Shakespeare could turn a phrase, alright. Along with the Bible he’s one of the two most unwittingly quoted sources in the English language. But he liked to borrow ideas. Writers have always done this, and it came home to me again watching Robert Egger’s The Northman. My wife and I intended to see it in the theater two years ago—life gets too busy even to get out to a movie, it seems. So we had to settle for Amazon Prime. In any case, I don’t read about films in advance and I avoid trailers when possible. I couldn’t help hearing, however, that it was a viking revenge story. Still, it wasn’t until my wife said, “Isn’t this like Hamlet?” that I made the connection—Amleth. Hamlet. Scandinavian. Danish. Okay, so The Northman is based on the legend of Amleth which is the direct basis for Shakespeare’s Hamlet.
Like all of Egger’s feature films so far this one is meticulously researched and very moody. More than once it made me glad that we live in a civilized society, such as it is. Those of us who were the runts of our family litters know that bigger kids often get their way by dint of physical intimidation. The vikings—and this was a good representation of a berserker—took what they wanted because they could. But Amleth couldn’t have what he really wanted. He witnessed, as a child, his uncle murder his father, the king. Said uncle takes the throne and the queen and Amleth vows revenge, but what can a young boy do? Then as an adult, he’s told by a seer that he made a promise so the viking heads home to exact revenge.
The Northman really isn’t a standard horror movie, although Egger’s previous two films fall into the genre fairly handily. His next project is Nosferatu, after all. And The Northman isn’t a retelling of Hamlet. Hamlet was a retelling of Amleth, and this is another retelling. Those who’ve been following Egger’s rise know that his films are intelligent and melancholy and literate. They also have a way of disturbing that peaceful acquiescence that comes after viewing a less thoughtful movie. It would probably have made even more of an impact had we been able to get to it in a theater. If it weren’t for Shakespeare most of us probably wouldn’t know the story of Amleth, but Norse mythology has a way of remaining relevant, despite the fact that we tend to credit the ideas to others. Just check the name of the day of the week and see if that’s right.
