Beowulf and Grendel the Movie

At the beginning of July 2004, Canadian filmmakers Sturla Gunnarsson, Paul Stephens, Andrew Rai Berzins and Eric Jordan went to Iceland to make a movie, a co-production between Canada, the U.K. and Iceland.

It was the beginning of the most difficult project for everyone. A series of events continued to put the project in jeopardy. Halfway through production, the financing had not closed, the film was seriously over budget, and the bonder was alarmed enough to send a representative to Iceland.

The entire production was put under intense scrutiny while the cast and crew were fighting the onset of a ruthless Icelandic winter and diminishing daylight. The storms tore roofs off buildings and swept away equipment, and Gunnarsson slowly seemed to take on the characteristics and physical appearance of a troll as he struggled to fight gigantic obstacles.

Gerard Butler is the hero Beowulf who travels to Denmark to fight the monstrous troll Grendel ( Ignvar Sigurdsson), who has been plaguing the house of King Hrothgar and slaughtering the warriors in the night. The superb Stellan Skarsgard is Hrothgar, the grief-crippled king, half drunk in the middle of the afternoon.

These three actors are magnificent in their roles but the main character, and the real star, is Iceland. Every single frame is bursting with absolutely glorious scenery!

In this stark tale of revenge and bloodshed, the fight scenes are as gruesome as you would expect but this isn't a horror movie full of screams and gore, it's on the same level of violence as Kingdom of Heaven or Braveheart. Neither is it an "action movie". It's more a convoluted mystery, with Beowulf playing the detective.

Beowulf begins to doubt the commonly held assertion that he is hunting a monster of all encompassing evil. In the end he deeply regrets the need to destroy Grendel, and yet accepts the fact that in his world, it must be done.

Beowulf's final words "Sleep Grendel" brought tears to my eyes.
Yes, it's a myth, told round the campfire, but the monsters are still out there in the dark.

Stellan Skarsgard is Hrothgar, worn out, drinking too much and mourning the loss of his men from the King's hall overnight.

Most of the film remains true to the original poem, the language is entrancingly almost pure English. A lot of work was done on this dialogue to strip out Latin based words and remove the Norman French borrowings.

It's beautifully done with insults common to Skandinavian sagas, such as the references to shoving swords "up your hairy a****s" and the completely natural response from Hrothgar when he is questioned about Grendel's motives "He's just a f***ing troll!".

Pure Anglo-Saxon, so much so that the conversation of a more literate Irish monk (a new character introduced in the film) is noticeable.

There are three other new characters too, Grendel's father, the witch Selma, and Grendel's son. The notorious coward Unferth (one who later insults Beowulf) is also developed here--Grendel has such contempt for Unferth that he will not kill him (thus giving him a hero's death allowing him to be taken to Valhalla) despite Unferth's repeated attempts to fight the troll.

Due to some adult content, this film is not at all suitable for children. There's no over-the-top fighting and special effects, but gory just the same and also a disturbing sex scene.