My big bro asked me to talk about the Beowulf movie and what differences it has with the original source material, since I took a course studying the original epic poem of the same title last semester. What a coincidence! I was just about to talk about it too. But, agh, let me say here first that movie was NOT the way I imagined the epic poem would be like if it were adapted into a Hollywood movie. But I guess that's just the way it is with Hollywood today, isn't it? Leaving the cinema, I had a kind of mixed feelings towards the movie. The kind you would get if you combined glee, boredom, ludicrousness, disappointment, anger, and delight into a cocktail and drink it in one gulp. It was a fine action flick... no, mediocre would be the best word. No matter how realistic looking the animated characters were, they still look really plastic-fake, but mainly because their animation still looks very, very unconvincing (one horse-riding sequence in particular comes to mind). The animations were as realistic as any 10-year old video game CGI (well, not THAT bad, but still); the facial expressions never really achieve the desired 'uumph!' effect; and the dialogs were dull. The characters and story... were so mangled it's almost unrecognizable from the original poem. I suppose I should talk about those now, but fortunately for you, I'm the kind of guy who loathed spoilers and spoiling other people's enjoyments. For your anti-spoilers convenience, the next entry's texts will be darkened to avoid accidental plot spills. Highlight them with Ctrl-A or your mouse. If the white highlighting make your eyes hurt, just copy-paste the text to a wordpad or MS Word. The next entry WILL contain spoilers on the movie's plot twists, so if you're planning to watch the movie and don't want me to ruin it for you, then read no further. If, however, you want to witness my sick enjoyment of picking on the latest piece of mediocrity Hollywood has to offer, then by all means, please proceed.
********WARNING!! SPOILERS BEGIN HERE!!*********
Beowulf:
In the poem, Beowulf is your typical hero: strong, just, brave, etc. In the movie, he's strong, brave, loud (literally), and had about 5 times the libido of his poem counterpart.
Here is the short version of his story in the poem: he went to Denmark to kill Grendel, fought it single-handedly, bare-handed, unarmored, killed it by crushing it in his armlock and broke its arm with his hands, then chopped off Grendel's mother's head, was rewarded by Hrothgar (the king whose kingdom Grendel pestered), returned to his homeland and people (which, by the way, is pronounced YEAT, not GEAT. Ignorance is a virtue, eh Hollywood?), became king, was NOT married, did NOT adopt Christianity, died fighting the dragon when the big thing chomped his throat, and was buried inside a burial mound.
Here is the movie version: he went to Denmark, got the hots on Hrothgar's queen Wealhtheow, fought Grendel completely nude (I guess the writer took that "unarmored" part way too literally), killed it by bashing its head in and breaking its arm by using a door, seduced by Grendel's mom with her promise of great fame and fortune, then slept with her (hey, it's a naked Angelina Jolie!), lied about having killed her to the Danes, became king of Denmark after Hrothgar threw himself off a balcony, married his queen, got another girlfriend, fought the dragon who (here's the killer part) turned out to be his son from Grendel's mom, died by falling to his death in an aerial battle with the dragon, and buried by being sent off in a burning ship.
The movie portrayed Beowulf as a corrupt, horny man whose undoing was the result of his past sins. But I guess it's the writer's way of trying to humanize him, showing him as no different as any other ordinary man, who prone to succumb to temptation, unlike the near-flawless, superhuman poem-version hero. For this, I guess, they deserve a little credit. Your mileage may vary.
Hrothgar:
The short version of the poem: Hrothgar was a just, upright Danish king, loved by his people and queen, rewarded Beowulf for killing Grendel and its mom, then lived happily ever after. The end.
The movie version? Modeled after my favorite actor Anthony Hopkins, Hrothgar's portrayal was ridiculous it's unbelievable. He's a sad, fat old king, almost lecherous, a red-nosed drunkard, loathed by his queen, and turned out to have (here's another killer part) slept with Grendel's mom, and was actually Grendel's father (gasp!), and died throwing himself off a balcony after declaring Beowulf as his successor. The end.
This is one of the most ridiculous adaptation of the poem's version. So sad. Ah, well. Moving on.
Wealhtheow:
Pronounced like "Welkhtheow", Hrothgar's queen didn't have a big part in the poem. She's just a normal damsel-in-distress type. She was impressed by Beowulf's bravery and applaud him for getting rid of the monsters. She loved her husband, and she most definitely DID NOT marry Beowulf. The movie shows her as just a sad, monochrome beautiful woman who hated her husband, denied her feelings for Beowulf, but in the end turned out to have loved him always. Not much to say about her, really.
Unferth:
Hrothgar's right-hand man, Unferth's characterization was surprisingly the most accurate one in the movie, compared to others. He mocked Beowulf, then acknowledged his skills after he defeated Grendel, gave his sword Hrunting to Beowulf to kill Grendel's mom, it broke when it hit her neck, and... that's it. The movie showed him becoming a Christian priest in the latter part of the story, which did not happen in the poem.
