Northmen: A Viking Saga: a European film, Hollywood-style
- A spectacular and ambitious movie, directed by a Swiss director who has been able to build on US cinema by revisiting it in his own way.
The latest effort by director Claudio Fäh transforms the Zurich Film Festival into a battlefield of Viking furore. Northmen: A Viking Saga [+see also:
trailer
interview: Claudio Fäh
film profile] is a hybrid film, an intriguing mix of European characters and Hollywood opulence. Claudio Fäh, the Swiss director with a degree in German literature and linguistic science at the University of Zurich decided to follow the American dream by moving to the city in which anything seems possible: Los Angeles. Following Coronado (2003) and Sniper: Reloaded (2011) Claudio Fäh appears in Zurich with a new and epic production up his sleeve.
Northmen is the story of a bloody battle for the survival of a people, and to defend a culture that has almost become extinct. Exiled by their own king, a group of Vikings flee their tragic fate in search of a safe place where they can live freely. After their difficult struggle against an impassable and merciless sea, our band of Northern warriors land on the coast of Scotland. Asbjörn, the leader of the pack, had dreamed of reaching the island of Lindesfarne and of sacking the monastery, a secret hiding place of vast wealth, so as to be able to pay the price for his freedom and for that of his men. Destiny however brings them to land on the coast of Scotland, an enemy land inhabited by a cynical and unscrupulous king and his court of bloody mercenaries.
The only prospect of survival is the Viking fortress of Danelagh but reaching it is certainly no easy task and will require a hefty dose of cold blood and courage. Our men from the North are accompanied on their odyssey by the daughter of the king of Scotland Dunchaid, who becomes their prisoner, and by a multi-talented warrior monk. A red-blooded man hunt begins in which will-power alone makes all the difference and in which there’s no room for fear or weakness. The prize to be one is a great one: life. Claudio Fäh presents an opulent show imbued with pagan myths, ancient legends and warrior furore.
Northmen is Hollywood-style Swiss, German and South African co-production, a concentration of action and suspense that seeks to let the viewer escape to a fantasy world in which honour and courage reign supreme. This is a spectacular and ambitious movie, directed by a Swiss director who has been able to build on US cinema by revisiting it in his own way.
Northmen: A Viking Saga is a co-production by Elite Filmproduktion, Jumping Horse Film and Two Oceans Production. It is sold internationally by Salt.
(Translated from Italian)
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