From Robert Eggers and Alexander Skarsgård comes the brutal Viking epic, “The Northman,” and CinemaBlend’s own Eric Eisenberg got the chance to dive into the nitty-gritty of the project with its creators and star.
Watch as they explore the conception of the film over one fateful lunch, how it changed through the production process and more!
Watch as they explore the conception of the film over one fateful lunch, how it changed through the production process and more!
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Short filmTranscript
00:00 I do feel compelled to ask, have you ever had the debate
00:03 with your brother Bill about Randall Flagg versus Pennywise?
00:07 - We have not, no.
00:08 - Well, I mean, where do you stand?
00:12 - You must choose between kindness for your kin
00:15 or hate for your enemies.
00:18 - When it came to the Northmen,
00:23 did you go out to make a Viking movie
00:25 and then the legend of Amleth came to you
00:28 or was it a matter of you knowing that you wanted
00:30 to tell this legend in this backdrop?
00:32 - No, no, I had a lunch with Alexander Skarsgård
00:36 and we shook hands saying that we would make
00:37 a Viking movie together and then I came across Amleth,
00:42 which inspired Shakespeare's Hamlet and realized,
00:44 this is perfect because I have a story that everybody knows
00:48 so I can make like a movie for a big audience
00:50 and not lose them while still like sharing with an audience
00:53 what I love about Viking mythology and culture
00:56 in a way that you can't usually go so deep and detailed
00:59 in that stuff in a movie this size.
01:01 - I brought it to the conversation, but not intentionally.
01:04 I had about four or five years prior
01:08 to that fated lunch that we had, Rob and I.
01:13 I teamed up with Lars Knudsen,
01:14 the producer who ultimately produced the movie with us
01:19 and with the intention of making a big epic Viking movie
01:23 based on the Icelandic saga,
01:25 something that was historically accurate
01:27 with a goal of trying to kind of capture
01:29 the essence of the Vikings.
01:31 And when Rob and I met, it turned out
01:34 that he had just returned from Iceland
01:37 and was fired up and excited about Icelandic culture
01:41 and Norse mythology and we started talking
01:44 and then I mentioned that I was actually trying
01:48 to develop a Viking project, but hadn't quite nailed down
01:52 which saga to base it on, but we started kind of just
01:56 bouncing around ideas and that became the genesis
01:59 of the Northmen.
02:00 - I will avenge you, father.
02:03 I will save you, mother.
02:05 I will kill you, Fjallr.
02:07 - Well, I mean, how much knowledge about that era
02:10 did you have coming in and how much did you learn
02:12 through the process of making the film?
02:13 - I mean, I didn't have a ton of knowledge
02:15 'cause originally I wasn't interested in Vikings.
02:18 I didn't like the macho stuff
02:20 and the right-wing misappropriation of Viking culture
02:23 put me off even more.
02:25 But when I took a trip to Iceland,
02:26 the landscapes were so brutal and inspiring
02:29 and epic that it made me pick up some Viking sagas
02:33 and learn about them.
02:34 But I had a lot of learning to do
02:36 and I enlisted Icelandic poet and novelist, Shon,
02:41 to help me write this thing.
02:43 And then once the movie became real,
02:46 we had the finest historians and archeologists
02:48 in the field of Viking studies working with us.
02:51 So that was really exciting.
02:53 I learned lots to learn.
02:54 - It's interesting to think about this movie
02:56 and Vikings kind of just as a prototypical vision
02:59 of masculinity and given that the definition of masculinity
03:03 has changed a lot over the course of history
03:06 and especially in what we're living through now,
03:09 was that something that was in the back of your mind
03:10 that was used as a filter
03:12 for how you were telling this story?
03:15 - I think that I always try to present the worldview
03:18 of the culture that I'm telling the story about
03:21 without judgment, you know?
03:23 But it's tricky because like the ending of the film,
03:26 it needs to be a happy ending
03:28 for Alexander Skarsgård's character,
03:30 but like I don't necessarily personally see it that way.
03:34 You know, so it's a tight rope.
03:37 - I cannot escape my fate.
03:41 - This does strike me as a performance
03:44 that really just requires a lot of trust in your director.
03:47 I mean, you are putting just so much out there.
03:49 It's gotta be exhausting just so physically and emotionally.
03:53 What was it about Robert Eggers that earned your trust
03:55 and just let you know that he was going to make the film
03:58 that you wanted to make?
04:00 - Well, at the time he hadn't made "The Lighthouse,"
04:02 he just, the witch was playing in theaters when we met.
04:07 And I was very impressed by the witch and his filmmaking.
04:12 It really felt like I was transported back in time.
04:16 And it was such an immersive experience
04:19 and it felt so authentic
04:21 and rich, the world he was able to create there
04:27 on a very, very limited budget.
04:29 So, and again, those were elements I felt
04:33 were essential to the Viking movie.
04:35 I wanted it to feel authentic
04:38 and not take too many creative freedoms
04:41 but actually stay true to the sagas.
04:45 And again, capture that essence.
04:47 So, and I knew that Rob would take that seriously
04:51 and work really hard with Viking scholars on
04:55 and try to shape that world.
04:56 - And imagine your confidence only grew
04:58 with "The Lighthouse."
04:59 So, yeah, again. - Yeah, 100%.
05:01 - Over the course of development,
05:02 I'm curious just where would you say
05:04 the most evolution happened?
05:05 Would you say it happened through,
05:07 like from the first draft to the shooting script,
05:09 through production or in the editing room?
05:12 - No, it's always in the writing for me.
05:13 Like, and even, you know, this movie was the first movie
05:16 I didn't have final cut on.
05:17 And I would say like, you know,
05:19 maybe this changed more than my other two films did
05:22 in the post-production process.
05:24 But even still, it's not changing that much.
05:26 And I'm shooting single camera.
05:28 So there's, you know, only so much that can be done.
05:32 - And night by night,
05:34 we will carry out my pledge of vengeance.
05:37 - And this is kind of out of left field,
05:38 but I am actually a huge Stephen King fan.
05:41 And I loved your performance as Randall Flagg
05:43 in "The Stand."
05:44 - Oh, thank you.
05:45 - But I do feel compelled to ask,
05:46 have you ever had the debate with your brother Bill
05:49 about Randall Flagg versus Pennywise?
05:52 - We have not, no.
05:54 - Well, I mean, where do you stand?
05:57 - I don't want to sound cocky, but probably Flagg.
06:04 - Yeah.
06:05 - I mean, he's kind of the devil in a way.
06:07 - He has kind of a lot at his disposal.
06:09 - Yeah, he's pretty powerful.
06:12 - Fate has no mercy.
06:16 (crowd cheering)
06:19 (dramatic music)
06:22 (dramatic music)
06:24 [BLANK_AUDIO]