As is often the case with most great literature, the premise of William Shakespeare’s Hamlet is not original to the Bard, but rather taken from an ancient text, which he carefully appropriated to creatively hide the fact that this story of revenge and violence was not his own work (although the semantics of such situations are a matter for another discussion, since it bears very little relevance to this conversation in particular), but rather a creative endeavour in which he adapted a classic work of folklore and made it his own, which is more common in literature than we imagine. However, we have seen many creative artists take works that have been subjected to an endless amount of interpretation and reanalysis (whether artistically or academically), and rather than continuing to take them further from their roots, they instead choose to go the other direction, taking them back to their origins as far as possible. Robert Eggers has steadily risen to the status of being one of our greatest filmmakers working today, and while the impetus for it may not be entirely clear (whether he was attracted to this story through its relationship with Hamlet, or if he simply found the original text itself fascinating), he made one of the most extraordinary epics of the past few years in the form of The Northman, which serves to be the first time the original story of Amleth, the Viking prince who witnessed the death of his father by his uncle, who usurped his position and took the crown for himself, marrying his mother and taking control of his father’s empire, which soon crumbled as a result of his malice. It’s quite unlikely that we have ever seen a film quite like The Northman – it is not the first attempt to present a more authentic account of the history of the region we know today as Scandinavia, but it is one of the most ambitious, with Eggers spending every moment he can carefully crafting a fascinating and spellbinding historical epic, the kind that is simply not made anymore, but yet seems to be a fertile source of some astonishing stories. We can only hope that the level of mastery and commitment he showed in taking this centuries-old text and making it his own will inspire other filmmakers to realize their most ambitious ideas, since the results can be truly astonishing, as evidenced by this film.

It seems that every contemporary filmmaker needs to have a brief logline next to their work, justifying their existence by stating exactly what they do differently from all of their peers. Eggers’ main compulsion for making the films that he has is quite simply that he wants to tell stories that inspire him, crafting the films that he would want to see, which is perhaps the most honest and earnest way of approaching one’s career in the industry. The Northman is his first deviation from horror in general (although some of the visual craftsmanship of this film is beyond terrifying), and instead sees the director looking at a more complex narrative that is aligned more with action, which is something that was previously absent in The Witch and The Lighthouse, both absolute masterpieces that were more about the atmosphere than they were the spectacle (although this film doesn’t neglect to establish a strong and tangible tone, and his previous films did have some extraordinary moments of visual creativity) – these films are all connected by an invisible thematic string, and exist in a nightmarish version of our world, one that is permanently ensconced in shades of grey, which reflects the bleak hopelessness that these characters have to endure. On a purely artistic level, The Northman is by far Egger’s most ambitious undertaking – but it is also his most conventional, taking the form of a traditional historical epic, just with the added detail of the narrative being drawn from Norse mythology. This doesn’t invalidate its artistic scope, nor the level of detail with Eggers is actively working – but it does mean that a great deal of this film is a lot more accessible, something that many of us thought we’d never be saying about a director whose entire career seems to be fueled by the concept of challenging conventions. However, even if we only want to view it as a return to a past era of filmmaking, which is subsequently paired with a more contemporary perspective, which is where many of the more subversive, challenging ideas begin to emerge. This allows the film to be a multilayered experiment, with Eggers oscillating between traditional and subversive methods of filmmaking in order to bring this curious story to life, which is done with an astonishing amount of precision and earnest commitment.

Visually, it is impossible to find a film that operates at the same wavelength as The Northman. Somehow, Eggers manages to take a palette of around half a dozen colours, and crafts an astonishingly beautiful film. Much of this has to be credited to the setting, with the majority of the film being shot on location in Northern Ireland, which substitutes for the Scandinavian region in the pre-medieval era, with the lush green fields and wide-open spaces being a perfect place to reconstruct the past, as far as our knowledge can extend. Naturally, Eggers and his cohorts have to go off conjecture in terms of determining what these places would have looked like (especially since we are dealing with a culture that considered pillaging and burning down conquered villages as an essential part of their colonial project, leaving very few actual tangible details behind for historians to analyse in the continued effort to bring nuance to all moments in history. Eggers once again hires Jarin Blaschke to shoot The Northman, likely based on the absolutely stunning work he did on The Lighthouse, an equally magnificent film, but one that presented a much less-notable challenge – whereas that peculiar character study needed to utilize limited locations, The Northman is constantly moving through different locations, each one needing to not only be visually stunning, but also distinct enough, with the cinematography requiring each new setting to have a personality of its own, a challenging task, but one that Blaschke manages to put together with the most profound ease, or so it would seem. Every detail present throughout The Northman is well-conceived and thought through entirely, with Eggers refusing to leave a single stone upturned in his quest to bring the story of Amleth to the screen in a simple, evocative and straightforward manner, which does require a very dark visual landscape, but one that is effectively worked around about Blaschke, who ensures that, even at its most bleak, there is something of value in the surroundings that work in creative opposition, creating a more tense, but also a far more beautiful portrait of the past, which could also be seen as being more historically-accurate than many of the more valiant Viking films in the early era of filmmaking.

