Beowulf (1999 film)

Beowulf is a 1999 American science fantasy-action film loosely based on the Old English epic poem Beowulf. The film was directed by Graham Baker and written by Mark Leahy and David Chappe. Unlike most film adaptations of the poem, this version is a science-fiction/fantasy film that, according to one film critic, "takes place in a post-apocalyptic, techno-feudal future that owes more to Mad Max than Beowulf."[1] While the film remains fairly true to the story of the original poem, other plot elements deviate from the original poem (Hrothgar has an affair with Grendel's mother, and they have a child together, Grendel; Hrothgar's wife commits suicide).

Beowulf
French theatrical release poster
Directed byGraham Baker
Produced byLawrence Kasanoff
Screenplay byMark Leahy
David Chappe
Based onBeowulf
StarringChristopher Lambert
Rhona Mitra
Oliver Cotton
Music byJonathan Sloate
Ben Watkins
CinematographyChristopher Faloona
Edited byRoy Watts
Production
company
Threshold Entertainment
European Motion Pictures
Distributed byDimension Films
The Kushner-Locke Company
Capitol Films Limited
Release date
  • March 31, 1999 (1999-03-31) (United States)
Running time
93 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Plot

A castle-like outpost comes under attack by a creature, named Grendel, on a nightly basis. However, it refuses to attack the border lord Hrothgar. One of the outpost's residents, Pendra, escapes the following morning but is captured by a rival siege line who intend to kill her to prevent the outpost's evil from spreading. Pendra is saved by a mysterious warrior named Beowulf and rides with him. When she realizes Beowulf is riding for the outpost, she runs back to the siege line and is killed. Beowulf meets Hrothgar, and is permitted to stay to help slay the beast. Hrothgar, his daughter Kyra, and his military leader, Roland suspect that Beowulf was sent by a rival family to avenge the death of their son Nivri, Kyra's former husband. However, Kyra's suspicions dissipate when she realizes that Beowulf can sense evil.

For a few nights, Hrothgar experiences nightmares, triggered by a succubus, about his late wife's suicide. When Grendel attacks during the day, Beowulf and Hrothgar's remaining soldiers are forced to confront Grendel. They evacuate the women and children to a sanctuary but are immediately slaughtered by Grendel. Beowulf manages to wound Grendel, but is also wounded in the process. As Kyra attends to Beowulf, Roland confesses to her his romantic feelings for her, however, she only sees him as a brother. After Beowulf recovers, Kyra reveals that Nivri was an abusive spouse and she killed him after he attempted to force himself on her. Beowulf believes she was justified. Beowulf faces Grendel again and severs its arm. Believing Grendel to be dead, the survivors celebrate and Roland is visited by the succubus.

Kyra discloses her romantic feelings of Beowulf to him and the two engage in intercourse. Afterwards, Beowulf reveals to Kyra that he is half human because his mother was impregnated by Bael and is able to suppress his inner evil by battling evil. Beowulf senses the succubus and rushes to find her. Kyra and Hrothgar return to the dining hall to find everyone dead, including Roland. They encounter the succubus, who reveals herself to be Grendel's mother and Hrothgar as its father, hence why Grendel had spared him before. Hrothgar's unfaithfulness led to his wife's suicide. Hrothgar attempts to kill the succubus but is killed by Grendel. Beowulf arrives and kills the beast. Grendel's mother attempts to appeal to Beowulf's inner evil, but fails and transforms into a giant dragon-like creature. After Beowulf defeats Grendel's mother, their battle forces the outpost to collapse on itself. Beowulf and Kyra escape and she convinces him to accompany him on his journeys.

Cast

Production

The production was filmed in Romania. The movie's end credits says: "Filmed on location in Romania". Location is the city of Rupea, in Transylvania.

Themes

As with other Beowulf adaptations, the film reinterprets the poem, blending its original genre with "tropes from horror and soft pornography," but it also retains and expands on its original elements.[2]

The film addresses the poem's plot point of Beowulf not having a wife or an heir, as it reveals Beowulf to be the same kind of creature the monsters themselves, making him refraining from wanting to produce offspring. The poem's emphasis on genealogy is represented by humans and monsters mating among them, with Grendel being the son of Hrothgar and Beowulf being the result of a god of darkness inseminating a woman.[2][3] Beowulf and Grendel are shown as mirror images of each other, as the former harbors an internal struggle to contain his monstrous nature, while the latter was conceived by her mother as a revenge of an external oppression.[3]

Grendel's mother is portrayed as a representation of monstrous female sexuality.[2][3] She operates as a seductive succubus, giving birth to monsters, but can also shapeshift into a monster herself. This form resembles a dragon, an arachnid and a gorgon,[2] not only evoking the Freudian Medusa's Head, but also evoking the archaic mother by resembling a vagina dentata with phallic talons.[3] She also sexually attacks Hrothgar, inverting the trope of horror film monsters chasing after female leads.[2]

Reception

Critical reaction to the film has been highly negative. The general criticisms for the film were the weak script, below-average acting, corny dialogue, deviations from the source material, and over-reliance on camp, although it was hailed for its production design. Danél Griffin of Film as Art said the film "understands that liberties must be taken with the poem's characters to create a more cinematic experience, and there are moments that, even in its liberties, it reveals a deep appreciation for the poem, and a profound understanding of its ideas. There are other moments, however, that seem so absurd and outlandish that we wonder if the writers, Mark Leahy and David Chappe, have even read the poem." Griffin added that "Lambert is certainly effective", but concluded that "clever ideas aside, the film is unfortunately mediocre at best. The set design and some of the revised storyline are both stupendous, but the overall experience makes for poor cinema."[1]

Beyond Hollywood's review said that "genre films don't get any sillier than this", but called the film "above average". The review praised the film's "energetic action" and said that it "excels in set design", but added that "the techno (music) is pretty annoying."[4] Calling the film "a cheesy post-apocalyptic update of the ancient tale", Carlo Cavagna of About Film praised the film's action scenes but felt that Lambert and Mitra had no chemistry.[5]

Nathan Shumate of Cold Fusion Video Reviews also praised the film's action scenes, but felt it used all its good ideas in the first half, "leaving most of the rest of the movie to die of attrition." Shumate added, "That's not to say that there are no effective scenes to be had, [but they] certainly can’t carry the full 90-minute running time. Perhaps it's truly impossible to come up with a definitive film version of this epic. But I wouldn’t want to make a judgement on that simply due to this attempt's mediocrity."[6]

Soundtrack

The film's soundtrack mainly featured electronic and industrial songs from various artists and original score material by Juno Reactor's Ben Watkins.

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References
  1. Danél Griffin (2013) "In Depth: Beowulf: The Movie(s)" Archived 2011-07-19 at the Wayback Machine, Film as Art
  2. Ashton, Gail (2015). Medieval Afterlives in Contemporary Culture. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 9781441160683.
  3. Fugelso, Karl (2014). Ethics and Medievalism. Boydell & Brewer. ISBN 9781843843764.
  4. "Beowulf (1999) Movie Review" Archived 2008-09-25 at the Wayback Machine (February 11, 2005) Beyond Hollywood
  5. Beowulf (1999) review Archived 2011-05-17 at the Wayback Machine, Carlo Cavagna, About Film
  6. Beowulf (1999) review Archived 2012-07-30 at Archive.today, Nathan Shumate, Cold Fusion Video Reviews, November 23, 2000
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