I’d say that a lot of it ranks up there with his Dire Straits work. He’s made some truly amazing songs, especially on All the Roadrunning with Emmylou Harris. And that’s before even mentioning his soundtrack work for movies like Local Hero, Cal, and Princess Bride.
It wasn’t until a few years ago that it really hit me just how good Tolkien is at creating a truly suspenseful and scary scene. There’s the way he introduced Mordor in the second chapter, as a fearful tale told by the refugee dwarves fleeing the east. There’s the Barrowdowns and the Nazgul, enough said there. The journeys through Moria and Shelob’s Lair are both incredibly eerie in their own ways. They both start out as creepy ventures into the deep places of the world, only for terrifying monsters to emerge. Not to mention the existential horror that Gandalf briefly describes when he recounts his battle with the Balrog.
I’m not necessarily talking about when the Roman Empire(s) specifically fell. I mean the point in the empire‘s history where it became crystal clear that a fall was imminent.
Was there one single moment which sticks out? Several moments?
… was how it semi-subverted the classic revenge story and emphasized what a horrific thing revenge is.
More than any other genre, Robert Eggers’ films are rooted in horror. And in this most ambitious of his films, The Northman conveys that horror from both sides of the story. On the one hand, you have the horror which Amleth experiences. His whole life is ripped apart as a boy. He witnesses his father’s murder by his uncle, he glimpses his mother being carried off, his home looted, and those loyal to his father being killed. He then spends his adult years in exile, living as a berserker and raider, until the gods remind him of his need to seek revenge. As the story goes on, his quest becomes a curse, to the point that he could easily escape with Olga and live his life, but he’s compelled to return and throw his life away in the name of taking revenge.
But meanwhile, there is also a lot of focus on Fjolnir, the treacherous uncle, and Gudrun, his wife and former sister-in-law. If we can trust their accounts, Amleth’s father was an abusive spouse who forced himself upon Gudrun. She finds salvation in Fjolnir, who frees her from a husband she hates and a son she was forced to bear. Then, years and years later, they’ve built a humble but peaceful life in Iceland, free to live together and start their own family. And one day, their lives descend into horror once again, and their lives are destroyed by a spectre from their past. Amleth is almost like a horror monster from their POV: the son of the man who blighted their lives, he goes on to kill their sons, burn their home, and kill them one by one.
Not in any rendition of Shakespeare’s Hamlet have I ever come across such an effective portrayal of the destructive cycle of revenge.
This is strictly regarding their directorial careers. Both men were highly accomplished thespians before trying out directing. They both directed films which won Best Picture and Best Director at the Oscars. The similarities end pretty much there, so it’s more a question of whose directorial films you like more.
Crazy to think that Heath Ledger would have been 47 years old today.
To be clear, I’m not saying that these filmmakers can’t go on to make better films. I‘m not saying that it’s their only great film either.
For me, this describes Martin McDonagh. Far as I’m concerned, he has yet to make a bad film, but In Bruges is still my favourite of his work. In fact, it is still one of the best written films I’ve yet seen. Everything which he introduces in the first third of the script has a payoff later in the plot. There is also a lot of room for the characters to simply breathe, interact, and show us who they are. And it’s also one of the funniest films of the 2000s. A true masterpiece in the dark comedy genre.
And by 'perfect 5', I meant that there's an equal amount of things you like and dislike about the film, so that it pretty much breaks even for you.
There are only a few films I've come across that I could earnestly rate as a 'perfect 5' (and I know my choices will be unpopular), but these are mine:
Titanic
Love Actually
The Green Knight
Dinosaur (2000)
King Kong (2005)
Kingdom of Heaven (the theatrical cut)