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Valhalla Rising (Denmark)

By DEREK ELLEY, Posted: Sat., Sep. 5, 2009, 2:20pm PT

A Scanbox (in Denmark)/Vertigo Distribution (in U.K.) release of a Nimbus Film presentation of a One Eye Prod. production, in association with Blind Eye Prods., La Belle Allee Prods., Scanbox Entertainment. (International sales: Wild Bunch, Paris.) Produced by Johnny Andersen, Bo Ehrhardt, Henrik Danstrup. Executive producers, Lene Borglum, Joni Sighvatsson, Mads Peter Ole Olsen, Thorir Sigurjonsson, Yves Chevalier, Carole Sheridan, Christine Alderson. Co-producer, Karen Smyth. Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn. Screenplay, Refn, Roy Jacobsen; additional writing, Matthew Read.

With: Mads Mikkelsen, Maarten Stevenson, Gordon Brown, Andrew Flanagan, Gary Lewis, Gary McCormack, Alexander Morton, Jamie Sieves, Ewan Stewart, Matthew Zajac.

Camera (Technicolor prints, widescreen, DV-to-35mm), Morten Soborg; editor, Mat Newman; music, Peter-Peter, Peter Kyed; production designer, Maurel Wear; costume designer, Gill Horn; sound (Dolby Digital), Cameron Mercer, Douglas MacDougall, Chris Sinclair; sound designer, Giles Lamb; casting, Des Hamilton. Reviewed at Venice Film Festival (noncompeting), Sept. 3, 2009. (Also in Toronto Film Festival — Special Presentations.) Running time: 90 MIN. (English dialogue)


A one-trick pony that rapidly wears out the considerable welcome of its first reel, "Valhalla Rising" is a grunge-and-gore Viking movie that, like its characters, spends most of its time going round in circles. Hopes that Danish auteur Nicolas Winding Refn would translate his passion for myth into a Viking epic worthy of the name are dashed by a script that’s virtually devoid of plot and character development; the helmer’s rep (the "Pusher" trilogy, "Bronson") will nudge the pic along the fest circuit, but most auds will find it a one-note turnoff, signaling B.O. more Nibelheim than Valhalla.

Movie opens like gangbusters, in full John Milius mode, with a storming intertitle -- "In the beginning there was only man and nature. Then men came bearing crosses and drove the heathen to the ends of the earth" -- whose promise is quickly fulfilled by a sequence of mano-a-mano fights to the death on a wild and woolly mountainside.

The chief protag is a mute, heavily scarred warrior, dubbed "One-Eye" (Mads Mikkelsen, "Casino Royale"), who, like Conan in his early days, is kept in a cage like an animal and only brought out to fight for money, by his Scottish owner, Barde (Alexander Morton). The most info ever imparted about him is that he came from across the ocean (presumably Scandinavia), from an equally violent past that’s glimpsed throughout in One-Eye’s blood-red memory flashes.

After fulfilling the prophecy that "he’s never belonged to anyone for more than five years" by slaughtering his captors and disemboweling his owner, One-Eye sets off for home with a young boy (Maarten Stevenson), who acts as his voice. En route, however, they fall in with a handful of Christian Vikings who are planning to sail to Jerusalem to conquer the Holy Land. With the voyage and its surprising aftermath, the pic sails off into an unreal, almost fantastic world that seems dramatically at odds with the hyper-realism of the opening.

That would be fine if Refn showed any genuine feel for myth or heroism. But his idea of the latter seems to be outbreaks of slaughter, separated by endless thousand-yard stares by Mikkelsen and the rest of the cast. And his idea of fantasy -- perhaps dictated by shortage of coin -- seems to be one small boat in a foggy studio tank that makes Italo sword-and-sandal movies of the ’60s look big-budget.

With very little dialogue, and even less plot, five chapter stops lend the movie a skeletal structure: "Wrath," "Silent Warrior," "Men of God," "The Holy Land" and "Hell." But any discussion of the Dark Ages conflict between paganism and Christianity is reduced to just grunts or insults.

The mute Mikkelsen cuts a fine figure in widescreen as the Man With No Name but Loads of Attitude. As the boy who speaks for him, Stevenson probably has the most dialogue, but delivers it without feeling. Other roles, mostly played by Scots, have few distinguishing features beyond brutality and plug-ugliness.

Deliberately color-drained DV lensing is cold even in the pic’s few sunny sequences, and acts as a further monotonous damper on the film. Drone-metal synth soundtrack has all the subtlety of an ax splitting a skull.

Contact Derek Elley at [Es ist nur Administratoren erlaubt, diesen Link zu sehen]

Date in print: Sat., Sep. 5, 2009

TIFF 2009: Valhalla Unlocked

BY MATHEW KUMAR, SEPTEMBER 15, 2009 AT 10:00 AM

Valhalla Rising is monolithic. Massive, slow, and awe-inspiringly impactful, Nicolas Winding Refn’s latest film changes gears completely from his legendary crime dramas (such as the Pusher trilogy) with a story of oppressive Norse hardship that begins in the Scottish Highlands and ends in the new world, or as its characters know it, Hell. The always amazing Mads Mikkelsen plays One Eye, the totemic centrepiece of the film, who can see destiny and silently, mightily helps his companions reach it without question.

Split into chapters and paced slowly—characters rarely talk and their journey is one of such despair that there are long periods of torturous emptiness—Valhalla Rising is likely to frustrate those expecting a more traditional film. But as artistically framed and ordered as this film is there are still moments of horrifying viscerality (at one point featuring literal viscera) and identifiable emotion. Refn sees this film as his “science fiction movie,” and its mythic journey from one gorgeous, near-alien landscape to another and the madness and turmoil that result fit the milieu of hard SF, as unlikely as that sounds, but especially when layered with such an astonishing post-rock soundtrack. Valhalla Rising is like a dream or nightmare whose sensations linger and colour your days—even if you can’t remember the details.

4.5/5

Valhalla Rising plays today at the Winter Garden at 4 p.m. and at Scotiabank 3 on September 19 at 12:15 p.m..

