After decades of phony Hollywood Vikings, you can finally see the real thing if this film ever makes it to video or DVD. It is made in Iceland, with Icelandic dialog, and captures the authentic speech and flavor of the sagas: the understatement, occasional grim humor, and slow nursing of grudges over the long winters until they flower into blood feuds. The film also shows the strong bonds of loyalty and affection that held families and clans together, and the painfully developed methods of negotiating settlements that prevented the medieval Icelanders from wiping each other out completely. Indispensible for those who love the Icelandic sagas.
3 Reviews
An attempt at making "viking movie" as a genre
peefyn1 November 2015
This movie does a lot of things right, especially considering the budget (etc) of the filmmakers. The music fits the bill really well, the Icelandic language and scenery is beautiful and about as authentic as you can get. Basing the story upon a saga, and using its conflict is also a good move. Even the costumes and weapons looks authentic, even though I do not know enough about this to judge. Having all of these elements in place, together with some of the stylistic choices made, makes for the perfect formula of a new kind of movie: the viking movie. Taking the best parts from the "spaghetti western"-genre and putting it into a completely different environment, basing it on completely different material, and do an honest attempt to be historically accurate. Sadly, few movies followed this movie's footstep, and so we are (mostly) stuck with horned helmets and giant berserkers.
The problem with this movie is its story. Its taken from the sagas, but they could have made a bit more effort in making it understandable for an audience not familiar with the sagas. There's many characters that's hard to keep track of, and rituals that's not properly explained. You do get the gist of it by watching the movie, but I can imagine some quite simple steps, like more obvious visual cues separating the characters (like how the three main players in the good, the bad and the ugly are all very distinct) and a bit more establishing of the characters and relationships in the beginning of the movie.
All in all, this movie does a lot right, and I wish other filmmakers would follow up the foundation laid by this movie. We should have more (viking) movies like this.
The problem with this movie is its story. Its taken from the sagas, but they could have made a bit more effort in making it understandable for an audience not familiar with the sagas. There's many characters that's hard to keep track of, and rituals that's not properly explained. You do get the gist of it by watching the movie, but I can imagine some quite simple steps, like more obvious visual cues separating the characters (like how the three main players in the good, the bad and the ugly are all very distinct) and a bit more establishing of the characters and relationships in the beginning of the movie.
All in all, this movie does a lot right, and I wish other filmmakers would follow up the foundation laid by this movie. We should have more (viking) movies like this.
Fantastic adaptation!
inkdream-534683 October 2018
Warning: Spoilers
If you're interested in stories about honor, revenge, and murder within a family, this movie is a must-watch! Utlaginn is such a fantastic adaptation of a piece of medieval Icelandic literature. I read the work this movie is adapted from, the Saga of Gisli Sursson, in my medieval literature class last week, and then my professor showed us this movie to accompany our discussion.
Personally, I have difficultly keeping who's who straight in any piece of Germanic/Celtic/Scandinavian work, whether it be historical or a fantasy series inspired by those cultures, since their names all start with the same prefix. That's hardly a fault of this movie. The fact that most of these actors look alike doesn't help either. I pulled out my copy of the text to follow along, and found that Utlaginn follows the text nearly scene for scene, which is pretty cool! There are some elaborations, like the exact words the farmer's wife uses to curse out Bork and his men so her husband can hide Gisli away, that make the movie more entertaining than the text.
It was definitely easier to follow along with the movie having read the saga, but it's not like you have to know the text to understand that murder and revenge happen. SYNOPSIS WITH SPOILERS: Gisli's brother's (Thorkel) wife (Asgerd) cheated with Gisli's wife's (Aud) brother (Vestein), then the brother-in-law (Vestein) was murdered. Nobody knows who did it, but Gisli thinks the answer came through his dreams. There's an honor system that lays out the order of who gets first dibs on vengeance, which Gisli broke by going and murdering Thorgrim, the husband of his and Thorkel's sister, Thordis. Gisli admits his guilt in a really complicated poem, Thordis figures it out, she gets remarried to Thorgrim's brother, Bork, and sets him on the proper, legal path towards vengeance. Gisli, Aud, and their adopted daughter escape and live on the run for years. Eventually, Bork outsourced his vengeance to Eyjolf, and he and his men finally caught up and killed Gisli. Thordis, even though she'd set Bork after Gisli 3 years before, was understandably upset anyway with the death of her brother. She attacked Eyjolf, who then demanded full recompense (the same amount as slaying a man would incur) from Bork. Thordis divorces her husband so he wouldn't be able to pay, which is honestly a petty move I can get behind. It's great!
Personally, I have difficultly keeping who's who straight in any piece of Germanic/Celtic/Scandinavian work, whether it be historical or a fantasy series inspired by those cultures, since their names all start with the same prefix. That's hardly a fault of this movie. The fact that most of these actors look alike doesn't help either. I pulled out my copy of the text to follow along, and found that Utlaginn follows the text nearly scene for scene, which is pretty cool! There are some elaborations, like the exact words the farmer's wife uses to curse out Bork and his men so her husband can hide Gisli away, that make the movie more entertaining than the text.
It was definitely easier to follow along with the movie having read the saga, but it's not like you have to know the text to understand that murder and revenge happen. SYNOPSIS WITH SPOILERS: Gisli's brother's (Thorkel) wife (Asgerd) cheated with Gisli's wife's (Aud) brother (Vestein), then the brother-in-law (Vestein) was murdered. Nobody knows who did it, but Gisli thinks the answer came through his dreams. There's an honor system that lays out the order of who gets first dibs on vengeance, which Gisli broke by going and murdering Thorgrim, the husband of his and Thorkel's sister, Thordis. Gisli admits his guilt in a really complicated poem, Thordis figures it out, she gets remarried to Thorgrim's brother, Bork, and sets him on the proper, legal path towards vengeance. Gisli, Aud, and their adopted daughter escape and live on the run for years. Eventually, Bork outsourced his vengeance to Eyjolf, and he and his men finally caught up and killed Gisli. Thordis, even though she'd set Bork after Gisli 3 years before, was understandably upset anyway with the death of her brother. She attacked Eyjolf, who then demanded full recompense (the same amount as slaying a man would incur) from Bork. Thordis divorces her husband so he wouldn't be able to pay, which is honestly a petty move I can get behind. It's great!
See also
Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews
