly memorable. Even there, though, I only found The Lighthouse to be "decent/pretty good," meaning slightly above-average, because the style called too much attention to itself and inhibited deeper immersion in the story. Also, while the boozy dialogue often proved rich, the overall attempts at humor were arguably overwrought. The result was an intriguing black comedy yet one that felt too much like a museum piece to be observed rather than a movie to be felt. 

The Northman, conversely, lacks that artistic quality in its cinematography and material, and the film is too numb to be felt. I appreciate the different opinions, though.