TIFF: ‘Valhalla Rising’ Delivers Authentic Viking Experience

3 years ago by John Foote (2009)

A splendid co-production between Denmark and the United Kingdom, Valhalla Rising is an extraordinary work set during the time of Vikings. Hollywood has never managed to deal well with Viking lore, and after this film, perhaps they should not because I am not confident they would ever achieve what is achieved in this masterful work, one of the great visual experiences at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival.

The picture opens on a desolate coast where the heads of warring tribes meet for battle. For many years, One Eye (Mads Mikkelsen) has been the greatest warrior, but is treated like an animal, let out only to fight and then essentially fed and watered in his cage, where he can do no harm. His only real connection to humanity is the young boy who brings him his food and water everyday, and even then it is a prickly relationship. When a band of Christians take One Eye and the boy with them on a journey, how can they know it is fraught with disaster? How will it impact their lives, and how will their lives be forever altered?

There is always a different feel to a film in a foreign language that cannot be helped. Gestures mean something else in another country, the manner in which people speak may mean something else, a glance can speak volumes, and if done properly (as this is) they can create a world that once existed that we will believe in without question, simply because they present it so well and their belief in it is all-encompassing. Think about Star Wars and that great opening moment when the smaller ship is being followed by a star destroyer; Lucas establishes that this world is unlike anything we have seen before in just a few seconds… the same thing happens here.

Nicolas Winding Refn does a brilliant job sweeping the audience away to another time and place. Like Apocalpyse Now the filmmaker plunges us into his world in the opening frames of the film, establishing what is happening and where we are very quickly. The images in this film are often entirely original, as I have never seen landscape like this before. There is something alien about the landscape – something fresh and very new.

Refn gives the film a gritty realism, with lived-in characters and a strong narrative throughout. The battle scenes are ferocious and realistic, with much hacking of limbs and brutal warfare, and One Eye being a most fearsome warrior. Though the film looks like an epic, it is surprisingly short, clocking in at 90 minutes, and it moves swiftly, as I would have watched much more of the film.

There is nothing of the sterotypical Viking lore in the film, no helmets with horns, no goofy looking boats – this is a more authentic approach to the Viking legends than anything we have seen before. I thought of The Vikings from 1958 with Kirk Douglas and began to snicker… nope, this is how it’s done boys.

This Week In Trailers: Valhalla Rising, Reel Injun, Black Field, Oil City Confidential

Posted on Friday, February 5th, 2010 by Christopher Stipp

Valhalla Rising

Let’s just get this out of the way: Mads Mikkelsen is just one intimidating individual.

Yeah, he wasn’t so much a threat to be dealt with in the Bond films but the man just has a presence about him where you understand why a filmmaker like director/co-writer Nicolas Winding Refn likes to work with the guy. He just comes across as a person not to be ignored when he comes on screen so it should be no surprise that when you ask whether he could pull of being a one-eyed mute with “supernatural strength”, like some human chimpanzee, the only correct answer is undoubtedly “yes.”

The opening sequence is a delight to look at. The rolling hills, the low clouds creating a smoky environment, the gathering of a few men to bear witness of Mads being extensively tied up to ostensibly keep that roid rage in check, all the while as some lad finger paints on his back.

The smash cut to us seeing Mads get pummeled while chained to a stick in the ground like some canine is awkwardly presented and doesn’t really invoke that sense of grandeur I think we should feel for what will ostensibly be a movie about this man’s personal journey. Further, I’d add that a lot of this kind of looks like Louis Leterrier’s Danny the Dog: guy is kept as a slave monkey, learns how to beat people when unleashed, literally, finds meaning in his life, and learns how to pick up ladies the Morgan Freeman way. All loving aside, I’m not sure what’s different but when when our guy takes events into his own mitts and slashes the throat of the guy who’s trying to keep him under control I am wildly engaged with what’s happening.

However, this is where things get a little weird and a little confusing.

So, he kills some guys in order to get free. He gets propositioned to be a part of some gang to kill other people and he accepts the offer. They all start paddling, like Vikings are wont to do when there’s a boat in the water, down a river when one of the gang members gets an arrow in his chest from a pack of hooligans brandishing weapons on one of the river banks. The net effect of all of this is a little concerning because I don’t think I have anything invested in this guy who I could care less if he survives or dies. He just seems like a merc who has nothing in the game, as it were.

Smash cut to our mute just slaughtering his way through the last third of the trailer. Literally, there are heads being carried off the field of battle, hands being stuck on the end of spears, ax fights are just blurring into bloody faces. But the one thing that’s troubling is the sound mixing is horrendous. Also, the musical track being used, if I’m not mistaken, is that of The Terminator. Huh? Seriously, I’m confused even more by the sudden auditory inclusion of a score that doesn’t really belong but I’m quickly given a visual back-rub with an ending that couldn’t better sum up what we’re going to see.

I love Refn’s work. I do. This is, unfortunately, a case when a weak trailer is released for a film I was really looking forward to see. It’s almost like being in rush hour traffic with a lot of fits and starts and then nothing. Let’s hope it’s just a matter of a bad artisan who was allowed to do whatever they wanted in slapping this together.

Trailer: Valhalla Rising

Posted by Patrick Sauriol on Monday, February 22, 2010

Remember Mads Mikkelsen from Casino Royale? Le Chiffre? The bad guy with the weeping eye? Well Mads is back in a new movie and he's still got a bad eye. In fact, his character is named One-Eye and he's even more mean than he was against James Bond.

Mad's new movie is called Valhalla Rising and it's set during the age of the Vikings. One-Eye is captured by some bloodthirsty Norsemen and has to team up with his only ally, a young boy. Together the two set out to find their revenge on their captors and find freedom.

Based on the clips that are making the rounds on the 'net today, the movie doesn't have more of a storyline than that. If you were holding out for a period movie which has plenty of violence -- and by plenty, boy, do I mean plenty -- then this is the movie that you've been waiting for.

If you're squeamish, if you don't like to see bloodthirsty one-eyed mutes ripping people apart or if your work doesn't appreciate gore being watched on company time, you need to go away now.

At 1:46 in, there's what Mel Gibson couldn't bring himself to show you at the end of Braveheart.

