Beowulf

[chris_walsh]

We just don’t tell stories the way they used to be told in epic poems, do we? Our tendency towards more naturalistic/realistic/verisimilitudinous (I made a word!) stories, and our frequent desire to explain the psychology of a story’s characters, don’t quite fit with the inherently artificial quality epic poems have. (I once decided that someone

Comments

[greyaenigma]

Interesting take on the ending -- I'm torn on that myself, thinking about it. Wiglaf doesn't seem like he'd pair up with the cause of Beowulf's demise, but on the other hand I can't think of a better motivation for that character.

So, you'd know the answers to these questions that have been nagging at me: is the 3-D version different from the flat version in the scenes? Are any of the "hey, look! We're doing 3-D!" scenes cut?

Also, how does it differ from the original poem? I know it's different, mostly in the end, but I don't know how.

[chris_walsh]

is the 3-D version different from the flat version in the scenes? Are any of the "hey, look! We're doing 3-D!" scenes cut?

No; they're the same. The filmmakers had considered doing two cuts, but the difference would've been an R-rated Imax/3-D version and a PG-13 general release. Sounds like they decided the potential confusion was too great (kids getting into the R-rated version when they shouldn't). That's touched upon in Quint's production office report from early last year.

Also, how does it differ from the original poem? I know it's different, mostly in the end, but I don't know how.

In broad strokes, the film assumes that Beowulf was exaggerating some elements of his story and fudging others: he's the only one who sees Grendel's mother, and brings back no sign of her death, instead only the head of Grendel. He stays in Denmark instead of becoming king of his own kingdom. I don't think we see Hrothgar die in the original poem, and if he did he certainly didn't die the way he does in the film. The film adds connections between

[greyaenigma]

I'm still not clear on what the actual differences are. Do you mean others saw Grendel's mother in the poem? Also, Hrothgar refers to the Swedish dragon, Fafnir (the one the goblet is based on) -- is that not separate from the dragon at the end? Do you mean that in the poem, he left and had a kingdom elsewhere? I thought Hrothgar's disappearance was a bit odd. I guess the continued implication is that she always reclaimed her lovers.

I get the sense Neil likes the term "Grendel's mother". She shows up in at least one of his short stories.

[chris_walsh]

I meant that since no one sees Beowulf battle Grendel's mother, he could get away with claiming he killed her. In the poem, he actually does kill her; in the movie, he doesn't but pretends he does. (And by the way, in both the poem and the film, Grendel's mother is never seen when she attacks Heorot; we just see the aftermath.) And the dragons are two different dragons; either Hrothgar did kill Fafnir in the past or he just claimed he did, though I don't think Hrothgar would flat-out lie the way Beowulf does in the film. (Remember that when Hrothgar's asked if Grendel's father is a threat, he says "Grendel's father can do no harm to man"...technically true, but leaving out lots of truth.)

And in the original poem, Beowulf sails from what one day will be Sweden to what one day will be Denmark, battles the first two monsters, then returns to his country in the east and eventually battles the dragon. The film never goes to Sweden.

[happyspector]

You seem to have a lot of the same mixed feelings on it as me... Aye, the fact that it's animated is clearly the only reason it got a PG-freakin'-13 rating... which I frankly like, especially since the movie's doing well, as we're getting more and more hard-edged S&S fantasy in film, the way I like it... Y'know, more like our ol' boy Howard! ;-)

Now, if they just manage to get Solomon Kane right...

[chris_walsh]

PG-freakin'-13

Obviously the filmmakers wouldn't have gone all Eastern Promises with the nude fighting had it been R, but I still think going for an R would've been more honest. (Gaiman admitted that he wasn't comfortable with his 13-year-old daughter seeing it.) I do appreciate how hardcore the fighting and blood-and-guts are -- this is a film my brother will NEVER see!

(Hmm. I feel uninspired, reply-wise. Maybe I'll say more later.)

I'm ridin' the HopeMobile about Solomon Kane too, dude...

[happyspector]

Apparently Max Von Sydow is slated to play... Kane's dad. Yeah, that made me go "Huh?" too, though Sydow's cool. So it'd seem we'll get a *good* Howard-inspired film every twenty-odd years and it has to have Sydow in a character role? So maybe by the time you and I are in our fifties, they'll finally do a Bran Mak Morn movie, and they can resurrect Sydow to play a zombie!