Beowulf and Grendel
My hunny-bunny and I went to see "Beowulf and Grendel" yesterday. If you're looking for a shoot-em-up thriller or the latest special effects, don't go. If you're ready to be entertained and maybe even challenged a little while that happens, buy a ticket. I would suggest you do it quickly though, because I can't see this one lasting a long time in the theatres. It's a little too calm by today's standards. Even the "monster" is portrayed by an actor with no benefit of CG
The movie is based on the heroic epic poem "Beowulf", in which a hero of the Geats, a tribe of southern Sweden, travels to Denmark to help free King Hrothgar and his people from the murderous attention of the monster Grendel. In the ancient tale, Beowulf meets Grendel on the first night in King Hrothgar's hall and does battle with him. Knowing that the monster is protected against the power of swords by magic, Beowulf wrestles with the creature instead. They wrestle until Beowulf rips Grendel's arm from his shoulder and the beast runs home to die. The next night he is forced to deal with Grendel's mother who comes seeking revenge for his death. Beowulf follows the mother to her lair where he prevails again, taking Grendel's head from his corpse to present to the Danish king.
The director keeps his characters crude and down-to-earth, as were the people they portray, and the poem the movie is drawn from. The movies stays fairly close to the original story, but does add a couple of twists to the plot line. One is the witch Selma, not an original character, who is portrayed by Sarah Polley. Selma refuses to add the Geats in their quest to end the monster's life, and reveals to Beowulf that she has borne Grendel a son, also a character absent from the original tale. The boy adds a little pathos to the unfortunate Grendel's demise, but the witch, as played by Polley does nothing more than take up space on the screen. Polley's acting is totally flat and one-dimensional. In fact, rather than paying Polley, the producers could have used a paper cutout and gotten just as much, or even more, for their money.
The other twist added to this tellling of the ancient tale is to be found in the hero himself. In the original story, he is nothing more than a weapon wielding superhero with little character development. In the movie, he is presented as a man unusual for his time, a man who seeks to understand Grendel's motivation and see things from his point of view. He begins to wonder why the monster kills only the warriors and harms not the women or the children. He realizes that Grendel at first foregoes the harming of any Geats, and limits his killing to the Danes. He questions Hrothgar as to how Grendel may have been wronged in the past, and even seeks to offer the monster a peaceful end to the situation.
Toronto-based director Sturla Gunnarsson ventures far from the black and white of the ancient epic into the shifting grays of today's morality. His film challenges its viewers to ponder the question of what exactly makes a hero and what makes a villain. He hopes his audience will understand that in today's world, it is no longer easy to dismiss anyone as the "bad guy".
Set against cliffs and fjords, the incredible scenery of Gunnarsson's birthplace, Iceland, "Beowulf and Grendel" makes for an entertaining watch on the big screen, but I think it will suffer in the transition to DVD. Get to the theatre to see it with a friend so that you can go to a pub afterward to discuss it over a draught of mead big enough to satisfy even the mighty Beowulf.
The movie is based on the heroic epic poem "Beowulf", in which a hero of the Geats, a tribe of southern Sweden, travels to Denmark to help free King Hrothgar and his people from the murderous attention of the monster Grendel. In the ancient tale, Beowulf meets Grendel on the first night in King Hrothgar's hall and does battle with him. Knowing that the monster is protected against the power of swords by magic, Beowulf wrestles with the creature instead. They wrestle until Beowulf rips Grendel's arm from his shoulder and the beast runs home to die. The next night he is forced to deal with Grendel's mother who comes seeking revenge for his death. Beowulf follows the mother to her lair where he prevails again, taking Grendel's head from his corpse to present to the Danish king.
The director keeps his characters crude and down-to-earth, as were the people they portray, and the poem the movie is drawn from. The movies stays fairly close to the original story, but does add a couple of twists to the plot line. One is the witch Selma, not an original character, who is portrayed by Sarah Polley. Selma refuses to add the Geats in their quest to end the monster's life, and reveals to Beowulf that she has borne Grendel a son, also a character absent from the original tale. The boy adds a little pathos to the unfortunate Grendel's demise, but the witch, as played by Polley does nothing more than take up space on the screen. Polley's acting is totally flat and one-dimensional. In fact, rather than paying Polley, the producers could have used a paper cutout and gotten just as much, or even more, for their money.
The other twist added to this tellling of the ancient tale is to be found in the hero himself. In the original story, he is nothing more than a weapon wielding superhero with little character development. In the movie, he is presented as a man unusual for his time, a man who seeks to understand Grendel's motivation and see things from his point of view. He begins to wonder why the monster kills only the warriors and harms not the women or the children. He realizes that Grendel at first foregoes the harming of any Geats, and limits his killing to the Danes. He questions Hrothgar as to how Grendel may have been wronged in the past, and even seeks to offer the monster a peaceful end to the situation.
Toronto-based director Sturla Gunnarsson ventures far from the black and white of the ancient epic into the shifting grays of today's morality. His film challenges its viewers to ponder the question of what exactly makes a hero and what makes a villain. He hopes his audience will understand that in today's world, it is no longer easy to dismiss anyone as the "bad guy".
Set against cliffs and fjords, the incredible scenery of Gunnarsson's birthplace, Iceland, "Beowulf and Grendel" makes for an entertaining watch on the big screen, but I think it will suffer in the transition to DVD. Get to the theatre to see it with a friend so that you can go to a pub afterward to discuss it over a draught of mead big enough to satisfy even the mighty Beowulf.
1 Comments:
Yes, it was an enjoyable movie. A lot of the story was told not by the actions of the characters, but their emotion, and the landscape -- which was harsh and beautiful in its desolation. Great, well written review -- it makes me want to watch it all over again.
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