Beowulf & Grendel: An Epic Worth Watching

Beowulf & Grendel, directed by Sturla Gunnerson, and starring Gerard Butler, Stellan Skarsgard, and Sarah Polley, was released on DVD September 26, 2006. The film never received a widespread U.S. theatrical release, so the DVD release is the first opportunity most Americans have had to see this movie. I, for one, had not even realized that this movie had been made until seeing it on the shelf at the video store.

Beowulf & Grendel begins with King Hrothgar slaying a man who had stolen a fish. His young son, Grendel, looks on during the murder, and though King Hrothgar sees the young boy, he spares him. The movie then progresses some years, to the point where King Hrothgar is an old man, and Grendel is an adult. Grendel enters the meadhall of King Hrothgar and slays some of Hrothgar's best warriors, which leads to a group of Geats, Beowulf and his compatriots, coming to King Hrothgar's aid.

Though it takes some time, Beowulf is able to cause the death of Grendel. After the celebration of Grendel's death, Grendel's mother enters the meadhall and kills some of Beowulf's warriors. Beowulf and his remaining companions then venture to the home of Grendel's mother, and Beowulf is successful in destroying her as well.

Butler and Skarsgard have characteristically wonderful performances, but Sarah Polley's performance is rather abysmal. Any semblance of an accent that she may have had during her first scene in the movie disappears in subsequent scenes, and one wonders why there is an American woman living in early medieval Europe. The stand-out performance of this film, however, is provided by Ingvar Eggert Sigurdsson, an Icelandic actor who plays Grendel. He is able to depict the "monster" that Grendel is alleged to be, while showing that the character is human as well.

While the film Beowulf & Grendel is a good movie, it strays substantially from the actual Old English epic poem about Beowulf and his exploits. Polley's character, Selma, is nowhere to be found in the original epic, nor is Grendel's father a part of the story. Rather, Grendel attacks the meadhall because he has been cast out of the society, and feels that the singing and revelry that takes place in the meadhall is mocking him. Many minor plot details have been altered as well, including the addition of a heavy dose of attempts at conversion of the Pagans by a Christian priest.

The aspect that most bothered me, as someone who has studied the poem "Beowulf," was that the character of Beowulf was made considerably less heroic in this movie. In the poem, he wrenches Grendel's arm from his body, causing Grendel's ultimate death. In this movie, he ties a rope around Grendel's hand and knocks Grendel from a beam in the meadhall, causing Grendel to sever his own arm in order to escape.

This, among other aspects of the movie, make Beowulf look far more passive than he is portrayed in the epic poem. Beowulf also seems to have some pangs of conscience in the movie, and while this may make for better cinema, it does not hold true to the original narrative.

Overall, I would say that while Beowulf & Grendel is not an accurate retelling of the Old English saga of Beowulf, it has done a better job than some other movies which were loosely based on the epic poem. The acting is generally good, the plot works well in its own right, and the scenery is absolutely beautiful. I would certainly recommend this movie to fans of heroic or fantasy action/adventure movies.