Brutal Brutal Brutal! Valhalla Rising Sneak Peek

published: 2010-02-22 13:11:02 Author: Will LeBlanc

If you see anything today even a little bit more brutal than this mash up of clips from Nicolas Winding Refn's Valhalla Rising, you seriously need to re-evaluate your life. I'm a proud owner of Riki-Oh, a hyper-violent Chinese film from the early 90s, and this two-minute clip puts that entire movie to shame.

Refn's previous release Bronson also has a reputation for being incredibly ferocious, but after seeing this preview, Valhalla Rising may prove to be the bloodiest film of the new decade. Rising stars Mads Mikkelsen, who never ceases to impress me, as One-Eye, a mute warrior with supernatural strength who apparently has no qualms with straight tearing the guts out of his enemies.

I can't even wrap my head around how unabashedly brutal this series of clips is. There's no hint of story, no romance, no crappy voice over; it's just pure, unadulterated barbarism and it is god damn glorious.

People with weak stomachs, this is your last chance to click away.

(critique) Le Guerrier Silencieux, Valhalla rising 2009

Vendredi 5 février 2010, Reviewed by: Nicolas Gilli

Titre original : Valhalla Rising

Director: Nicolas Winding Refn
Actors: Andrew Flanagan, Ewan Stewart, Gary Lewis, Gary McCormack, Gordon Brown, Jamie Sives, Maarten Stevenson, Mads Mikkelsen
Genre: Aventure, Historique

Date de sortie cinéma : 10 mars 2010
Distributeur : Le Pacte

Note: 5 / 5 - Chef-d\'œuvre

Synopsis

Pendant des années, One-Eye, un guerrier muet et sauvage, a été le prisonnier de Barde, un redoutable chef de clan. Grâce à l'aide d'un enfant, Are, il parvient à tuer son geôlier et ensemble ils s'échappent, s'embarquant pour un voyage au coeur des ténèbres. Au cours de leur fuite, ils montent à bord d'un bateau viking, mais le navire, pendant la traversée, se retrouve perdu dans un brouillard sans fin, qui ne va se dissiper que pour révéler une terre inconnue. Alors que ce nouveau territoire dévoile ses secrets, les Vikings affrontent un ennemi invisible et terrifiant, et One-Eye va découvrir ses véritables origines...


Critique

Amateurs de grands films barbares qui après avoir vu les premières images s’attendaient à un nouveau Conan made in Danemark, passez votre chemin! Comme à chaque nouveau film, Nicolas Winding Refn nous prend par surprise là où on ne l’attendait vraiment pas. Et si jusque là, que ce soit avec Pusher ou Bronson, il a enchainé les excellents films, il passe à la vitesse supérieure avec Valhalla Rising qui est une œuvre immense comme certains réalisateurs n’en font jamais dans leur carrière. Et autant dire que si son film précédent avait déjà divisé le public (on était loin du portrait ultra-violent d’un prisonnier comme cela était suggéré au départ) avec le nouveau ça risque d’être bien pire encore! Car ce film s’affranchit de tous les codes narratifs et visuels en vigueur, dans un ensemble qui peut paraitre à la fois complètement hermétique pour qui ne se laisse pas entrainer dans l’aventure mais véritablement hypnotique si on accepte de lâcher prise devant ces images. Il ne faut pas oublier que Refn est un fan inconditionnel des travaux de Kubrick, son film précédent citait volontiers Orange Mécanique autant que l’œuvre de Kenneth Anger, et pour son histoire de vikings ce serait plutôt du côté de 2001 l’odyssée de l’espace qu’il faudrait se tourner. En effet ça surprend, au premier abord il n’y a aucun rapport entre le plus grand film de SF jamais réalisé et ce voyage au pays des vikings. Mais une fois de plus c’est au-delà des images que tout se joue, Valhalla Rising est une longue et douloureuse descente dans les enfers de la métaphysique, un exercice que certains n’oublieront pas de qualifier de pédant et d’ennuyeux, sauf que c’est un objet presque indéfinissable qui se prêtera à une infinité de visions tant il joue sur la symbolique. Un très très grand film!

Avec Valhalla Rising, Refn se lance dans un cinéma qui sort des sentiers battus, un cinéma à risques car profondément anti-commercial. Et on s’en rend compte après seulement quelques minutes quand les plans fixes sur des paysages presque irréels s’enchaînent sans qu’aucune parole ne soit prononcée. Et cette économie de salive continuera jusqu’au bout, Refn préférant raconter ce qu’il a à raconter (ou pas d’ailleurs) par les images plutôt que par des dialogues qui de toute façon auraient été imbuvables. Si 99% des films possèdent une structure qu’on pourrait rapprocher de celle d’un roman, on se situe ici plus du côté du poème. Un poème morbide et brutal où tout n’est que symboles et métaphores, ce qui rend le tout foncièrement anticonformiste et inaccessible au commun des spectateurs. Comme d’autres avant lui (et souvent des très grands, Kubrick, Herzog, Tarkovski, Haas…) Refn nous propose une expérience de cinéma purement sensoriel, joue avec nos émotions les plus primaires uniquement par l’image et nous entraine sur un chemin mystique vers les ténèbres, suivant un homme qui lutte à la fois pour sa rédemption et contre le mal qui hante le monde. Si on se laisse attraper, le film nous plonge dans un état second, une sorte de transe dont on ressort péniblement, abasourdi par tant de maitrise et de profondeur.

