In "Valhalla Rising," One-Eye (Mads Mikkelsen) is a mute savage from Scandinavia who is being held captive. (Photo by IFC Films)
Story Created:
Jul 28, 2010 at 8:36 PM PST
Story Updated:
Jul 28, 2010 at 8:36 PM PST
On the surface, “Valhalla Rising” may seem like just another proto-medieval period piece, but writer/director Nicolas Winding Refn said in an interview this week that rather than adding to an already well-stocked canon, he was instead trying to “fill a void.”
Based in Scotland, 1000 AD, “Valhalla Rising” explores a world torn between the brutality of the past and the civility of the future. One-Eye (Mads Mikkelsen) is a mute Scandinavian savage that has been kept caged like an animal, only brought out by his owner to fight for money. Aided by Are (Maarten Stevenson), a young slave, One Eye kills his captor and together they embark on a long journey home. While en route, they team up with a group of Viking Christian warriors who want to conquer Jerusalem. But when their ship becomes engulfed by fog, it becomes clear that they have entered an unknown land, one that is unforgiving. Each must confront their demons as they battle for their lives.
“When I was five years old, my mother read to me an old pulp comic book about a father and son who embark on a trip to the moon. In a cave, they discover a man-made coffin,” Refn said in a telephone interview from a rental home in Hollywood where he is staying while shooting another film. “And this is as far as my memory goes. I remember nothing about the reason for the coffin being there or what happened next. I believe this to be the genesis of my obsession with the unknown — something which has been a driving force in much of my work.”
Refn admitted that he was not fascinated with Vikings nor did he have any interest in making a period movie. Working in such genres, he said, is difficult. Rather Refn attempted to make a modern film that while it is set in the past, actually focuses on the future. Strangely, he said, this was a way for him to make a science fiction movie without the science.
Despite this, there still needed to be some elements of realism. For this, Refn relied on co-writer Roy Jacobsen, an established novelist and historian. Jacobsen provided factual details about the Viking era, which Refn incorporated into all aspects of the production.
But Refn made sure that his point of view was also seen. For Refn, the overriding theme was the rise of mythology and religion and how those dual forces have shaped the evolution of humankind.
It took close to two years to fuse these ideas together. Shot in Scotland in under nine weeks — six hours of shooting a day — the environment, said Refn, was remote and hostile. The most difficult part was finding “a location that was so far away from civilization that it would add to the realism of the film.”
And with few CGI effects — they were used only to enhance scenes of bloodshed — Mikkelsen and the other actors “had to give a performance that carried the whole film,” he said.
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