reiher@ucla-cs.UUCP (04/06/85)
Oh, wow, a Viking movie! A real Viking movie, too, not one
of there phony Hollywood concoctions which try to pass off
Richard Widmark or Kirk Douglas as Vikings. "When the Raven
Flies" has genuine Vikings (well, their Icelandic descendents,
anyway) and a story rather more like material from Norse sagas
than Romantic era notions of Vikings pumped through the bullshit
injectors of big studios. Oddly, or not so oddly, the result is
more like a Western than anything else. In fact, it's reminis-
cent of "A Fistful of Dollars", a bit more than just "reminis-
cent", really. And "A Fistful of Dollars" was a ripoff of "Yo-
jimbo". Talk about crosscultural borrowings: an Icelandic film
utilizing Viking culture telling a story stolen from an Italian
film about the American west in turn stolen from a Japanese film.
Isn't international cinema wonderful?
(As an aside, the producers of "A Fistful of Dollars" were
eventually taken to court by the owners of "Yojimbo". The Itali-
ans lost and were required to pay a large sum of money to the
Japanese because the court ruled that "A Fistful of Dollars" was
obviously derived from "Yojimbo". "When the Raven Flies" is even
more shamefully stolen from "A Fistful of Dollars" so that, in
the unlikely event that the Icelandic film makes a bundle, the
Italians may be able to take it to court and recover some of the
money lost to the Japanese. If there's anything more wonderful
than international cinema, it's either the ways of film producers
or international law.)
"When the Raven Flies" concerns the revenge a young Irishman
takes on the Vikings who raided his home and killed his parents.
The raiders are in disfavor with the ruling king of Norway, and
have taken up residence in the unpopulated regions of Iceland.
Our hero, Gest, seeks them out and destroys them by pitting them
against each other. The theme is unending revenge (a good Nordic
theme) and the method of the telling is heavy on action and
violence and light on philosophy and moralizing. Director Hrafn
Gunnlaugsson is a self-described disciple of Ford, Kurasawa, and
Leone. Not unexpectedly, he is not up to the best of these
directors in this outing, one of Gunnlaugsson's first. However,
Ford and Leone have made worse movies, and Kurasawa duller ones,
so perhaps there is hope for Gunnlaugsson. It certainly is in-
teresting to see a Nordic director choose these filmmakers for
his idols rather than Bergman, Sjostrom, and Dreyer.
The story is extremely close in most particulars to "A Fist-
ful of Dollars", with a few twists. Rather than being rivals,
the two chieftains are close friends. One of them is married to
the abducted sister of Gest, and has produced a son, Gest's
nephew, to muddy the waters (Gunnlaugsson's most obvious John
Ford tribute, "borrowed" from "The Searchers"). The constant
references to Norse gods also is a bit different. The hero's
method is the same, though, and numerous incidents are repeated
with practically the only changes being in sets, costumes, props,
and actors. I am beginning to get a bit tired of seeing this
plot over and over again.
Gunnlaugsson certainly has energy, though, if nothing else.
"When the Raven Flies" moves right along at a good clip. The
frequent action sequences, mostly involving nasty, primative
knives, are adequately staged, but do not have the visceral
shocking power that Leone and Kurosawa achieve so easily.
Gunnlaugsson's imagination flags towards the middle of the film,
and there is a certain repetitiveness about the killings. One
strength Gunnlaugsson does seem to have in common with Ford is
his eye for scenery. Ford added immeasurably to his Westerns by
brilliant choices of Monument Valley locales for the backdrops of
his films. Gunnlaugsson establishes a strong sense of place in
his use of the coastline of Iceland. He succeeds in showing us a
landscape unlike any other I've seen on film. His integration of
the effects of the land into the characters and story is not yet
developed, but he makes some honorable efforts in that direction.
Jakob Thor Eimarsson is strong, silent, and handsome as
Gest, but doesn't have the dominating physical presence of
Toshiro Mifune or Clint Eastwood, so Gest is not as mythic a fig-
ure. A more forceful actor might have helped here. Lacking de-
tailed credits, I am guessing about the next actor, but I think
it was Edda Bjorgvinsdottir who played the major foe of Gest.
Whatever the actor's name, he is superb, a brooding leader reli-
ant on a harsh, demanding god. This Viking isn't a mighty-thewed
blond giant, but a tough, wiry, ruthless bandit; I suspect that
this portrayal is much closer to the truth of the Vikings than
Lee Majors, for instance, in "The Norsemen". Gunnlaugsson might
have done better to give him the lead.
Gunnlaugsson might also have done better to avoid quite so
many obvious parallels to his cinematic heros. In particular,
the score of "When the Raven Flies" is a great embarrassment. It
sounds like Ennio Morricone's rejects plastered over with some
shabby imitations of Jethro Tull and Eurythmics, and it detracts
from every moment of the film. The cinematography is fine,
though, showing the film's people and landscapes to good advan-
tage.
"When the Raven Flies" is an adequate but unexceptional ac-
tion film. It's certainly a cut above cheap Hollywood garbage,
and deserves praise for its realistic evocation of a foreign time
and place. It is not, however, up to even the average works of
Gunnlaugsson's mentors. Whether Gunnlaugsson is just warming up
or has already given us his best shot remains to be seen. I
rather hope that he returns to more faithful borrowings from Ice-
landic sagas for his future films, for they represent a rich and
largely untapped source of material, filled with action, drama,
and tragedy. Since no other filmmaker has shown any inclination
to work from them, I can but hope that Gunnlaugsson improves his
techniques and finds the way to bring their interesting qualities
to the screen. Pruning away some of his more conscious borrow-
ings from the masters might be a good place to start.