A vrai dire on sent au sein même du film un changement essentiel dans le cinéma du réalisateur. On retrouve dans le premier chapitre (il y en a 6 en tout pour guider le spectateur) sa fascination pour la violence abrupte qui se manifeste ici dans son extrême. S’il y a toujours du hors champ on se prend plein cadre des scènes à la limite du soutenable. Mais plus le film avance plus il s’enfonce dans une noirceur et un onirisme jusque là inédits chez lui. Il ne faut jamais perdre le sens du titre original qui permet de relativement guider la réflexion, car on suit en effet la montée d’un guerrier vers le Valhalla, le paradis des guerriers vikings où ils pourront s’affronter, mourir et renaître indéfiniment. Mais Refn brouille les pistes car ce monde dans lequel on évolue ressemble autant à un purgatoire qu’à un enfer. Et ce guerrier, qui pourrait très bien être le fils ou une incarnation d’Odin (il est borgne) ressemble autant à une âme en quête de ce paradis qu’à une sorte de passeur qui conduirait des âmes pécheresses vers l’enfer…

Il y a donc là matière à analyse, car Valhalla Rising est un film qui se dévoilera sans doute un peu plus à chaque nouvelle vision. On est à des années lumières de tous ces films qui s’offrent à nous sans qu’on fasse le moindre effort, ce cinéma là est plus qu’exigeant et ne nous donne aucune réponse aux questions qu’il soulève. L’expérience est sidérante car elle n’a pas vraiment d’égale. Et si on peut être tenté de le rapprocher d’une autre œuvre particulière, ce serait le fabuleux Aguirre, la Colère de Dieu de Werner Herzog, autre errance mystique d’un guerrier face à lui-même. Le Guerrier Silencieux brasse des thèmes aussi vastes qu’inépuisables comme la religion (les croisés), la peur de l’inconnu, la rédemption, la mort et autres qui se dévoilent peu à peu. Refn signe tout ça d’une mise en scène absolument prodigieuse, usant de la caméra à l’épaule avec sa maestria habituelle, composant des cadres improbables qui entrainent presque le malaise, ose créer des visions infernales au graphisme plus qu’audacieux et se paie la collaboration d’un chef op absolument génial.

Les images sont d’une beauté qui nous assomme en même temps qu’elle nous hypnotise, tout comme la bande originale qui semble venir des profondeurs infernales. Également on ne peut passer outre la performance hallucinante d’un Mads Mikkelsen mutique qui porte le film par son charisme animal et qui prouve après Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky qu’il est capable de tout jouer à la perfection. Rarement au cinéma on éprouve cette sensation d’abandon complet devant un film, Valhalla Rising nous emmène dans des lieux impraticables pour peu qu’on fasse l’effort de s’abandonner complètement, au risque de s’y perdre. Mais les chemins de réflexions qui s’ouvrent ensuite sont tellement puissants que ce serait dommage de passer à côté d’une telle expérience. On tient sans doute déjà un des plus grands films de cette année.

Review: The silent warrior, Valhalla rising 2009

Friday, February 5, 2010, Reviewed by: Nicolas Gilli

Original Title: Valhalla Rising
Director: Nicolas Winding Refn
Actors: Andrew Flanagan , Ewan Stewart , Gary Lewis , Gary McCormack , Gordon Brown , Jamie Sives , Maarten Stevenson , Mads Mikkelsen
Genre: Adventure , History
Cinema Release Date: March 10, 2010
Distributor: The Covenant

Note: 5/5 - Chief \ 's work

Synopsis

For years, One Eye, a mute warrior of supernatural, has been held prisoner by Barde chieftain. With the help of a boy, Are, he kills his captor and together they escape, beginning a journey into the heart of darkness. During their flight, they boarded a Viking vessel, but the ship during the voyage, finds himself lost in an endless fog, which will dissipate for an unknown land. While this new land reveals its secrets and the Vikings confront an enemy invisible and terrifying, and One-Eye will discover his true origins ...


Review

Amateur big movies barbarians after seeing the first images were expecting a new Conan made ​​in Denmark, go your way! As each new film, Nicolas Winding Refn takes us by surprise where we do not really expecting. And so far, whether with Pusher and Bronson , he chained the great movies, it goes to the next level with Valhalla Rising is an immense as some filmmakers never do in their careers. And as if that his previous film had already divided the public (it was far from the ultra-violent portrait of a prisoner as was suggested at the outset) that the new may be even worse! Because this film is freed from all narrative and visual codes in force in a package that can seem both completely sealed to not let that lead into the adventure truly hypnotic but if we agree to let go before these images . Do not forget that Refn is a huge fan of the work of Kubrick, fond of quoting his previous film A Clockwork Orange as well as the work of Kenneth Anger, and for its history of Vikings would be more on the side of the 2001 Odyssey space that should be run. In fact it is surprising, at first there is no relationship between the greatest film ever made and SF journey to the land of the Vikings. But once again this is beyond images that everything is, Valhalla Rising is a long and painful descent into the underworld of metaphysics, an exercise that some not forget to label pedantic and boring except that it is almost indefinable something that lends itself to endless visions as he plays on the symbolism. A very great movie!

With Valhalla Rising, Refn launches into a cinema off the beaten track, a cinema at risk for deep anti-commercial. And realizes after a few minutes when the static shots of landscapes almost unreal to another without any word being spoken. And the economy will continue through saliva, preferring Refn tell what he has to tell (or not for that matter) by images rather than dialogue which anyway would have been undrinkable. If 99% of the films have a structure that could be closer to that of a novel, it is here more on the side of the poem. A brutal and morbid poem where everything is symbols and metaphors, which makes all the unconventional and basically inaccessible to spectators. Like others before him (and often very large, Kubrick, Herzog, Tarkovsky, Haas ...) Refn proposes a purely sensory theater experience, play with our emotions by only the most basic image and leads us on a path to mystical darkness, following a man who fights for both his redemption and against the evil that haunts the world. If we let catch, the film plunges us into a trance, a trance that leaves you painfully shocked by such mastery and depth.

Actually we feel within an essential change of the film in the cinema director. Found in the first chapter (there are 6 in all to guide the viewer) his fascination with abrupt violence that occurs here in its extreme. If there is still scope out we took full frame scenes at the limit of endurance. But the film progresses the more it sinks into a dark and dreamlike previously unreleased home. We must never lose the sense of the original guide that allows relatively reflection, as it indeed follows the rise of a warrior to Valhalla, the Viking warriors paradise where they can compete, die and be reborn forever. But Refn confuses because the world in which we evolve much like a purgatory to hell. And warrior, who could very well be the son or incarnation of Odin (he is blind) like many a soul in search of paradise as a kind of smuggler who lead sinful souls to Hell ...

