It’s grim up north
May 22, 2022
2 minutes
SARAH WATT
THE NORTHMAN
directed by Robert Eggers
If this Dark Ages Icelandic Viking saga of revenge feels similar to that of a certain Prince of Denmark, it’s because Robert Eggers’ unsparingly bloody epic is an adaptation of the Scandinavian legend of Amleth, which was the basis of Shakespeare’s Hamlet.
But although into something exciting. So, too, do the extraordinary abdominals and hulking physicality of its star, Swedish heart-throb Alexander Skarsgård. He’s the adult Prince Amleth who has grown from golden-skinned son of beloved King Aurvandil (Ethan Hawke) into a glowering man “with a heart of cold violence” after witnessing his father’s cruel murder.
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