Review: Swiss Epic NORTHMEN - A VIKING SAGA Looks Like Hollywood Fare
Assessing the merits of Claudio Fäh's Viking odyssey is a tricky task because of what it represents in the panorama of Swiss genre films. With an international cast, and production set in South Africa, Northmen - A Viking Saga is one of the most significant efforts of its kind.
Of course, genre films do exist in Switzerland but they are rather underground. The quite impressive quantity of short films dealing with horror, fantasy or science fiction seldom get released outside the country, while feature films remain discreet endeavors, such as Michael Steiner's Sennentuntschi: Curse of the Alps (2010) and Das Missen Massaker (2012), Bettina Oberli's Tannöd - The Murder Farm (2009), Mathieu Seiler's Der Ausflug (2012), Ivan Engler's Cargo (2009) or Olivier Beguin's Chimères (2013). These are mere scattered examples, with most of these features never getting any national theatrical release.
And here comes Northmen - A Viking Saga. Collaborating with Two Oceans Production (South Africa) and Jumping Horse Film (Germany), the Swiss distributor Ascot Elite reactivated its producing sector for this ambitious project. Historically, the company was founded by Erwin C. Dietrich, who had a successful career in erotic cinema and who produced several films of the late Jess Franco. Claudio Fäh (Hollow Man II, Sniper: Reloaded), a Swiss filmmaker who has been working in the United States for many years, was chosen to helm the project, directing Tom Hopper (Black Sails, Knights of Badassdom), Ryan Kwanten (True Blood, Red Hill) and Anatole Taubman (Captain America: The First Avenger, Quantum of Solace) among other actors.
The plot of Northmen - A Viking Saga sees a squad of ferocious Vikings getting stranded in an unknown land. There, they take hostage the daughter of a wealthy lord, who casts an army of knights to track them down. The relentless script does not leave any moment for the viewer to get bored. Sadly, the straight-forwardness is consistently weighed down by poor characterization and unbelievable situations and twists. As such, the overall seriousness unfortunately induces more laughter than chills; this is problematic, as the bravery and toughness displayed by the Vikings are constantly defused.
The producers' ambition is evident on the film's outdoor shooting, but also on the many fight sequences and visual effects. Fäh shows his best skills when he is working with landscapes, which he uses as an active agent of his mise en scène. Too bad that the unfinished special effects cannot help with the epic setting that the director is trying to build. The major disappointment lies in the fight scenes, as they lack strong choreography. This results in abusively edited and messy sequences, where the viewer struggles to determine who is combating who. The only interesting fighting character is that of the monk played by Ryan Kwanten, who handles a stick as a Shaolin would.
Northmen - A Viking Saga surely does not resemble any other movie recently produced in Switzerland. But by trying hard to look like a Hollywood production, the film inherits similar flaws that handicap many American blockbusters. As such, one may regret that the Swiss producers have not tried to infuse a greater European flavor to their Viking odyssey. Let us hope that the film will encounter enough success so that they could make another - and better - ambitious project of this scale.
The film will be released in theatres in the French part of Switzerland on January 7, 2015.