So there is material analysis as Valhalla Rising is a film that probably reveal a little more with each new vision. It is light years away from all these films available to us without any effort we make, this film there is more and demanding and gives us no answers to the questions it raises. The experience is astonishing because it does not really equal. And if we can be tempted to bring another special work, it would be fabulous Aguirre, the Wrath of God Werner Herzog, another wandering mystic warrior against itself. Breaststroke Silent Warrior themes as vast inexhaustible as religion (Crusaders), fear of the unknown, redemption, death and others are revealed gradually. Refn any sign that a staging absolutely amazing, using the camera shoulder with his usual skill, component frameworks improbable that cause discomfort almost, dare infernal visions to create graphics and more daring collaboration pays a chief op absolutely great.

Images are a beauty that knocks while it hypnotizes us, like the soundtrack that seems to come from the depths of hell. Also can not ignore the incredible performance of Mads Mikkelsen mute who carries the film with his charisma and animal shows after Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky he is able to play everything perfectly. Rarely cinema is experiencing this feeling of complete abandonment to a movie, Valhalla Rising takes us places impassable for a short you make the effort to abandon completely the risk of getting lost. But the paths of reflections that are open then so powerful that it would be a shame to miss such an experience. It is probably already one of the biggest films of the year.

Le Guerrier silencieux

Editors score: 8/10

Julien Munoz

Moins d'un an après la sortie française de Bronson, Nicolas Winding Refn refait l'actualité avec un film de Vikings sortant des sentiers battus.

Aussi étonnant que cela puisse paraître, jusqu'à Bronson Nicolas Winding Refn était un réalisateur qui cherchait sa voie. Bien qu'il ait signé une trilogie instantanément culte partout où elle a posé le pied (Pusher) et qu'il ait monté son Orange Mécanique, son cinéma n'était qu'une masse plus ou moins informe (passionnante mais tout de même disparate) en pleine gestation. De son propre aveu, raconter la vie tumultueuse du prisonnier Michael Peterson (une simple commande à la base!) lui aura permis de prendre pleinement conscience de ses démons, de son potentiel créatif et ainsi de s'orienter dans une direction clairement choisie. Imaginé plusieurs années avant Bronson, Le Guerrier silencieux s'en est indéniablement vu transformé de fond en comble pour devenir d'une réflexion sur la destruction, un objet filmique non identifié allant en dérouter plus d'un.

Dans une contrée nordique rugueuse envahie progressivement par le culte chrétien, One Eye, un esclave au passé mystérieux et complètement muet, se retourne contre le seigneur qui l'enchaînât jadis. Parcourant le pays en compagnie du jeune garçon lui ayant permis de recouvrer sa liberté, celui-ci croise la route de soldats désirant partir à la conquête de Jérusalem. Alors qu'ils naviguent vers la Terre Sainte, un étrange brouillard les fait dévier sur les côtes d'un territoire inconnu et vierge de toutes présence humaine. Affamés, épuisés, paniqués, ils devront affronter bien pire lorsqu'une menace invisible se met à les faire disparaître un par un.

Que ceux qui espéraient un récit d'aventure chevaleresque et épique passent leur chemin sans se retourner. Nous naviguons ici moins du côté de Richard Fleisher (Les Vikings) et de John McTiernan (Le Treizième guerrier), que vers le style contemplatif d'un Tarkovski, le mysticisme visuel d'un Stanley Kubrick et la folie originelle d'Aguirre, la colère de Dieu de Werner Herzog. Non pas que Nicolas Winding Refn se sente décontenancé avec le genre qu'il traite, les quelques esquisses de joutes proposées (le combat mano a mano entre One-Eye et deux adversaires) sont suffisamment éloquents pour démontrer les capacités du réalisateur en matière de mise en scène d'une action fulgurante et barbare.

Néanmoins, le rythme lancinant du Guerrier silencieux, son laconisme, son absence de repères narratifs (tout juste, le sectionnement du récit en chapitres nous donne une ligne conductrice) et son refus du tout explicatif interpelle, fascine, envoûte. D'une part, par sa beauté plastique et parce que la preuve définitive est faite que Mads Mikkelsen (le Chiffre de Casino Royale) est un stupéfiant comédien capable de porter un film entier sur ses épaules. Un acteur possédant un magnétisme hors du commun dans le défilé contemporain de masques lisses et sans relief que nous offre régulièrement la cinématographie des quatre coins du globe. Son faciès est déjà un roman à lui tout seul, qui permet de donner de la matière au personnage principal dont on ne connaîtra finalement rien, sinon la force physique et mentale le caractérisant.

De l'autre, il y a ce voyage initiatique entre naturalisme historique (dommage qu'on n'y parle pas la langue celtique) et cauchemar psychologique à la frontière du fantastique méditatif sur la bestialité de l'homme. A moins qu'il ne s'agisse du parcours intérieur dans l'acception d'un divin païen détaché des grandes doctrines religieuses. Peu importe, au final. Ne pas saisir la finalité du Guerrier silencieux c'est avoir l'opportunité d'y replonger encore et encore pour y dénicher une réponse fluctuante selon l'approche de chaque spectateur. Plus de quarante ans après sa sortie, ne continuons-nous pas à chercher un sens au trip cosmique constituant 2001, L'odyssée de l'espace, sans pour autant opter pour une piste de lecture commune?

L'incroyable Mads Mikkelsen au centre d'une fascinante quête mystique aux frontières de l'inconnu. Nicolas Winding Refn ne signe pas le long-métrage attendu mais le spectateur courageux n'y perdra pas au change.

Valhalla rising

Editors score: 8/10

Julien Munoz

Less than a year after the French release of Bronson , Nicolas Winding Refn news again with a film of Vikings off the beaten track.

As surprising as it may seem, until Bronson director Nicolas Winding Refn was a director who wanted his way. Although he signed a cult trilogy instantly wherever she set foot (Pusher) and he mounted his Clockwork Orange , cinema was a mass more or less shapeless (but still exciting disparate ) in the making. By his own admission, telling the tumultuous life of the prisoner Michael Peterson (a simple command to the base!) Has enabled him to become fully aware of his demons, his creative potential and thus move in a direction clearly chosen. Imagined several years before Bronson , Warrior silent is seen is undeniably transformed from top to bottom to become a reflection of destruction, an object from unidentified film in a more confusing.

