Sunday, August 4, 2013

Valhalla Rising (2009)

Director: Nicolas Winding Refn
Writer:   Roy Jacobsen, Matthew Read, Nicolas Winding Refn
Cast:      Mads Mikkelsen, Alexander Morton, Stewart Porter

The film is set in 1000s AD, where One Eye, a silent warrior of great strength escapes from his captor along with a boy who was feeding him. A journey follows where they meet up with Christian vikings who are in search of Holy Land. They end up presumably in America and encounters Red Indians.

The subtext is left to the viewer to interpret and I guess it is about faith, religion and mythology. Refn had described it as something like a tale of Christianity Vs Mythology. Like in his last two films, Drive and Only God Forgives, a character plays a God like figure of extreme strength. Thing with these kind of films is that even if you don't get a complete or even vague ideas about what the director is trying to convey, whatever little you get is very rewarding. Just like solving a fucked up mental exercise. Essential viewing for a Refn fan and for others it is better to start with his other films before venturing into Valhalla Rising.

Rating: 3.5/5

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