Beowulf & Grendel

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Horrorphile - April 2008

Beowulf & Grendel

April 15th 2008 00:55

Beowulf & Grendel (2005) is a co-production between Canada, Iceland and the Uk, made three years ago. It enjoyed a brief moment in the sun, playing at numerous Canadian film festivals and then a very limited theatrical release in the States and Europe. It suddenly surfaces on DVD down under in the wake of the Robert Zemeckis CGI affair, and is arguably a better movie.

It manipulates the original epic poem considerably and doesn’t follow Beowulf into middle age (his confrontation with the dragon), but it looks far more authentic than the animated version. This is mostly due to the stunning Icelandic landscape, suitably wind-frozen weather, and excellent art direction and costuming. It also helps having Stellan Skarsgaard, Gerard Butler, Sarah Polley, and Tony Curran in the cast.

Gerard Butler as Gaetland warrior Beowulf

King Hrothgar (Skarsgaard), Lord of the Danes, is a deeply-troubled man. A troll named Grendel (Ingvar Sigurdsson) is wreaking fearsome havoc upon his men. We know why too, Hrothgar killed Grendel’s father many years earlier and now Grendel seeks vengeance. Grendel is huge, like some kind of super-Neanderthal, but is portrayed in a compellingly sympathetic light. He keeps the skull of his father in his cave lair and enjoys urinating against the Danish feasting hall door.

Stellan Skarsgaard as Danish King Hrothgar

Nordic warrior legend Beowulf (Butler) arrives to tackle the problem (one would think in the harsh Northern winds the men would’ve thought to tie their hair back more often), but has the issue confused when he meets Selma (Polley), the local witch who has been ostracized by the village. It seems Selma knows more about Grendel than King Hrothgar is willing to let on. And then there is the Sea Hag (Elva Ósk Ólafsdóttir) who attempts to pull one of Beowulf’s men under the waves. What’s her connection to this tale of bloody, ice-swept revenge?

Sarah Polley as witch Selma

The literary purists won’t appreciate the liberties taken with the original tale, and it can be argued that some of the inherent mystery and drama is dampened by the twists and turns the screenplay makes. The original poem was vague enough in places, so any adaptation is open for interpretation, and this re-molding of the legend is structured well with nice touches of humour.

Ingvar Sigurdsson as tortured troll Grendel

As is the case with co-pros, the actors are from all over and their respective accents clash; Butler and Curran with their Scots brogue, Skarsgaard with his Euro-English, Polley with her Canadian. Theoretically they should all be speaking Danish, but hey, then it’d be subtitled and we wouldn’t have had those actors (perhaps if Mel Gibson had directed ...)

The dialogue is modern, which is a little odd, especially when it comes to the profanity, but I didn’t have too much trouble with it. It added a kind of rustic “charm”. Performances are uniformly in line, but Polley is perhaps a tad too detached.

I will kill your troll ... but first, beer and boar!

Beowulf & Grendel might not possess quite the dramatic intensity or ghoulishness of the recent Hollywood production, but the story and atmosphere feels more literary. Butler looks and performs better here than in 300, and the Iceland geography shines gloriously dark and magnificent. Director Sturla Gunnarsson certainly knows how to frame his native rock and ice.

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Posted By: Bryn - Category: movie reviews

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Comments

4 Comments. [ Add A Comment ]

Comment by Damo

April 15th 2008 03:14

For the Sake of Argument
My Apologetics

It has that 13 Warrior look about it.
Very rustic.

I am not much for the current CGI 'epics'.
I should check this out.

Comment by Bryn

April 15th 2008 06:45

Horrorphile

Damo, worth checking out on a rainy, windswept day ... maybe this winter?

Comment by Cibbuano

April 15th 2008 21:17

20/20 Filmsight
Science News
Hunt Famous
Orble Post of the Day
Fat Cult
Techbreak

I, too, am happy to ignore CGI epics... so this looks a lot more appealing.

Comment by Bryn

April 16th 2008 00:24

Horrorphile

Hey Cibby,
Yeah, and I saw I Am Legend on the plane ... fucking dreadful. Such a great novel, how could they do that to it?!

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