A qualified success

Rating: 8/10 (4 February 2001)

I have two nice things to say. Possibly more.
(1) I loved every minute of the Norse atmospherics. We really get a sense of ... well, everything we're meant to get a sense of: damp greenness, a village barely clinging on to existence on the very edge of the civilised world, pure cold wilderness on every side, clear air, rustic grandeur, and an immense amount of wood. Location shooting is rarely this good. I gather we're looking at Canada rather than Scandinavia, but (a) who cares, it's the result that counts, and (b) it's obvious that a lot of work, and thought, and of course wood, went into the creation of the village: it might as well be the real thing.
(2) Only once or twice have I seen sheer physical courage so convincingly portrayed. It's clear that each Viking is willing to risk his life - or, even more impressively, extreme pain - without hesitating for a moment, and without fear making a difference one way or the other; and this comes across as genuine bravery, rather than cartoon heroics. It's not easy to make characters so remarkably brave without giving the impression that the laws of human motivation have been suspended, and that therefore they're not brave at all. "The Thirteenth Warrior" certainly succeeds.
(1) and (2) are reason enough to see the movie, and to prevent it, whatever flaws it may have, from being bad. The story isn't bad, either. (The most that can be said against it is that it's simple and unremarkable.) Yet the film as a whole is less than a complete success. I'm not sure why. Others criticise the editing, and indeed it is a bit over-chopped, but much less so than, say, "Gladiator". Maybe we don't get enough of a look at any one character. The Arab would be an obvious one to sketch in greater detail. I think the soft-focus, soft-light look of the opening scenes was a fairly serious mistake. Remember, the story is told from the Arab's point of view; and Arabia is, so far as he is concerned, the MOST solid and detailed and real place in the universe. It simply doesn't make sense to show us his homeland through a dreamlike haze.
And I feel another serious mistake has been made in depicting the evil that threatens the Northern village. When we find out more about it, it becomes far too science-fictiony; the wonderful flavour is lost. This, rather than poor editing or under-characterisation, is what makes the conclusion less than satisfying.
Still, this matters less than you might suppose, in the face of (1) and (2).