Valhalla Rising (2009)

You want to have a film that you need to sink your teeth into? One that has no real answers and poses only questions? One that is so different from the vast majority it's almost surreal?

Look no further than this one.

Mads Mikkelsen plays One-Eye, a mute slave who is used in brutal combat for money. When he is eventually sold, he manages to escape en route to his new master. With a young boy in tow, he comes across a motley crew of Scottish Vikings (that happened to actually exist, by the way) who have converted to Christianity and are bent on going to the Holy Land in order to free Jerusalem. One-Eye tags along, but their ship gets lost at sea in a mysterious fog. When the fog finally lifts, they discover they are stranded in a strange land, after which a slow and steady descent into madness sets in. The only one seemingly impervious to all this is One-Eye, but that might be because he has fleeting visions of the future and, seeing as Vikings assumed the thread of their life was already woven and there's nothing you can do about it, he accepts whatever life has in store for him.

The film itself is cut into several parts, chapters if you will. It also signifies that some time has passed, because there is absolutely no exposition. Heck, this film barely has any dialogue to speak of for its runtime and relies extremely heavily on mood and atmosphere.

Also: it is excruciatingly slow. In this case, it is not a bad thing, but possible viewers beware: a snail's pace is faster than this one.

Mads Mikkelsen is great as usual. He has such a commanding screen presence, all the other actors fade a little. He is our anchorpoint, the stalwart who keeps his wits (even though there is a single scene where he does momentarily succumb to the madness that has gripped everyone). He can convey his inner dialogue through his facial expressions and movements, which is no small feat.

The imagery and colourschemes are pretty far out. It all starts in hues of blue and grey, then shifts to ocre and red, then to green. It's almost as if every chapter has its own distinct colours. There is probably a reason for this, but damned if I know what it is.

Even though the film is deliberately slow, the violence is realistic and very, very brutal. No fancy footwork, no flashy edits: just pure and unadulterated brutality. Just check the first part with its fights. No doubt you'll cringe a couple of times.

When the ship reaches the new land (we can only assume it is North America), everyone goes nuts. Not nuts as in 'funny', but as in 'Heart of Darkness'-levels of insane. In the end, only one is left and it is perhaps not who you assume it to be.

I'm sure director Nicholas Winding Refn has many things to tell through this film and I'm sure it all makes for interesting studymaterial, but how does this stand up as a film? Pretty well actually. Yes, it is slow and not a lot happens and there is almost no dialogue, but if you give this your attention, you will get sucked in by the experience and that is something we don't get all too often. But you really need to keep your focus on the film, because otherwise this will seem tedious and illogical. Consider it a mythical idea. I'm pretty sure there's a reason Mikkelsen's character has only one eye and those that know their basics of Norse mythology will instantly see why.

By far not the easiest film out there to digest, but if you're up for it, give it a try.