March 7, 2006 Monsters and Critics | Author: Anne
Brodie
http://www.monstersandcritics.com
Starring Gerard Butler, Sarah Polley, Stellan Skarsgåd and Ingvar
Eggert Sigurdsson as Grendel
Directed by Sturla Gunnarsson
We are about to swamped with Beowulf films, in the same way we were
inundated with Robin Hood outings a while back and other cluster films
since.
An idea virus seems to take hold of the film industry occasionally and
studios line up to release their versions of the same story with just
enough space between to be tolerable.
Usually the brave indie company is first, unencumbered by the Byzantine
workings of the big money boys and girls, followed by the major studio
once someone else has tested the waters, followed in turn by the
animated children s version, and subsequently, comics and computer
games.
The current idea virus is Beowulf, the epic poem hero. He is the mythic
monster and dragon slayer of the Old English epic poem, the first
written story. It concerns the great, or Swedish, hero who frees
Daneland from its enemies, including the troll / demon / descendant of
Cain, named Grendel around 400 AD.
The Anglos and Saxons of Scandinavia eventually found their way to
England and brought with them the Beowulf legend, which was written out
sometime between 700 and 1000 AD.
Canadian / Icelandic filmmaker Gunnarsson is first to the finish line,
presenting his film Beowulf and Grendel last September at the Toronto
International Film Festival.
Two more films will be released in 2007, a low-budget indie outing
called Beowulf: Prince of the Geats and Robert Zemeckis Beowulf making
its imprint as a captured animation film featuring Anthony Hopkins,
John Malkovich and the voice of Angelina Jolie. Ralph Fiennes narrated
an animated TV series in 1998 and Antonio Banderas The 13th Warrior was
loosely based on the myth.
Gunnarsson's film focuses on Beowulf s first heroic quest to kill the
monster Grendel, who massacred twenty of King Hrothgar's men in their
sleep. The second quest, to slay a dragon, is left to another time and
place.
Beowulf (Butler) is a handsome devil, with a mighty heart and heavy
sword, as pure as he is powerful. He arose from the sea, carried on a
tree trunk from some far distant shore to pledge allegiance to the King
(Skarsgåd). His arrival alone creates buzz.
Beowulf witnesses the unspeakable brutality of Grendel, but in time
recognizes that the pain behind the beast s rage may have something to
do with the King.
The King plunges deeper and deeper into drunkenness, overcome with
guilt, knowing he is unable to protect his people from Grendel because
he s lost it. He s emotionally crippled, refusing to take
responsibility for his wrong doing against Grendel, but eaten alive by
it.
Skarsgåd plays him as heart-breakingly vulnerable, and credulous, with
a survivor s sense of humour. He does the unthinkable; he sits on the
ground beneath his warriors, a sign of submission, miserable to the
core.
He prays to the god Alden and asks a wandering Christian priest to
baptize him, but nothing helps. Beowulf, his friend from the sea, must
destroy the beast.
Beowulf seeks the advice of a local witch named Selma (Polley) who
speaks the truth plainly and gathers herbs (must be a witch! Probably
has a cat, too). She knows Grendel.
She's a saucy one, with the red hair of passion and no need of men.
Gunnarsson's Daneland is a vast canvas of natural beauty and terror the
majestic mountains and seas, the swallowing skies and the constant rain
in which the cast and crew labored for three months. There is a
constant chill in the air, a reminder of man's place in the world that
underlines the relentless feeling of doom.
It's a fitting backdrop for mythic, epic battles.
Gunnarsson strove to make the film as real to the time as possible, in
ways that are beautifully strange and even funny to us now. A storm
came up and ate my boat when I was whale hunting ; giving human
qualities to nature.
The action unfolds slowly but it s a captivating medieval world
Gunnarsson has created. It s a relief to see a film of this genre shot
without computer graphics, a simple story told simply for utmost impact.
Its stark simplicity will turn some audiences off, but the presence of
Gerard Butler and Sarah Polley may draw fans. Gunnarsson is to be
credited for his boldness. While not exactly a dragon slayer, he has
beaten Hollywood to the punch.
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『ベーオウルフとグレンデル』
2006年3月7日 Monsters and
Critics
アン・ブロディ記
http://www.monstersandcritics.com
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