Grendel's mother:
Quite possibly the most famous character in the movie (I love her music theme), the poem version of this she-demon was that she only killed (possibly) one soldier, wrestled with Beowulf underwater, and got her head chopped off by an ancient sword Beowulf found underwater after Hrunting broke. Nice.
What about the movie version? Well, how about this: The Devil Wears Prada. Literally. The movie at first showed glimpses of her as a hideous demon, but when she showed herself to Beowulf, she's Angelina Jolie in high heels!! Oh, and she's nude! Well, except for a few particular naughty parts of her body which was covered in gold liquid. I could almost feel a collective relieved sigh reverberating inside the room... or was it disappointment?
Anyway, Ma Jolie was pissed that Beowulf killed her son, so what did she do to get even? She slept with him, had his son (who's able to morph into a dragon), then sent the boy out to set his dad's pants on fire. I swear, people can do so complicated things when they want revenge...
Did she die? Oh, nooo. Why would they do that? She kissed Beowulf in the burial ship as it sunk burning, then showed herself to Wiglaf with a face that pretty much says, "Nyah, nyah. Your king was a liar and he bedded me. So much for your righteous king!" Sigh.
The poem portrays Grendel's mother as a fierce figure of feminine power, taking up the task of wreaking vengeance against the people who had wronged her, which, in Anglo-Saxon-Germanic culture, was left only for the men to do. Women were never expected to take up arms or commit violent acts, especially against men. She is an antithesis to the weak, helpless Wealhtheow. Angelina Jolie's Grendel's mother, however, is not a warrior. She's just a whore. Her strength lies in her sexual prowess and skill as a seductress. It's like comparing Uma Thurman's Kill Bill character with Paris Hilton. There's no contest!
Oh, I'm sure she could have whooped (the movie) Beowulf silly with her magical powers, but that wouldn't make much of a story, now would it?
Wiglaf:
I'm not really sure, but in the movie, Wiglaf was Beowulf's friend. Originally, he was Beowulf's cousin, or related to him. His name was first made known near the very end of the poem, he helped Beowulf fought the dragon, giving Beowulf a chance to kill the dragon before he died. Beowulf appointed him to be his successor in his death, and he became the king of the dying Geats, whose future was uncertain. Wiglaf was one of the 14 men who first came to Denmark with Beowulf to fight Grendel. And actually, only one of those 14 men died, killed by Grendel. In the movie, all of them except Wiglaf died under Grendel and his mom's onslaught. His personality does match my image of his poem counterpart, though.
Other differences:
1. The dragon was NOT Beowulf's son. In the poem he was just this primal animal who lived in a cave filled with treasures of past kings. A thief (who, according to my professor, was one of the 14 men that came with Beowulf to Denmark) stumbled on his hoard, stole a treasure (a jeweled goblet), and when the dragon found out, he went crazy and proceeded to lay waste to Beowulf's land. Sounds familiar? Yep, Tolkien took the inspiration for The Hobbit from this part of the poem. The peeved dragon Smaug took flight and burned the lands when he found out that Bilbo had stolen one of his treasures. Back to Beowulf, the dragon was the bastard son of Beowulf and Grendel's ma, and was used by her to get vengeance on him. He died when Beowulf stabbed him with a sword, but in the movie he died after his heart ripped out by Beowulf. How dramatic.
2. Beowulf's girlfriend. She is my least favorite character, as she really has no purpose for existing in the story other than as a pretty prop piece. I can't even remember what her name was, or even if it was mentioned in the movie. No, Beowulf did not have a girlfriend in the poem. Apparently, after marrying Wealhtheow, Beowulf took a much younger woman in as a concubine or something. Hmph. Really, why the writers even put her in the movie completely mystifies me, other than, perhaps, to serve as a banter fodder for Wealhtheow.
3. Christianity. I'm not 100% sure about this, but from what I've seen from crosses on rooftops and Unferth wearing a large conspicuous cross around his neck, the Danes had adopted Christianity during Beowulf's rulership. Actually, the Geats, Danes, and Frisians depicted in the poem were still strongly pagan. Some scholars agree that Beowulf was the poet's tribute to his/her pagan ancestors. The poet was completely unknown, but he/she most likely lived during early period of Christianity. Since in Christianity it's impossible to put pagans in a high place of honor, the poem is the poet's tribute to the greatness of his/her ancestors, for them to be remembered as great, honorable people, worthy of respect and remembrance. That's the gist of it.
*************SPOILERS STOP HERE**************
Easter eggs:
Well, I don't really know what else to call it. If you watch the movie, pay attention to the gibberish language Grendel speaks. He spoke sporadic Anglo-Saxon (Old English) words, but it's difficult for me to clearly hear what he says, since he spoke in a garbled, mumbled voice. The only one I can discern was his first word, "Modor...?" (Mother), and I think he said "minne" (my). Also, in a celebration scene, hear the bard's language. It's a speech lifted wholesale from the original poem. I can't remember accurately, but I think it's probably somewhere near line 757-770 of the poem. If you want to read it here's the link:
http://www.heorot.dk/beowulf-rede-text.html
Final thoughts:
Lousy adaptation. Mediocre action flick. Forgettable at best. Go watch it if you want. I watched it in 3D for 5 bucks, so I think I got my money's worth.
