Oh, yes! I just became so much more pleased with this afternoon. Because with this trailer for Nicolas Winding Refn’s Valhalla Rising, the movie he put off to make Bronson, I suspect that I’ll get to see not one new Refn movie this year, but two.
Refn originally told me about his Viking movie in August ’06, as the Pusher films were finally coming to the States. Then, about a year ago, we learned that Valhalla would have to wait, as Refn had taken on Bronson instead. With the prison/performance art picture killing critics and audiences at festivals (read Devin’s review; I’ll have one from the IFFB soon) it’s no surprise that Valhalla Rising is already getting a trailer — it’s time to capitalize on Bronson’s critical success.
Twitch reports the plot, and has the trailer. Mads Mikkelsen plays the lead. “One-Eye, a mute warrior of supernatural strength, has been held prisoner by the chieftain Barde. Aided by a boy, Are, he kills his captor and together they escape, beginning a journey into the heart of darkness. On their flight from bounty hunters, One-Eye and Are board a Viking vessel, but the ship is soon engulfed by an endless fog that first disintegrates as they sight an unknown land. As the new land reveals its secrets and the Vikings meet a ghastly fate, One-Eye discovers his true self.”
The last piece of text before the title card is ‘God’; is Mikkelsen actually playing Odin? A one-eyed character in a Viking movie is naturally going to allude to Odin, but that seems pretty explicit.