TIFF09 REVIEW: Valhalla Rising [2010]

Rating: NR | Runtime: 93 minutes
Release Date: March 31st, 2010 (Denmark) / July 16th, 2010 (USA)
Studio: Scanbox Entertainment / IFC Midnight
Director(s): Nicolas Winding Refn
Writer(s): Nicolas Winding Refn and Roy Jacobsen

The boy said he was from Hell.

Sometimes a movie comes along that is almost indecipherable but still can’t be shaken from your consciousness. Nicolas Winding Refn’s Valhalla Rising is one such example. It concerns a one-eyed, mute Norse warrior’s quest to discover his lot in life and/or death … I really don’t know which. Maybe it was the fatigue of being the fourteenth movie seen in less than four days at the Toronto International Film Festival or the intentionally vague utilization of its mood and environments as its true focal points.

Winding Refn said before the screening that he always wanted to shoot in an exotic place, and this was the chance to make that a reality. So, with the lavish hillsides of Scotland, he and co-writer Roy Jacobsen brought a tale of Vikings searching for the Holy Land (or a place to set up a new one) with them while listening to heavy metal to get into the mindset of a Hell that would take over. I do think all involved understood the story would be left to interpretation, making it more a journey rather than a strict plot, because star Mads Mikkelsen left us with a cryptic message before the projector started going: “Sit back, relax, and enjoy that imaginary joint.”

It starts with Mikkelsen’s One-Eye being used as a fighter against the best that other Norse tribes have to offer in captivity. He takes a beating, but always shells out more to achieve victory. Helped by a young boy (Maarten Steven’s Are), he soon escapes and kills those holding him captive before the two travel towards the visions of red violence coming into his mind and leading him to an inevitable fate. Using the boy as a translator to those alone the path, a bond is formed between that holds One-Eye accountable as Are’s protecter.

Eventually finding passage with a Viking vessel of Christians (the captain of which sees the use of having a man of his powers as an ally), a fog soon rolls in as they sail to an unknown land. Conditions become dire as food and drink deplete and the water surrounding them becomes salty and undrinkable. Tensions run high and blame is passed onto the warrior as everyone starts calling him a beacon of evil after already being told by the boy that he came from Hell.

The visions become more frequent as we wonder whether One-Eye is going insane, is a vessel for a higher being, or merely supernatural in strength and mind. Red soaked passages eventually come true in the dull, cold palette used to show reality. Violence runs rampant throughout as allegiances turn tenuous at best with survival playing a large role in everything. Maybe this God of a man is a reaper taking these Vikings on a journey to their destruction. Or perhaps he has led them onto one that leads towards his own.

Either way, the graphic nature of combat and battle—dirty and personal like you’d assume with savages like these—is prevalent at all times. Right from the start we are exposed to gruesome fights that sees two men battling in the mud. We feel each punch connecting as a bout ends in the decapitation of the loser by the chain holding the victor in place so as not to escape. Brutal in execution yet still beautiful in its hellish visuals, one cannot deny the power of image.

Winding Refn’s Vikings are physical specimens of humanity—not exactly giants, but fierce in mentality and demeanor. You wouldn’t want to get into a fistfight with any as they’d rip you apart limb from limb. It’s this gritty realism that helps the movie succeed by showing this world is governed by strength rather than rules. The leader will keep his men safe, but his power is only as strong as the respect given in response. It only takes one moment of weakness to become expendable as the next warrior rises. But then there’s One-Eye, a man who could take them all on and win. He’s not out for glory or riches. He’s on a spiritual march to whatever future comes to him in bits and pieces when closing his eyes.

Norse mythology is often depicted as large blonde men wearing horned helmets and furry clothing with weapons in-hand to bludgeon and beat. Valhalla Rising doesn’t buy into those clichés or stereotypes. It digs deeper into their mentality: the rage and religious fervor residing within. The Christians want to find salvation or safety and aren’t afraid to spill blood to find it. So, it becomes a combination of mythology and Christianity and survival with men devoid of answers on a journey through Hell … or into it.

I was surprised to hear distribution rights were purchased after its TIFF screening. Not because it isn’t deserving (it’s a cinematic feat that earns the right to be seen and dissected), but because it lacks mainstream appeal. So much of the movie is internalized. We watching actors act without words so the audience must think and decipher what’s going on. I just hope the Hollywood machine doesn’t try to sell it as a battle royale of Vikings at sea in the vein of 300. That would be the greatest disservice of all because the film merits an audience of introspective thinkers and open minds willing to let the sumptuous nature on-screen (beautiful or disgusting) wash over them and grab hold. It’s less a movie than an experience.