On the back of the recently released clip, a new sneak peak at Danish auteur Nicolas Winding Refn’s eerie, atmospheric Viking film “Valhalla Rising” starring go-to-guy Mads Mikkelsen has been unveiled.
The clip’s pairing of the most brutal and über-violent footage from the film with Tchaikovsky’s “The Nutcracker” is riotous and entertaining but be forewarned, it’s pretty much capsuled all the blood-thirst into the two minutes.
Described as a “horror movie as directed by Terrence Malick,” the film is actually a slow-moving, hypnotizing and mesmerizing picture centering on a Viking warrior slave who escapes his captives with the aid of a young boy and boards a Viking vessel only to sail into the heart of darkness.
It’s an amazing piece of work and along with the inspiring Tom Hardy-led “Bronson” last year saw Winding Refn exhibit his audacious versatility which will soon continue with a collaboration with Ryan Gosling on a stuntman-noir story “Drive.” The director also has his Bangkok-set neo-Western “Only God Forgives” and an unknown project titled “I Walk With The Dead” set in Miami which may or may not be his rumored Gore Verbinski-produced heist film.
“Valhalla Rising” should hit theaters sometime in the Spring.
This latest clip seems desperate. 'Valhalla' reminds me of 'The Road': really eerie and bleak, which probably didn't have much of an audience to begin with.
After the first clip from 'Valhalla Rising' I kind of got the same vibe, an isolated dark world. Just a bunch of men beating each other to death with atmospheric music emphasizing the horror.
Adding the ballet music seems like the same idea as '300', 'Wolfman' and 'Clash of the Titans' using hard rock/metal music. The clip is really gruesome and the movie looks like it'll have very little human elements in it.
Can this really attract much of an audience? I don't quite understand why spend two hours soaking this in. The 'Nutcracker' theme is a weak attempt at lightening up the mood. Seems like more "violence without consequence" in typical action movies but with more dedication to the soundtrack.
Going to see this tomorrow at JDIFF. Looking forward to it.
Probably my most anticipated movie of 2010 at this point. I love Mads. I've kept myself from watching anything but one trailer to prevent seeing too much.
SK's caution is understandable. This movie looks like it's very well produced. But is it anything more than an art-house splatter movie? Not that I mind graphic gore, I'd just like a badass story to go with it. These clips emphasize only the violence, but don't give me much of a clue as to what the movie is actually about. Still, I'm interested in knowing more, which I wouldn't be if I thought it looked bad.
This film is a marketer's nightmare. If I had to classify it, I'd call it a Viking road trip film but, even then, it's more about what doesn't happen than what does and flourishes mainly in the way Winding Refn goes about it.
I think the use of 'The Nutcracker' is more for irony rather than an attempt at humor or audience skewing. It's out and out arthouse but it's anything but a splatter film. I'm pretty sure every single violent act in the film is in this clip.
For a more concise analysis, check out our TIFF review.