Viking Hamlet scores a hit

It may seem odd that Shakespeare, one of the most influential artists ever to have lived, had his own influences. One of these was a medieval Scandinavian fable, possibly dating back to the 12th century (theories vary) about a Danish prince out to avenge his father.

That legend forms the basis for Robert Eggers' third feature, The Northman, a violent, grunting beast of a Viking adventure that shows the director at his most unleashed. As he did in his divisive debut, The Witch (2015), and his otherworldly follow-up, The Lighthouse (2019), Eggers finds a single, unreliable character to be our point of entry into historical worlds that are mythic, surreal, supernatural - and somehow recognizable. The former was about misogyny and religious fervor, the latter about madness erupting in isolation.

The Northman is about cycles of violence, and breaking them, and is a similarly fantastical, period action adventure. In 9th-century Denmark, King Aurvandil War-Raven (Ethan Hawke, in the latest of his creative, late-career choices) returns home from a conquest to his wife, Gudrn (Nicole Kidman), brother Fjlnir (Claes Bang), and beloved son Amleth (Alexander Skarsgrd). After what appears as a drug-enhanced ceremony to prepare Amleth to take up the throne, Fjlnir raids his brother's fort, kidnaps the queen and murders Aurvandil. Amleth escapes, but vows revenge. Decades later, Amleth is a brutal berserker working with roving raiders, and when he finds Fjlnir in exile in Iceland, he sneaks onto the island posing as a slave. Aided by fellow slave Olga of the Birch Forest (Anya Taylor-Joy, The Witch), Amleth goes about exacting his revenge.

Co-written by Icelandic writer Sjón, The Northman is broken down into five chapters, each of which doubles down on the Norse madness that came before it. As much attention to detail as Eggers paid to the wilder side of 9th-century Europe, he leans into the gods and vision quests and signs and portents that inform Norse mythology. Unrelenting long takes by regular cinematographer Jarin Blaschke, accompanied by Robin Carolan and Sebastian Gainsborough's precisely pounding score, give the film its propulsive forward momentum - but they would be useless without the tactile sense of place and world-building Eggers manages with careful compositions and a singular filmmaking perspective. Don't let the more than $70 million budget fool you. This is indie filmmaking at its finest, underpinned by a creator who knows exactly what he wants. Not only is Eggers spinning a rip-roaring Viking yarn, he's picking at the concepts of legacy and honor, and the toxic masculinity that values them.

The performances help too. Skarsgrd is in his element and fully commits to Amleth's savagery, making his struggle to put down the axe for good all the more vivid. The struggle is the crux of the real conflict in The Northman, rooted in the romantic relationship Amleth and Olga fall into, and her request he reconsider his murdering ways. But it's Kidman (as the Gertrude) and Bang (as the Claudius) who bring the true chaos (for her) and dignity (for him) to the story. Kidman infuses Gudrn with a bitter, fiery edge in her fleeting scenes, going over the top for maximum impact. At the other end of the spectrum is Bang (best known for the Palme d'Or-winning The Square), who opts for an understated grace that paints Fjlnir as worn down by wars and blood as obligatory retaliations. He holds himself with a stillness that is in direct opposition to Amleth's restless rage, and so demonstrates the kind of man Amleth could be, should he choose to take the road less vengeful.