Oh what a wonderful thing movie blogs are! Otherwise I would never know about movies like "Valhalla Rising", the latest movie by Nicolas Winding Refn, director of "Bronson" and the "Pusher Trilogy". Just like "Bronson", I discovered "Valhalla Rising" on the internet and its crazy trailer and was excited because it had burly vikings in it. And just like "Bronson", I was delighted to find out how different it is.
"Bronson" is a brilliantly crafted biography that is bizarre and profits from its visual appeal but mostly relies on Tom Hardy's ("Inception") stellar performance. "Valhalla Rising", on the other hand, is all about the visuals. I have a huge soft spot for visually striking movies and will generally fall for them without much thought for other details of the film such as acting, script, characters, etc. Although there isn't much exemplary acting or a detailed script involved, none of that matters in this movie. The acting isn't bad, and neither is the story, it's just not necessary when the imagery and scenery draw you into the movie like nothing I've seen for a long time. "Inception" was fantastic because of the 'dream world' it created and the details therein. However, this movie actually feels like a dream, and most of it like a nightmare.
But a beautifully shot nightmare nonetheless. If you're a fan of Terrence Malick's movies (Days of Heaven, The Thin Red Line, The New World), you'll love this. It's nearly void of dialogue and even when there is some it's usually vague philosophical musings and/or small plot point details such as the fact that these "Christian" vikings are trying to sail to the "Holy Land". One-Eye (Mads Mikkelsen who played Le Chiffre in "Casino Royale"), the brutal, mute warrior joins these vikings along with a young boy after having escaped and killed his captors who previously used him for gladiator type matches. He's killed everyone who's gone up against him and his stony silent presence in the movie is unnerving.
There's a definite religious undertone in this movie that's evident with the "Christian" vikings trying to win redemption by dying in the Holy Land while this One-Eye is rumored to have come from hell. These undertones are interesting and could result in some discussion, but they didn't intrigue me that much. I'm usually the first one to be obsessed with any sort of message(s), but not in this film. You can barely call it a "message" really, more of an "analogy" or "metaphor", but even then it's not in your face at all. It simply drifts on through haunting images and occasionally erupts in a sudden scene of violence. Even though there's not much action, what little there is is disturbing and brutal (such as cutting open a guys stomach with an arrow head and pulling his guts out).
Some may find the eerie way this film is shot, coupled with it's foreboding soundtrack and effects, gets old after a while. At one point when everything is in slow motion and all the characters are going crazy (or something) I even thought it was a bit much and slightly cheesy. Only at this one point was I taken out of the trance I was in at the time. Few movies have that sort of effect on me where afterwards I'm really not quite normal for some time.
Then again, some may be frustrated by its lack of characterization, storyline and dialogue, just like many are with Malick's movies. They will say it's an excuse to create some undoubtedly awesome shots that could just as easily be a collection of photographs instead. I would retort that much of cinema these days has lost the idea that movies are just a string of images and it's a great thing to go back to the beauty and darkness of nature and the pictures it paints for effects you can't get anywhere else.
After this I will avidly await anything else Refn creates. It's a dark world he's created in "Valhalla Rising" that may at times get lost in it's own darkness, but it's a fascinating one nonetheless and a cinematic experience you're not likely to forget.
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