måndag 28 oktober 2019

The Huntress: Rune Of The Dead

If you hear the country name of Sweden, there is a chance you will think about these details:

# Ace Of Base debut album Happy Nation, is still considered to be one of the biggest selling pop albums of all time for a Swedish pop band.

# Robert Aschberg and Gert Fylking´s fantastic 90´s talkshow with nudist guests, drunk reporters and serious topics such as how soft is the bed of an RV ?

# Reality TV star Nalle Knutsson, who tried to adopt a 30 year old indian married man with kids, because he was wonderful and cute.

We should be proud over this in Sweden, and we are of course proud also that Sweden have done a lot more than i mention here. But a lot of people always think about vikings when they think about Sweden. I noticed that, especially in my travelling years to Scotland, when the Scottish people i visited dressed up like vikings because i am from Sweden. A true honor of course, but i could understand why. Vikings is a part of our history, between the year of 800 - 1500. It is important to know, vikings were from all over Scandinavia, and other parts of the world, and not only in Sweden. If you are interested in vikings, i suggest you visit Tanumshede in Sweden, where they have petroglyph writings from vikings in big stones. I have seen them myself, very interesting to see at close range. Vikings in films have been made in many different genres, and from different countries. One of the films that comes to my mind is the 1999 film known as The 13th Warrior, directed by John McTiernan. A huge box office flop back in 1999, but the film has become a bit of a cult film for different reasons. One of the reasons why i enjoy this film, is to see that the main character Ahmad ibn Fadlan ( played by Antonio Banderas ) is transformed from a court poet to an ambassador to the Volga Bulgars. Knowing that this is a character that actually existed, makes him more interesting. The 13th Warrior may not be the best viking film, but entertaining as a historical fiction action film. When i heard that there is a new viking film coming, made in Sweden earlier this year, i was very curious. Finally something different in the category of Swedish made films. Since i could not find the film on DVD, i rented it on my Tivo box instead. Is this one of the better Swedish films of this year, or is The Huntress: Rune Of The Dead a disaster from start to finish ?

811 AD, a family of three women, Runa ( Moa Enqvist Stefansdotter ), Magnhild ( Yohanna Idha ) and Bothild ( Viva Östervall Lyngbrant ), are isolated in their home, waiting for father Joar ( Peter Mörlin ), who has not returned since he left for a viking raid. One day, Runa finds the wounded viking soldier Torulf ( Andreas Tylander ), and bring him to their home. Magnhild is not pleased, since she don´t think they can trust him. It turns out that Torulf was in the same viking raid as Joar, but he is not sure what happened to him. Suddenly, Joar turns up and their lives can go back to normal. But there is something that Joar has not told his family, that he might have made a sin against the dead, that could destroy this family.

It is not often you see a film that wants to tell a story, during one period of the viking era. And this is something that makes The Huntress unique, since we don´t get to see these kinds of historical films made in Sweden. And i am very happy to see that film makers, are not doing the typical Swedish romantic comedies, that we are used to see in Sweden. You see, for some strange reason, Swedish people love to see Swedish romantic comedies, especially with bad acting. The Huntress: Rune Of The Dead is one of the few films this year, that breaks the traditional Swedish release with an interesting story, and interesting characters. Let´s talk about the characters, and wich ones i enjoy most. Main character Runa ( played by Swedish actress Moa Enqvist Stefansdotter ) is the strongest female character in this film, and the most interesting character. She may be a survivor, but you can tell she has a bleeding heart. Swedish actress Yohanna Idha as the character Magnhild, gives a performance that fits really well with her vulnerable character. Swedish actor Andreas Rylander plays the viking warrior character known as Torulf, a man who is carrying a lot of pain but has a good heart. There are a few more characters i could mention, but i would like to talk about the best part of this film. The final battle scenes is exactly what this film needed. Especially when Runa shoots with her bow, and you get a sense that this is a true warrior. My only problem with this film is that some of the more dramatic scenes feels a bit long. I would have liked some more violence instead. But maybe the idea was to make this film more dramatic. Director Rasmus Tirzitis have made a film that will be appreciated by people, who enjoy historical films. He have managed to capture the look, and the lifestyle of Scandinavian vikings in a positive way. If you are fed up with the typical Swedish film release, then The Huntress will make sure you choose the right path to quality. See and learn Colin Nutley, this is how you should make your future films.

Rating: DDD

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