![]() ![]() As Gunnarsson put it, they tried to be true to "the bones of the story." Since the poem dates back to a Norse oral tradition, where poets would embellish stories with each telling, Gunnarsson felt they could do some of the same. They decided to cut loose from it right away, and instead portray the story that would become the poem. They took a lot liberty with the story, especially as the poem has speeches that go on for pages.Director Sturla Gunnarsson, screenwriter Andrew Rai Berzins, and actor Tony Curran did a Q&A after the film: ![]() The cast acquits themselves well, including Polley, whose Canadian accent serves to show her character's isolation from the rest of the community. Director Sturla Gunnarsson has made some interesting casting choices, with Scots actors as the Geats (who are actually from Sweden), Nordic actors as the Danes, and Canadian Sarah Polley as Selma. ![]() Screenwriter Andrew Rai Berzins makes use of slightly more contemporary language in the script, but without any ill effect. Butler is suitably heroic, and Sigurdsson does well with a role that has essentially no dialogue, what with being a sub-human troll and all. The film looks epic, thanks to the on-location filming in Iceland. However, judged on its own merits, Beowulf and Grendel is a fine film. Historical purists will probably take issue with the portrayal of the story and with the dialogue. Beowulf repeatedly tries to draw Grendel out to do battle, but soon finds from the witch Selma (Sarah Polley) that there may be more the story than meets the eye. It follows Beowulf, a Geat, who travels with his compatriots to Denmark and the realm of King Hrothgar (Stellan SkarsgÄrd), which is besieged by a great monster, Grendel (Ingvar Sigurdsson). Beowulf and Grendel is based on the Old English epic poem of the same name. I saw this film at the 2005 Toronto International Film Festival. ![]()
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