In a country invaded northern rough progressively Christian worship, One Eye, a slave with a mysterious past and completely silent, turns against the lord who once enchaînât. Traveling the country with the boy that enabled him to regain his freedom, it intersects the road soldiers wishing to conquer Jerusalem. Then they sail to the Holy Land, a strange fog diverts on the coast of an unknown territory and virgin all human presence. Hungry, exhausted, panicked, they will face much worse when a threat is invisible to eliminate them one by one.

Those who hoped that an adventure story and chivalrous epic go their way without looking back. We sail in less side Richard Fleischer (The Vikings) and John McTiernan (The Thirteenth Warrior), that to the contemplative style of Tarkovsky, the visual mysticism of Stanley Kubrick and the original folly of Aguirre, the Wrath of God Werner Herzog . Not that Nicolas Winding Refn feels abashed with the kind that treats the few sketches of proposed games (mano a mano combat between One-Eye and two opponents) are sufficiently eloquent to demonstrate the capabilities of the director on set directed by lightning and barbaric action.

Nevertheless, the haunting rhythm of the silent warrior , its brevity, its lack of narrative marks (just the cutting of the narrative chapters gives us a conductive line) and its rejection of any explanatory challenges, fascinates, bewitches. On the one hand, by its plastic beauty and because the final proof is made ​​that Mads Mikkelsen (Figure from Casino Royale ) is an amazing actor able to carry an entire film on his shoulders. An actor with unusual magnetism in the parade of masks contemporary smooth and flat that offers regular cinema from around the globe. Its facies is already a novel unto itself, which allows the material to the main character that can not ultimately know nothing but physical strength and mental characteristic.

On the other, there is the initiatory journey between naturalism history (shame we do not speak the Celtic language) and psychological nightmare border on the fantastic meditative bestiality of man. Unless both the inside route in the sense of a divine large detached pagan religious doctrines. Regardless, in the end. Do not grasp the purpose of the silent warrior is to have the opportunity to plunge again and again to find an answer to fluctuating according to the approach of each viewer. More than forty years after its release, we still do not find meaning in constituting cosmic trip 2001 The Space Odyssey without opting for a joint playback track?

The incredible Mads Mikkelsen in the center of a fascinating mystical quest to the frontiers of the unknown. Nicolas Winding Refn does not sign the long-awaited film, but viewers do not lose courage to change.

NEU AUF DVD: Walhalla rising

22.12.2010 16:50 Uhr, Von Karl Hafner

Regie: Nicolas Winding Refn

Eisige Kälte durchzieht „Walhalla Rising“ (2009, Sunfilm), den Wikingerfilm des Dänen Winding Refn von 2009. Es gibt kein Drinnen in den nordischen Weiten, keine Gebäude, keinen Schutz, nur den ewigen Wind und niederdrückende Wolkengebirge. Der Held (Mads Mikkelsen) ist stumm und einäugig. Um 1000 nach Christus, zur Zeit der Christianisierung, kämpft er als Gladiator ums Überleben. Er ist Gefangener, Mittel zum Broterwerb für seinen Herrn. Töten oder getötet werden, das ist seine Welt. Nach unzähligen Kämpfen gelingt Einauge die Flucht. Zusammen mit einem Jungen schließt er sich einer Gruppe von Gotteskriegern an, doch die Bootsfahrt nach Jerusalem wird zur Irrfahrt durch den Nebel, weiter ins Nichts, tiefer in die Kälte, in die gefühlte Hölle.

Trotz grausamer Kämpfe ist der Film bedrückend ruhig, typische Kriegerhelden gibt es hier nicht. Auch die Handlung ist auf ein Minimum reduziert. Die Panoramaaufnahmen der kargen Landschaft, in der man sich bei all ihrer Schönheit – gefilmt wurde in Schottland – verloren fühlt, geben dem Film einen surrealen Grundton, dessen Grundthema schwer zu fassen ist. Sicherlich geht es um den Mord der Christen an den Heiden. Der Einäugige ist der König unter den Verblendeten. Winding Refn, bekannt geworden durch postmoderne Gangsterfilme, verzichtet hier auf jegliche Ironie, jeglichen Humor. „Walhalla Rising“ ist ein grausames, archaisches und zugleich wunderschönes Filmmonument.


NEW ON DVD: Valhalla rising

by Karl Hafner, 12/22/2010 16:50

Director: Nicolas Winding Refn

Icy coldness permeates "Valhalla Rising" (2009, Sunfilm), the Vikings film by Danish director Winding Refn in 2009. There is no inside in the Nordic lengths, no buildings, no protection, only the eternal wind and depressing clouds Mountains. The hero (Mads Mikkelsen) is one-eyed and speechless. Around 1000 AD, the time of Christianity, he fought as a gladiator to survive. He is a prisoner, means of livelihood for his master. Kill or be killed, that is his world. After countless battles Einauge succeed to flee. With a boy, he joins a group of jihadists, but the boat trip to Jerusalem is to wandering through the fog continues to nowhere, deep in the cold, in the perceived hell.

Despite cruel battles the film is depressingly quiet, are typical war hero is not here. The action is reduced to a minimum. The panoramic views of the sparse landscape, where you look at all of its beauty - was filmed in Scotland - feels lost, give the film a surreal tone, its basic theme is elusive. Surely it is about the murder of Christians in the nations. The one-eyed man is the king of the deluded. Winding Refn made famous by post-modern gangster films waived on any irony here, any humor. "Valhalla Rising" is a cruel, archaic and yet beautiful movie Monument.

Valhalla Rising

April 15th 2011 03:29

Danish maverick, Nicholas Winding Refn, channels the poetic minimalism of Andrei Tarkovsky, the spiritual mysticism of Werner Herzog, and the stark surrealism of David Lynch into a dark, violent, yet strangely serene tale of degradation, emancipation, redemption, and resignation infused with savagery and despair. Valhalla Rising (2009) is the mortal journey of One-Eye (Mads Mikkelsen), a mute Norse warrior, across the rugged landscape of the mind, body, and soul, toward a destiny foreseen.