--
Peter Reiher
reiher@ucla-cs.arpa
{...ihnp4,ucbvax,sdcrdcf}!ucla-cs!reiherbothner@Shasta.ARPA (04/09/85)
Some notes on another one of Reiher's well-written reviews (Where
does he get the time?):
Iceland is very proud of its cultural heritage, and is one
of the few modern socities to still use the "son/daughter-of"
system of naming. Thus director Hrafn Gunnlaugson's \personal
name/ is Hrafn (which actually means "raven"!) and his father's
name is Gunnlaug. It is therefore incorrect to speak of him as
"Gunnlaugson"; his name is Hrafn. To underscore this point:
Icelandic telephone directories are alphabethized by first name.
The Icelandic prime minister is similarly referred to by her
first name: Vigdis. (I could be wrong about some of this, since I'm
only a decadent Norwegian...)
> I think it was Edda Bjorgvinsdottir who played the major foe of Gest.
Clearly not, since "-dottir" means "daughter of".
--Per Bothner
ARPA: Bothner@su-score UUCP: {ucbvax,decwrl}!shasta!bothnerbjorn@alberta.UUCP (Bjorn R. Bjornsson) (04/10/85)
reiher@ucla-cs.UUCP writes about "When the Raven Flies": > . . . . . . . . . . . . Oddly, or not so oddly, the result is > more like a Western than anything else. In fact, it's reminis- > cent of "A Fistful of Dollars", a bit more than just "reminis- > cent", really. And "A Fistful of Dollars" was a ripoff of "Yo- > jimbo". Talk about crosscultural borrowings: an Icelandic film > utilizing Viking culture telling a story stolen from an Italian > film about the American west in turn stolen from a Japanese film. > Isn't international cinema wonderful? As it happens this isn't at all odd. Another movie (this one made after a genuine, i.e. 800-900 year old saga) "Gisla saga Surssonar" (dir. Agust Gudmundsson) also has the air of a Western about it. Honor and Revenge, are standard theme components in most of the Icelandic sagas, as is accepting the adversity of live without bending. Since certain Westerns are built around similar themes it's not surprising that the results look familiar. Indeed films like "Raven" are in Iceland, sometimes referred to as "Spaghetti Northerns". > . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . "When the Raven Flies" is even > more shamefully stolen from "A Fistful of Dollars" . . . . . . Maybe it's been too long since I saw "A Fistful of Dollars", but I fail to see this. There is precious little in "Raven" that isn't in one Saga or another. Certainly the similarity to Westerns has not escaped attention in Iceland, but this is the first time that I've seen anyone suggest that the story was lifted intact from an existing film, script or story, and it's not as though "Fistful" is unknown in Iceland, quite the contrary. > . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Director Hrafn > Gunnlaugsson is a self-described disciple of Ford, Kurasawa, and > Leone. Not unexpectedly, he is not up to the best of these > directors in this outing, one of Gunnlaugsson's first. However, > Ford and Leone have made worse movies, and Kurasawa duller ones, > so perhaps there is hope for Gunnlaugsson. It certainly is in- > teresting to see a Nordic director choose these filmmakers for > his idols rather than Bergman, Sjostrom, and Dreyer. Not his first outing, but it's true that Gunnlaugsson hasn't made a great number of films. In my oppinion his best work has been in TV plays (such as "Blood-red Sunset"). > . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . One of them is married to > the abducted sister of Gest, and has produced a son, Gest's > nephew, to muddy the waters (Gunnlaugsson's most obvious John > Ford tribute, "borrowed" from "The Searchers"). Again, by Occam's razor there is know reason to assume any borrowing here. This is yet another standard Icelandic saga component. A situation where a key player MUST choose between two loved ones, any choice meaning the death of either one (or worse). > Jakob Thor Eimarsson is strong, silent, and handsome as > Gest, but doesn't have the dominating physical presence of > Toshiro Mifune or Clint Eastwood, so Gest is not as mythic a fig- > ure. A more forceful actor might have helped here. Spelling-nit: Jakob Thor Einarsson > . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Lacking de- > tailed credits, I am guessing about the next actor, but I think > it was Edda Bjorgvinsdottir who played the major foe of Gest. > Whatever the actor's name, he is superb, a brooding leader reli- > ant on a harsh, demanding god. Edda Bjorgvinsdottir is an actress, the actor you are referring to is Helgi Skulason. > . . . Gunnlaugsson might also have done better to avoid quite so > many obvious parallels to his cinematic heros. In particular, > the score of "When the Raven Flies" is a great embarrassment. It > sounds like Ennio Morricone's rejects plastered over with some > shabby imitations of Jethro Tull and Eurythmics, and it detracts > from every moment of the film. The cinematography is fine, > though, showing the film's people and landscapes to good advan- > tage. I can't really argue about this, since I've more or less forgetten what the score sounded like. Which means that I found the score unspectacular and not quite as bothersome as you would have us believe. In any case matters of musical preference are in the realm of religion. > I rather hope that he returns to more faithful borrowings from Ice- > landic sagas for his future films, for they represent a rich and > largely untapped source of material, filled with action, drama, > and tragedy. Since no other filmmaker has shown any inclination > to work from them, . . . See my above remarks, re "Gisla saga Surssonar". As an aside, I would like to mention that the film was one of the first (if not the first) to use a Swedish videotape editing system. The film was edited entirely on videotape. First the master was transferred to tape along with frame information. After tape editing was complete, a copy of the master was cut using automated equipment driven by the frame info on the tape. This sort of equipment may be old hat in the U.S., but if not, now you know. If any of you netters have questions on the budding Icelandic film industry, I'd be more than happy to supply whatever information I have at my disposal. Lastly I would like to commend Mr. Reiher for is informative and often entertaining reviews. Bjorn R. Bjornsson alberta!bjorn