Beowulf & Grendel

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Movie
German title Beowulf & Grendel
Original title Beowulf & Grendel
Country of production Canada , Iceland , UK
original language English
Publishing year 2005
length 100 minutes
Age rating FSK 16
Rod
Director Sturla Gunnarsson
script Andrew Rai Berzins
production Paul Stephens
Eric Jordan
Sturla Gunnarsson
music Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson
camera Jan Kiesser
cut Jeff Warren
occupation

Beowulf & Grendel is a film adaptation of the epic heroic poem Beowulf, directed by Sturla Gunnarsson . The Canadian - Icelandic - British co-production with the main actors Gerard Butler as Beowulf, Stellan Skarsgård as King Hrothgar , Ingvar Eggert Sigurðsson as Grendel and Sarah Polley as Selma was created in 2005 .

action

Denmark in the 5th century: At a young age the troll Grendel has to watch his father being killed by the Danish King Hrothgar. Grendel himself is spared and takes his dead father's head with him. He grows up and swears vengeance. Years later, the young hero Beowulf travels to Denmark to help Hrothgar in the fight against the now grown-up, overpowering troll, who mercilessly and brutally kill large numbers of warriors from Hrothgar's people. Hrothgar deliberately conceals from Beowulf that he suspects why Grendel is attacking his warriors - he feared that Beowulf would otherwise not have helped him in the fight, as he later admits. Beowulf receives sometimes reluctant support from the witch Selma, who is the only one who can understand Grendel and correctly interpret his actions.

Although Beowulf poses several times to fight Grendel, the troll runs away, which annoys the young hero. Beowulf's troop finally go to Grendel's cave, where Hondscioh smashes Grendel's father's skull. While Grendel previously shied away from dealing with Beowulf's troops, he is now furiously declaring war on these people too. The following night he attacks the village of Hrothgars, where Beowulf and his men are staying, again, fights his way to Hondscioh and kills him. During his subsequent escape, Grendel is caught in a noose and severed his own arm in order to escape. Grendel dies a little later from this wound, which angered his mother, a sea monster. She now tries to kill Beowulf, but Beowulf wins the fight and kills her. Immediately afterwards he is threatened with a sword by a very young troll and decides to spare him.

Only later does the hero find out that Grendel had a son with Selma. He performs a funeral ritual for Grendel and starts his journey home by ship with his entourage.

publication

Beowulf & Grendel premiered on September 14, 2005 at the Toronto Film Festival . The film was released on DVD on November 15, 2006 and was first broadcast on German television on February 4, 2009 on arte .

Reviews

  • The lexicon of international films wrote that the film “offers not only tried and tested authentic dialogues with some bad taste and quite bloody fighting”.

Awards

  • In 2007 the film was nominated in three categories at the Genie Awards . He also won a special prize for make-up design.

Locations

The Skógafoss, backdrop u. a. for the baptism of Hrothgar.

Most of the film was shot in south Iceland. So was u. a. recorded the baptism of Hrothgar below the 60 meter high Skógafoss , a much-visited tourist attraction near Skógar . Numerous scenes were also created on the cliff-rich lava beaches of the Dyrhólaey peninsula near Vík í Mýrdal . The rocky coast there offered the ideal rough backdrop with its black beaches, rock needles rising steeply from the sea and numerous rock caves. Selma's dwelling in the middle of an area of ​​wind-eroded black rocks is also located at the approach from Hringvegur (national road 1) to the Dyrhólaey peninsula. The film team had to withstand heavy storms of over 250 km / h in some cases. The shots of the journey of Beowulf's ship between mighty icebergs were taken on the famous Jökulsárlón glacial lake , one of the most popular tourist attractions in southern Iceland. Another important location was the volcanic area of Landmannalaugar with its warm springs and picturesque colored rock formations.

Others

Beowulf & Grendel was released as a German DVD in December 2006.

Web links

swell

  1. ↑ Beowulf & Grendel. In: Zelluloid.de. Archived from the original on July 10, 2017 ; accessed on August 25, 2018 .
  2. ↑ a b Beowulf & Grendel. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed August 25, 2018 .  .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used