The McGill Tribune

The McGill Tribune(McGill University,Montreal,Canada)



REVIEWS

Issue date: 4/4/06 Section: a & e


Film. Beowulf and Grendel. If you are particularly fond of the poem Beowulf, written in the first half of the eighth century, director Sturla Gunnarson's cinematic adaptation, entitled Beowulf and Grendel, may not be for you. The filmmakers explain that they wanted to engage the original text by posing two distinct questions: "What if the hero was a complex, thoughtful man?" and "What if the monster weren't really a monster?" While in theory their approach seems intelligent and refreshing, the end product departs so drastically from its source material that much of what made the story timeless and intriguing is lost.

Perhaps the most striking addition is the character Selma, played by Canadian indie starlet Sarah Polley. Selma's distinctly contemporary perspective on the events appears anachronistic among the brutish views of the Danes and Geats. Of course, in our modern times, it seems that the narrow and stringent Code of the Multiplex requires Beowulf to have a love interest. This Hollywood romance, surprisingly, stands out against the more redeeming qualities of the film.

Though the purist might not appreciate the free adaptation of the poem, often accomplished at the expense of all reasonability, one can nevertheless enjoy the view. Gunnarson shot the film in his native Iceland and brings a landscape to the screen that has seldom been meditated upon for an entire feature-length production. As the director explains, "It's a landscape that's never been seen on film, certainly not in any kind of a mass-market film. I mean, [James] Bond has shot there, and Lara Croft shot there, but they sort of represent three or four minutes in the films. This is a film that lives and breathes entirely on that landscape."

Oh yes, and the costuming is quite good too.

- Melissa Gaul

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