A story that spans multiple decades and several different locations is naturally going to require consistency in the quality of performances, and like with his previous two films, the director works with a cast of very gifted actors, some of whom have worked with Eggers previously, others making their debut into his nightmarish but captivating version of the world. However, unlike the other films, this is the first time he has utilized an ensemble, with his usual process being a smaller set of characters. This matches with the sprawling nature of the film as a whole, with around a dozen memorable performances being scattered throughout this film. Alexander Skarsgård holds court as Amleth, the vengeful former prince who decides to return to his home kingdom and avenge the death of his father by disposing of the man who murdered him and took over his dominion, which has compelled our hero to spend years training his body and mind to take back what is rightly his property, as well as getting retribution for the loss of his father. Skarsgård is a solid actor who has turned in excellent work many times before – but yet it feels like The Northman is bound to be his signature role going forward, with his sheer magnetism and animalistic tendencies making this a very visceral performance that keeps the film consistently interesting and compelling. Claes Bang and Nicole Kidman are the villains, both of them playing truly insidious characters who differ in the level of madness and intention, but share a common goal that is contradictory to those of our hero. These veteran actors prove their exceptional mettle, and while there is nothing particularly complex, both emotionally and physically (at least not in comparison to Skarsgård), their work is very impressive. Anya Taylor-Joy, Willem Dafoe, Björk  (in a very rare acting appearance) and Ethan Hawke round out the cast, playing memorable supporting roles that help guide the main character on this journey – and whether appearing only for a single scene, or being peppered in throughout the film, they all make invaluable contributions that help create a strong and intriguing character-based landscape that matches the tone and atmosphere of the film with an almost eerie commitment to detail.

However, despite the enormous scope, The Northman is not a film that is defined by excess in any sense. In fact, one of the most distinctive and fascinating traits about this film is its enormous simplicity in terms of story construction. Eggers prioritizes the material above everything else, and while it is obvious that nothing based on a text that has existed for over a millennium can be entirely by-the-book, he does make sure that all flourishes he adds are in favour of the original material, rather than just being a free-form descent into excess, which is seemingly expected for these overly ambitious productions. Eggers has nothing but reverence for the Norse culture and its mythology, and as a result it seems almost inappropriate to suggest that even a single moment of this film was not driven by the active desire to expand on the mythological roots as far as possible. Ultimately, history is defined by its cultural details more than anything else, and while ancient Norse social and political structure may be a niche concept, it is one that informs the majority of this film, which frequently, and without any hesitation acknowledges the past in a way that is honest (as far as we can understand), as well as being very artistically and narratively relevant, even if it is set well over a thousand years before anyone alive for this film’s production would have even been conceived. Yet, there is such a strong spirit of authenticity that lingers throughout the story, which only grows in complexity the more Eggers actively aims to simplify it. Therefore, the best approach would be to retain as much of the original material as possible, with only the more holy of rituals becoming increasingly uncommon, since few would be foolish to manipulate sacred texts (which may cover religions that are no longer practised, but still have a deep connection to those who are descended from these cultures), leading to a far more prosaic retelling of this myth, but one that Eggers manages to make exhilarating and accessible through simple but evocative methods that propel this film to the status of a near-masterpiece.

The Northman isan astonishing work both visually and narratively, and Eggers continues to march to the beat of his own drum, being a filmmaker whose ambitions are always realized, since he is willing to put in the hard work, taking the obstacles in stride (often even viewing them as essential components on the journey towards successful storytelling), and simply dedicating his time to crafting a film that is both insightful and entertaining. The Northman may not be his most unsettling film, but it is the one that is most likely going to be the most disturbing in terms of violence and gore, which may seem excessive, but serves to be an important component of this film, which would not have been nearly as effective had it taken a more polished, sanitized root. Blood and torment are integral to the identity of this film, which feels like it is justified in taking such an approach, with the caveat being that audiences know what they are getting into when choosing to venture through the world established by this film. However controversial as it may be, violence can be beautiful when used correctly, and Eggers’ depiction of the battles, both large-scale and interpersonal, are almost poetic, which is also partially due to the entire film seemingly being shrouded in a sense of mystique, as if the director was trying to bring this mythological world to life in its most ethereal form, rather than trying to make it appear more realistic (which leads to a few absolutely awe-inspiring moments of pure abstraction), which was yet another brilliant choice in this already exceptionally well-crafted film. The Northman is dark, bleak and harrowing, but it has a sense of profound beauty that is present in every frame. Eggers is one of the true masters of contemporary cinema, and even with only a small handful of films produced so far, he is already achieving a strong reputation for well-crafted, meaningful historical films, each one leaping to a particular moment in the past and exploring it in detail. This is not an exception, and while it takes some time to fully realize many of its ideas, the film is truly astonishing, and is bound to be remembered for its incredible artistic approach, and its fervent dedication to paying tribute to the past, in terms of its culture, history and mythologies.