Valhalla Rising Movie Review

Valhalla Rising (2009)

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Written by: Nicolas Winding Refn and Roy Jacobsen, Matthew Read (additional writing)
Directed by: Nicolas Winding Refn
Starring: Mads Mikkelsen, Maarten Stevenson, Alexander Morton
Rated: NR [R]
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Plot
Forced for some time to be a fighting slave, a pagan warrior escapes his captors with a boy and joins a group of Crusaders on their quest to the Holy Land.

Verdict
This is a surreal adventure devoid of what a movie typical would present. There's very little dialog, but it never hinders the story as a viking endures one trial after another. It's first and foremost a visual story and every frame of this creates a nearly dreamlike image. From the start every character feels doomed, and that is never something the movie has to tell us. I like this not just because it's different and rejects the typical formula; but because it does all that and it's still an amazing journey that proves it does need to follow convention.
Watch It.

Review
I've seen this before, and on my first watch I was so impressed. This was unlike anything I had seen, from the structure to the style. It's disjointed as there's very little dialog, but we're able to discern what's happening anyway. It defies nearly all conventions, but what I appreciate is that it does that while focusing on story while eschewing words for visuals. All of Refn's movies are visually striking.

Set in the 11th century, One Eye (Mads Mikkelsen) is enslaved as a fighter. He manages to escape after a stroke of luck, killing nearly all of his captors in the process. The son of one of his captors joints him, and they soon run into crusaders. Throughout, One Eye does what's necessary to survive. He has visions of blood and death, and slowly we see these visions coming to fruition.

Mads Mikkelsen plays One-Eye

Visually, this has such a unique look. It's almost like some kind of fable, the story of an entrapped viking that manages to escape. You could compare this to Pilgrim's Progress. These are One Eye's trials from being imprisoned in the mountains to lost at sea with crusaders. These crusaders wage violence in the name of religion, but they begin to question when they're lost at sea and supplies dwindle. While the look is dark from the beginning, it imparts a sense of impending doom. Everyone seem imperiled, and the journey does little to assuage that concern.

Mads Mikkelsen plays One-Eye

The crusaders are quick to blame One Eye, casting him as some kind of devil. It's easy enough when he's the only non-Christian. What is his purpose?

It's one thing to be different, it's another to do that and succeed. While there is some dialog, it seems to exist just to break the gimmick of absolutely no dialog. This is counter to all the rules of cinema. It's primitive, but that fits the story being told. Everything unnecessary is stripped as we watch a nameless warrior struggle to survive in a harsh land.