It is the dawn of the Dark Age, 1000AD, in the misty highlands of Scotland, a terrain of desolation and majesty. One-Eye is a pagan’s slave forced by the chieftain, Barde (Alexander Morten), into fighting to the death for the amusement of his captors. He is very strong and adept and never loses, snapping necks, tearing jugulars, disemboweling his adversaries. By day he is thrust into the mud circle of wrath, by night he is chained inside a wooden cage. A young boy, Are (Maarten Stevenson) feeds him, observing the silent killer with fascination.
Valhalla Rising Maarten Anderson

Through visions One-Eye has the ability to see into his own future. This enables him to break from his binds and slaughter the pagan enemies who’ve enslaved him. On his own, with Are following, One-Eye traverses the mountainside and encounters a clutch of Crusaders, Christian Vikings on route to The Holy Land. One-Eye is invited to join their mission, which he does warily.

Their boat is engulfed by fog and the journeymen become disorientated and confused. Eventually the mist clears and the men find themselves surrounded by the boreal forest, not The Holy Land. They are menaced, and the Christians believe they have entered Hell. One-Eye takes it in his stride, and uses the Vikings’ psychological frailty as fuel for his own spiritual progression. They have reached New Found Land, and One-Eye embraces Valhalla.

Director Refn, with co-screenwriter Roy Jacobsen, has constructed the narrative with very little dialogue. Valhalla Rising travels a powerful visual arc aided by a magnificent and truly evocative score, courtesy of Peterpeter and Peter Kyed, and absolutely stunning cinematography, courtesy of Morten Søborg. The imagery in Valhalla Rising is sublime. Refn composes many of shots as tableaux, with One-Eye’s visions saturated in a luminescent red. He inverses some images within the visions creating a sense of displacement; One-Eye’s profile reversed, the rippling ocean upside as a fluid sky.

The narrative is punctuated by chapter inter-titles; I Wrath, II Silent Warrior, III Men Of God, IV The Holy Land, V Hell, and VI The Sacrifice. The mood and tone are deeply introspective, the characters frequently musing, lost in thought, observing, pondering, calculating. I’m reminded of Jim Jarmusch’s mutant Western Dead Man (1995), a similar drifting, existential mood, but devoid of Dead Man’s sardonic and bitter sense of humour. Valhalla Rising is not interested in any smidgeon of amusement, yet the movie is infused with an elusive, ethereal buoyancy, an anchor being dragged through the sea bed of time and space.

Certainly the landscape is something to behold; apparently filmed entirely in Scotland, although I noticed Wales being thanked in the credits, perhaps some of the location shooting took place on that similarly unforgiving, formidable, and awesome terrain as well. Mads Mikkelsen is quietly brilliant in his unspeaking role. All the support cast is solid. The costuming is very impressive, and the brutal violence is executed superbly. I have my reservations over the use of CGI bloodletting, but Refn carries it off okay, and he does use prosthetics in the right place (there’s an excellent hatchet neck wound on one victim).

This is a movie for acquired tastes, and certainly not for those with little patience. It rewards significantly, but doesn’t suffer fools gladly. It is a movie of moments, of ideas, of feeling. Refn has likened the cinema experience to that of an acid trip (there is even a scene involving the ingestion of a psychotropic drug), and says he was inspired by one of the most expressionist directors, Mario Bava, in particular his movie Planet of the Vampires (1965), and by the curious discovery of a cairn of rune stones in Delaware. It was a dreadful oversight not to have been given a theatrical season in Australia. An instant cult classic, Valhalla Rising is a jagged gemstone glistening seductively in the abyss.

Der Festsaal der ehrenhaft Gefallenen

7 September 2012

Walhalla Rising, ein Film des dänischen Regisseurs Nicolas Winding Refn

Die Apokalypse als Bühne des Dramas

In der kargen Weite des vorchristlichen Nordens steht ein Käfig. Hinter den hölzernen Stäben ruht ein Mann (Mads Mikkelsen), wie zur Statue erstarrt. Niemand konnte ihn je im Zweikampf bezwingen, diesen einäugigen Fremden, der nie ein Wort spricht. Und niemand weiß von seinen unheilvollen Visionen, die sich stets bewahrheiten. Eine davon raunt vom Ausbruch. One-Eye sprengt seine Ketten, seine Wärter bleiben im kalten Schlamm zurück. Der einzige Überlebende, der kleine Blondschopf Are, folgt ihm. Kurz darauf passieren die beiden ein Lager christianisierter Nordmänner. Eine Verständigung scheint nur über die rätselhaften Einwürfe des Jungen möglich zu sein. Dennoch glauben die Christen, mit One-Eye das Rückgrat ihrer heiligen Mission gefunden zu haben – der Rückeroberung des himmlischen Jerusalem, jenseits des Ozeans.

Später auf See

Als die Odyssee nahezu verloren scheint, schält sich eine fremdartige Küste aus dem allesverschlingenden Nebel. Und im Kapitän reift die fürchterliche Ahnung heran, dass One-Eye längst die Führung übernommen hat. Dass das Ziel der Reise nicht Jerusalem sein wird – sondern der bodenlose Abgrund und das Dunkel der eigenen Seele.

Selten durfte man als Zuschauer schon ab der ersten Minute so eine dichte Atmosphäre erleben; der Wind pfeift durch die Täler, Wolken bedecken den Himmel und färben ihn grau und rot. Nebel liegt über den Hügeln und kein Wort wird gesprochen. Die Bilder strotzen nur so vor Gewalt und Ehrlichkeit - die kalte und bedrückende Atmosphäre, wie auch die charakterliche Tiefe – vor allem die des Hauptdarstellers Mads Mikkelsen. Dadurch erweckt der Film schon am Anfang den Eindruck, ein Meisterwerk zu sein. Der Regisseur setzt sich von dem täglichen Einheitsbrei der amerikanischen Filmindustrie ab und taucht abseits des Mainstreams über das Mittelmaß weit hinaus. Nicolas Winding Refn hat eine für den Zuschauer bisher selten da gewesene, greifbare und ehrlich-reine Atmosphäre kreiert “Mann – Natur - Leben – Tod”

Daß Refn sein Konzept als brutale Wikinger-Mär inszeniert, macht den Film nicht zugänglicher. “Walhalla Rising” ist kein unterhaltsamer Historien-Schwert- und Säbeltanzfilm, sondern elegisches Arthouse-Kino im Rhythmus eines Werner Herzogs “Aguirre, der Zorn Gottes”; hypnotisierend und herausfordernd.

