Beowulf & Grendel
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Actor: Gunnar Eyjólfsson, Hringur Ingvarsson, Ingvar Eggert Sigurðsson, Spencer Wilding, Stellan SkarsgårdAudio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language)
Format: Import, NTSC
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
DVD Reviews of Beowulf & Grendel
DVD Review: Tale told by the campfire---
Summary: 4 Stars
The movie titles over the ancient map with demons in the sea; the music of strings and drums sets the tone of otherworldlyness; tribal tales told round the campfire - and the dark beyond where terrors dwell. Into this world of fable and myth we are told the tale of the hero Beowulf. Is what we see and hear true - or along with other ancient stories, an entertainment to pass the time as we enjoy our drinks before sleep, as those ancient peoples did?
It has been over 60 years since I had to read Beowulf in Senior English. All that I remember is it was a hero tale and I was glad to finish it. But it did have a great hero.
I think the whole film is like a dream - not real, but fantasy. We see Beowulf (Gerard Butler) emerging from the ice cold waters which would kill in minutes, to say G'day to a fisherman. He is not cold - he is just wondering where he is.
In the opening moments we are introduced to the backstory of what happened to Grendel(Ingvar Sigurdsson), a troll, and why he is murdering the Danes. The sea behind Grendel as this unfolds, with the huge ancient primeval rocks and the waves are awe inspiring, giving meaning to the quote "what is man that you are mindful of him?"
Back in Geatland, Beowulf hears of the Danes troubles and decides to take his warriors to rid his friend, King Hrothgar(Stellan Skarsgard) of the menace. The meeting with the king and the next days, show him to be a drunken weakling. And there is something not right.
Selma (Sarah Polley), a witch, sees with clear eyes, maybe because she is considered "the other" a nonperson who would be killed except for the troll. For some reason he protects her. This is a secret, along with others, that Beowulf will begin to uncover, until he has become aware that all is not as it seems. Is he doing good? or evil?
The final denouement of Grendal is gruesome but the final honor paid by Beowulf to him is sad and dignified.
Comments: Of the cast, Butler is perfect as the conflicted warrior, big, strong and questioning.
I was most dissapointed in Skarsgard. After reading so many comments praising his performance maybe I expected more. I thought he overdid some of his scenes and other lines just threw away. He just did not make me feel anything for this wimpy king.
Sigurdsson was okay but again, I was expecting to feel more for him after reading soooo much praise for his performance.
Sarah Polley is the one I thought was spot on. Now this is where I canna understand the dissing she has had over her Selma. I GOT it and thought it was most telling that no one mentions the horror that her character must have endured by the time Beowulf meets her. She asks him, when he mentions that both there peoples were annihilated by the same tribe, "but did they make you a whore?" I thought Polley played her as a survivor, and did it well.
The priest - was he supposed to be going mad? That is the way I felt.
The Iceland horses - I loved watching the riders. Did you notice that their gait makes the rider almost completely motionless? No bouncing around. The Tennessee Walker, that people ride in the US who have to be riding all day, has the same gate. The horse does the moving, the rider is still. I thought the shot of all of the Geats riding towards the waterfall was great. No laughing from me.
The language. Come on!!! This is so tame I hardly noticed it - I was expecting something like "GoodFellas" with every other word a curseword. Sorry, I was underwhelmed - seemed just about right for a bunch of men doing the dirty work of killing for the citizens.
Beowulfs comment on seeing the glacier "We're in a different world here" and his final words "Sleep Grendel" brought tears to my eyes.
A wonderful trip indeed into "a different world." A myth - told round the campfire. And the monsters are still out there in the dark.
This was a review of the DVD. Rating 9/10
Description of Beowulf & Grendel
The otherworldly landscape of Iceland lends an appropriate touch of dark fantasy to this modern retelling of Beowulf, the oldest epic poem in the English language. Gerard Butler (The Phantom of the Opera) brings the right balance of physicality and world-weariness as the Swedish hero Beowulf, who travels to Denmark to fight the monstrous troll Grendel (Icelandic superstar Ignvar Sigurdsson), which has been plaguing the house of King Hrothgar (Stellan Skarsgård, buried under a mound of prosthetic hair). However, what transpires is not a battle between good and evil, but a convoluted mystery of sorts, with Beowulf playing the detective who discovers that his foe is more human than monster, and Hrothgar less wronged innocent than catalyst for his own downfall. Director Sturla Gunnarsson succeeds in pulling this legendary story from the dust of academics by contemporizing the dialogue (Andrew Rai Berzins has an excellent ear for hard-bitten palaver), and his visuals are nothing less than striking, but the film attempts to be both monster movie and melancholy drama, while never quite satisfying the requirements of either genre. Regardless, the quality cast (which includes Sarah Polley from Dawn of the Dead as a sharp-tongued witch with a connection to Grendel) and some well-handled action sequences should hold viewers' attention even when the unnecessarily complex plot does not. --Paul GaitaBestsellers in DVD
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