The Northman

 Year:  2022

Director:  Robert Eggers

Screenplay:  Sjón and Robert Eggers

Starring:  Alexander Skarsgård, Nicole Kidman, Claes Bang, Anya Taylor-Joy, Ethan Hawke, Björk, Willem Dafoe

Running Time:  137 minutes

Genre:  epic, action, drama

895 AD: After King Aurvandill War-Raven (Hawke) is murdered by his brother Fjölnir (Bang), who carries off Queen Gudrún (Kidman), Prince Amleth (Skarsgård) swears to avenge his father and save his mother.  As years pass, Amleth plans to pose as a slave in Fjölnir's stronghold, and prepare for his revenge with the help of sorceress Olga (Taylor-Joy).

The film is based on the medieval Scandinavian legend of Amleth, which also inspired William Shakespeare's Hamlet.  However, if you are not into the Bard, you don't need to worry about this being Hamlet, it is basically more like a Viking version of Gladiator (2000), or a plot line from Game of Thrones (2011-2019).  Eggers, who has made his name with cerebral so-called "elevated horror" films such as The Witch (2016) and The Lighthouse (2020), may not seem like the obvious choice for making a blood-and-thunder action film, but the action is staged very well, even though it can be difficult to tell one hairy. bearded, mud-caked Viking from another.  The film is well-designed and it is a pretty bleak, unsympathetic worldview, even anti-hero Amleth seems more than happy to raid and pillage villages.  Alexander Skarsgård is good as the snarling, steely-eyed Amleth, Nicole Kidman is good as the sinister queen, and Anya Taylor-Joy, who made her name with Eggers' The Witch,  provides the film's conscience as the mystical, nurturing Olga.  The film has a semi-supernatural aspect with Olga's magic, and Amleth's frequent hallucinatory visions, as well as a magical sword.  Even though it is quite a long film, there is too much going on for it to ever get dull.  It's been a while since there was a proper musclebound sword and shield historical action film like this, so it is quite welcome.  It also comments on the price to be paid for vengeance on both sides.

Alexander Skarsgård is The Northman

Last Night in Soho

 Year of Release:  2021

Director:  Edgar Wright

Screenplay:  Edgar Wright and Krysty Wilson-Cairns, from a story by Edgar Wright

Starring:  Thomasin McKenzie, Anya Taylor-Joy, Matt Smith, Michael Ajao, Terence Stamp, Diana Rigg

Running Time:  117 minutes

Genre:  Horror

Teenager Eloise Turner (McKenzie) moves from rural Cornwall to the bright lights of London to study fashion design.  Fascinated by the music and the style of the Swinging Sixties, Eloise moves to a bedsit in the Soho area of the city, and finds herself haunted by visions of Sandie (Taylor-Joy) an aspiring singer in the 1960s.  At first Eloise is delighted by these journeys back in time, and uses her experiences to fuel her creativity.  However, as Sandie's story becomes increasingly dark, Eloise's dreams quickly turn into horrific nightmares, which begin to bleed into her waking life.

Probably many people have visions of some fantasy "Golden Age" when everything was cool, wonderful and glamorous, even if it was a time long before they were born.  For modern day teenager Eloise it's the 1960s, but she soon comes to discover that despite the glamour, cool clothes and fantastic music, there is darkness and cruelty.  She comes to London to pursue her dreams of fashion design but almost as soon as she steps off the train, she has a disturbing experience with a creepy taxi driver, and is bullied by the fellow students in her halls of residence, causing her to move into a bedsit.  One of the hallmarks of Edgar Wright films is the visual inventiveness, and this is on full display here, particularly the sequence where Eloise has her first dream which is throughly intoxicating, as Sandie is revealed as her mirror images, and we see Anya Taylor-Joy, with Thomasin McKenzie as her reflection, and vice versa.  Thomasin McKenzie is heartbreaking as the romantic, tormented Eloise, haunted by the past in more ways than one, Anya Taylor-Joy is striking as Sandie, at first seeming the personification of sixties glamour, but who increasingly falls apart.  Former Doctor Who Matt Smith plays handsome, charismatic but dangerous Jack, and Smith is very effective in a throughly villainous role.  Michael Ajao plays Eloise's classmate John, pretty much the only sympathetic male character in the film, and he does invest what could be a very bland part with some real emotion.  There are slo appearances by several Sixties icons: Terence Stamp, Rita Tushingham and, in her final performance, Diana Rigg.  As with all of Edgar Wright's films, music is crucial here, with the stream of sixties classics almost another character.  The film does fall apart somewhat in the final third when it moves into more gruesome giallo horror territory, and at the end there are a few too many coincidences and shocking reveals, but for the most part it works very well, and the film is constantly intriguing, entertaining and sometimes genuinely shocking.  It's about the perils of nostalgia and "Golden Age" thinking, the dark side of glamour and most of all how men prey on women, which is the real horror in the film.

Anya Taylor-Joy and Thomasin Mackenzie in Last Night in Soho

Emma.

 Year of Release:  2020

Director:  Autumn de Wilde

Screenplay:  Eleanor Catton, based on the novel Emma by Jane Austen

Starring:  Anya Taylor-Joy, Johnny Flynn, Josh O'Connor, Callum Turner, Mia Goth, Miranda Hart, Bill Nighy, Gemma Whelan

Running Time:  124 minutes

Genre:  Period, comedy-drama

In Regency-era England, the wealthy young Emma Woodhouse (Taylor-Joy) enjoys meddling in the love lives of her friends, while having no intention of getting married herself.  Emma soon learns, however, that despite her best efforts, her matchmaking plans often make things far worse.

This film is based on the 1815 novel by Jane Austen.  I have never read the book and so can't comment on how faithful this adaptation is.  The film opens with Emma being described as "handsome, clever and rich", which is a perfect description of the film.  Visually it is sumptuous with every frame practically looking like something you could clip out and put on the wall, while the stories direction and the ultimate end is never really in doubt, it is a witty script, and the whole thing feels like a gorgeous cinematic confection.  Anya Taylor-Joy is perfect in the lead, giving a captivating, spirited performance.  Johnny Flynn as Emma's foil Mr. Knightley, the only one who challenges her on her schemes.  Mia Goth gives depth and heart to her role as Emma's friend, and accidental victim of her schemes.  There s also good support form established British comic actors such as Miranda Hart, Bill Nighy and Gemma Whelan.  I'm not sure how Jane Austen fans will feel about the film, but I found it a hugely enjoyable diversion.

Mia Goth and Anya Taylor-Joy in Emma.