Walhalla

In der skandinavischen Mythologie heisst es, dass Walhalla (der Festsaal der ehrenhaft Gefallenen) sich erheben und um das Schicksal der untergehenden Welt streiten wird. An der Heeresspitze: Der einäugige Gott Odin. Mit One-Eye lässt Refn diese Erzählung auf die christliche Apokalypse prallen. Dass die Wallfahrer später den Leibhaftigen in ihm zu erkennen glauben, ist nur folgerichtig: Der Avatar eines heidnischen Gottes wird sie gewiss nicht nach Jerusalem führen. Dass er sie überhaupt führt, ist dabei bloß ihre Interpretation – ebenso wie die Annahme, der kleine Blondschopf Are sei sein Sprachrohr. Tatsächlich gleicht er mehr einem Fährmann, der die Krieger in die herbeigesehnte Apokalypse geleitet. Seine Visionen weisen den Weg; diese blutroten Traumbilder, die gleichermaßen Produkt und Spiegel des kollektiven Endzeit-Deliriums der Wallfahrer sind.

Die Auflösung der vertrauten Welt

Die eingefangenen Panoramen sind wild und lebensfeindlich, kennen keine Gebäude, keine fixierbaren Stätten der Gesellschaft – als ob jegliche Zivilisation hier längst gewichen wäre. Jenseits der Küsten versinkt die Welt im Nebel und wird für die Wallfahrer endgültig unsichtbar. Refn greift Werner Herzogs Konzept innerer Landschaften auf: An der Naturkulisse wird das Verebben der Welt aus der Perspektive der Figuren sichtbar. Dabei gelingen lange Einstellungen von kontemplativer Schönheit, die dem Topos Apokalypse eine selten gesehene Ästhetik verleihen.

“Walhalla Rising” ist kein Film direkter Emotionalität, unmittelbarer Spannung oder erzählerischer Klarheit, er ist ein philosophischer Film über das maskuline Sein.

(rz)
FSK: Freigegeben ab 16 Jahren
Studio: SUNFILM Entertainment
Erscheinungstermin: 5. November 2010
Produktionsjahr: 2009
ASIN: B003UMGOJG

The ballroom of the honorable dead

7 SEPTEMBER 2012

Valhalla Rising, a film by Danish director Nicolas Winding Refn

The Apocalypse as a stage of the drama

In the barren expanse of the northern BC is a cage. Behind the wooden bars resting man (Mads Mikkelsen), as the statue solidifies. No one could ever defeat him in single combat, this one-eyed stranger who never speaks a word. And no one knows of his sinister visions always come true. One of them whispered to the outbreak. One-Eye breaks his chains, his guards remain in the cold mud. The only survivor, the little blond Are follows him. Shortly after passing the two Christianized a camp Northmen. An agreement seems to be possible only on the objections of the mysterious boy. Yet Christians believe that we have found with One-Eye the backbone of their holy mission - the reconquest of the heavenly Jerusalem, and across the ocean.

Later at sea

As the Odyssey seems almost lost, a strange coast peels from the all-consuming mist. And the captain matures the terrible idea that One-Eye has long taken the lead. That the aim of the trip is not Jerusalem - but the bottomless abyss and the darkness of his own soul.

Rarely allowed the watcher from the very first minute as experiencing a dense atmosphere, and the wind whistles through the valleys, clouds cover the sky and color it gray and red. Fog lies over the hills, and no word is spoken. The images are full of violence and honesty - the cold and gloomy atmosphere, as well as the depth of character - especially the lead actor Mads Mikkelsen. This film gives the impression at the beginning to be a masterpiece. The director sets itself apart from the daily monotony of the American film industry and appeared outside the mainstream goes far above mediocrity. Nicolas Winding Refn has been rare for the audience unprecedented, consistent and honest, pure atmosphere created "man - nature - life - death"

Refn directed that his concept as brutal Vikings-Mar makes the film not accessible. "Valhalla Rising" is not an entertaining history sword and saber dance film, but elegiac art-house cinema in the rhythm of Werner Herzog's "Aguirre, the Wrath of God", mesmerizing and challenging.

Walhalla

In Norse mythology it is said that Walhalla (the ballroom of the honorable dead) rise up and fight for the fate of the world is sinking. At the Army tip: The one-eyed god Odin. With One-Eye can Refn this story strike the Christian apocalypse. The pilgrims believe that he later recognized to the bodily in him, is only logical: The avatar of a pagan god is certainly not lead to Jerusalem. That he ever will, it's just their interpretation - as well as the assumption of the small blond Are was his mouthpiece. In fact, he is more like a ferryman, who led the Warriors in the long awaited apocalypse. His visions lead the way and this crimson dream images that are both product and mirror of the collective delirium of the end-time pilgrims.

The resolution of the familiar world

The panoramas are captured wild and hostile, have no building, no fixable sites of society - as if any civilization here would long since disappeared. Beyond the coasts of the world is sinking in fog and finally becomes invisible for the pilgrims. Refn takes on Werner Herzog's concept of inner landscapes: On the natural scenery, the ebbing of the world seen from the perspective of the characters. Here succeed long shots of contemplative beauty, giving the topos apocalypse a rarely seen aesthetics.

"Valhalla Rising" is not a film direct emotion, direct tension or narrative clarity, it is a philosophical film about the masculine being.

(Rz)

Rated: Suitable for ages 16
Studio: SUNFILM Entertainment
Release Date: 5 November 2010
Production Year: 2009
ASIN: B003UMGOJG