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5 comments:
wahahaaa i love your review!!! :) :) jadi beowulf jelek ya?? hahaa sudah kuduga :D
kalo enchanted bagus gak? ko tonton lah. abis tu ko review :p
oya, bapak amud, soal yg korean hoax itu.. jadi beberapa taun lalu korean scientists announced that they have succeeded in.. (aku lupa :p) tapi several months later it turned out ternyata mereka tipu2. they DID NOT SUCCEED at all. there, that's the story :)
enchanted? gak tertarik pula... tapi reviewnya lumayan sih. ko lah yg nonton, trus kasi reviewnya.
korean hoax: wooh orang korea penipu. hehe
"he poet was completely unknown, but he/she most likely lived during early period of Christianity"
That's your own quote of you! And it sums you up! You just don't get the movie, nor the poem! It's only half your fault though - you're a product of "formal" education.
Point 1 - NO ONE knows what really happened, or didn't happen! Just like you admit no one knows if the poem writer was a man or woman, or even a group. Oh, because the poet wrote Beowulf never married the queen, it means it never ever happened? Reeeally eh? History is just that:
HIS STORY.
So put the poem out of your mind while watching this movie. BTW, this movie was ment to be seen not only in 3-D, but in...
I-MAX 3-D!!!
(Probably too late now as I write this in early Jan 2008). Watch this movie in I-MAX and it will fry all your senses!!! It's easily the best movie of 2007, or tied with the few other best movies of 07. It's easily the BEST ever animated movie ever shown on the big screen.
Why I-MAX 3-D? Because certain scenes were obviously filmed for viewing on I-MAX. Just like "28 Weeks Later" obviously was filmed specifically for a movie screen, not a DVD screen (the scope scene comes to mind.).
"NO ONE knows what really happened, or didn't happen! Just like you admit no one knows if the poem writer was a man or woman, or even a group. Oh, because the poet wrote Beowulf never married the queen, it means it never ever happened?"
exactly. NO ONE KNOWS. at the end of the day, I'm just as right as you are. I AM a product of formal education, and personally, I don't think "Beowulf" needs to be spiced up with gap-fillers or modern "what if?" interpretations, and that's what this movie really is: another "what if?" interpretation. Hollywood's habit of putting out an adaptation was to make changes into the story to make it more interesting, but in doing so, oftentimes they consciously altered it to conform to the audience's mindset. take a look at the original poem; would you really find it interesting if it was adapted wholesale into the movie? No! people nowadays don't buy into the flawless, superhero-type character. he/she has to have flaws, to make him/her believable, more human. (movie) Beowulf wasn't portrayed as a being with superb strength & angel-like moral to boot, he's a tragic hero who fell from grace because of his mistakes & own undoing.
Beowulf marrying Wealhtheow, and he and Hrothgar having sex with Grendel's Ma might sound interesting to you, but scholars of the poem who had devoted years of their life studying the poem would most likely dismiss that interpretation as trash. it's never mentioned NOR implicated that these things happen. can YOU prove that Beowulf really married Wealhtheow in the poem? can I deny it? NOT ONCE the poem mention that Beowulf was married when he ascended the throne. the writer inserted a "what if?" question into this gap of information, but this in itself creates a whole world of possibility. oh, if this is the case, then for all I care I too can make ridiculous interpretations such as, MAYBE Beowulf can be gay and he and Hrothgar humped each other and became gay kings of the Geats. or, Grendel's Ma didn't die, and that she sprouted three heads from her neck and they breathe fire and she re-terrorized the Danes again! Or, why not have a twin of Grendel, who was a bastard son of Grendel's Ma with an angel, hop into the scene and take revenge for his bro and Ma's death? nothing ruins a good epic than sloppy, carelessly thought adaptation. to be fair, I, myself, cannot answer what the movie should be like if I was asked my personal opinion what will make it a good movie. do you know why? because the source material is already good the way it is!! can you improve on Lord of the Rings? on Harry Potter? on Pride and Prejudice? on Iliad or Odyssey? No! the only thing you can do is to make another version of it, your own take on the work.
this movie is really... American. it's so open-ended (you can see for yourself the ending where it opens up multiple questions and possibilities). it's very different from literatures at the poem's period-heck, even present-day England-where everything is an open-and-shut case.
but let not it be said that I am narrow-minded. I study LITERATURE for God's sake! I HAVE to be and AM open-minded. you can throw me the weirdest, most politically-incorrect piece of trash you can find and I will still respect it... but that does not mean that I'm OBLIGED to like or agree with it! I respect the writer's interpretation and your opinion, but I heartily disagree with both.
On the side note... I always approach people who so easily says things like "It's easily the BEST ever animated movie ever shown on the big screen" with extreme caution...
Whenever a subject you've studied seriously becomes a Hollywood movie, usually you become disappointed by it -- because you know the real deal. My feelings towards movies depicting aircraft (including Top Gun) are probably similar to your disgust towards Beowulf.
Tulis review movie lagilah mud hehehe
BTau
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