So a few nights ago, I was standing in line at a movie theater, only to overhear the conversation of a couple behind me, which went something like this:
Woman: How do you pronounce it? Bee-ow-wowlf?
Man: Beowulf
Woman: What's that about?
Man: It's some sort of cartoon.
Woman: But you've heard of it?
Man: It's one of those books you had to read in high school.
Woman: Did you read it?
Man: Yeah.
Woman: What's it about?
Man: I don't know.
Which, of course, prompted me to roll my eyes several times. But it leads me to this question: Have any of you seen it yet? Is it worth seeing? It's so hard to know from the previews. On the one hand, it has a pretty good cast, and the actual story is pretty rockin' (though I must admit an Anglo-Saxon bias on my part...). On the other, the characters are digitalized and I really don't remember the defining characteristic of Grendel's mother being "seductive."
Any opinions?
2 comments:
I wrote a little about it this weekend. It was...interesting. The filmmakers basically took certain themes and then added to the original in order to make those themes more pronounced. Some of it worked--a lot of it didn't. (It took at least the first hour to get past the feeling that I was watching an adult version of Shrek.)
It was worth seeing because it made me want to read the original again, but it's (of course) not for the faint of stomach. I kept having flashbacks of that awful BBC thing Dr. Walker would have us watch of an extremely hairy Grendel gorging himself on bloody, human limbs. This Grendel is very different (!), but a little more sympathetic. Both A. and I felt that the famous arm-ripping scene was anything but heroic--which was what they were going for (I think). Beowulf comes off as an arrogant torturer of creatures more than a "hero" (at this point in the movie, anyway). I was intrigued that decision.
Another nice thing was that the conversations between Grendel and his mother are spoken in an attempt at Old(ish) English.
But...there are lots of problems too. Call me crazy, but they really overdid the phallic imagery (esp. in the mead hall scenes).
It would be interesting to hear what you think...but I don't want you getting traumatized on my account! :)
Hmm, I'm so curious now. Though perhaps I should reread it first. At any rate, I won't be seeing any movies until I'm done with this crazy semester. But I have every intention of seeing this one at some point, just because it's Beowulf.
Post a Comment