The first question contemporary mythology films raise concerns their color. The general hue varies between bronze and lead. The variations favor a range ranging from brown to yellow. Blue is rare and red is almost nonexistent.
It’s not a detail. In “The Man Up North”, the new film by director Robert Eggers, from “The Witch” and “The Lighthouse”, the blood gushes in torrents. Heads are cut off, bellies opened, but even then the red doesn’t show. We are in Viking territory. There a warrior king is betrayed by his brother Fjolnir, “the bastard”. Amleth the Younger, no more than ten years old, swears revenge for his father and goes into exile.
It’s worth using the Shakespearean suggestion of the name Amleth. In fact, something is fishy in this Norse realm. Maybe it’s the dialogues. It is spoken solemnly among Vikings, although the essence seems to be these people’s ability to roar. They roar to hate, they roar to fight, they roar to kill. They also often roar when killing an enemy and drink their blood.
The roar largely conforms to the animal metaphors they depict. The Dead King is a crow whose spirit appears from time to time to save his son’s face. Amleth will eventually wear the skin of the wolf and it will have ramifications for the future.
To the facts. Once grown and pumped up, Amleth decides it’s time to prepare his revenge. He discovers that Fjölnir has been deposed and has fled to Iceland, further north, with his family and court. He is willing to be enslaved in order to better approach the uncle who has usurped his throne.
Every step of his preparation is, of course, doused in blood, although even blood is not red. In addition, there are some surprises throughout the plot, but they do not change anything significant. Amleth’s thirst for revenge remains undiminished and to carry out his plan he has the help of a beautiful young woman who he will fall in love with and be mutual and such and such.
What’s fascinating about The Man of the North is knowing what that equates to revenge. An oath to his father, no doubt. But other than that, we’re dealing with a hero with no other substance.
Your desire for revenge has no transcendence. For example, he has no intention of doing good to abused populations. It doesn’t matter to free the enslaved men and women. He will only do this as far as it corresponds to his plans. Even fewer want to bring justice.
Why fight at all, Amleth? He is the man who must overcome adversity to make his way in the world. He has to win, that’s the main thing. Applied to our day, this man would be an entrepreneur, the subject struggling to avoid being shipwrecked in a hostile world, and needing (or wanting) to prove himself.
After all, Amleth is a meritocrat, a penniless prince who must demonstrate the worth of the monarchy or rather, the virtue of his blood. That’s why he’s worried about continuing his line, and indeed, his beloved Olga will have twin children who could continue the Amleth saga if the film hits the mark and becomes a franchise.
The incredible platitude of the screenplay corresponds to a staging essentially dedicated to confronting the roars and massacres organized around the neomonochromatism that characterizes “big show” commercial cinema in the digital age. In summary, The Man of the North is quite a two hour intense suffering.