Hvíti víkingurinn (1991)

Norway in the 10th century. Askur, son of the powerful Thorgeir marries Embla, daughter of one of the few remaining landowners in Norway, in a pagan ceremony. King Olav, a ruthless ... See full summary »

Director:

Hrafn Gunnlaugsson

Writers:

Hrafn Gunnlaugsson, Jonathan Rumbold

Stars:

Gotti Sigurdarson, Maria Bonnevie, Egill Ólafsson

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Gotti Sigurdarson	...	Askur (as Gottskálk D. Sigurdarson)
Maria Bonnevie	...	Embla
Egill Ólafsson	...	King Olafur
Tomas Norström	...	Bishop Thangbrandur
Þorsteinn Hannesson	...	Jarl Godbrandur
Helgi Skúlason	...	Thorgeir
Jón Tryggvason	...	Ketill
Gunnar Jónsson	...	Gunnar
Bríet Héðinsdóttir	...	Hallbera
Torgils Moe	...	Thordur
Maria Sigurdardóttir	...	Abbessa Stella
Alda Sigurðardóttir	...	Helga
Hedda Kloster	...	Alfdis
Flosi Ólafsson	...	Runolfur
Árni Tryggvason	...	Gudmundur

Storyline

Norway in the 10th century. Askur, son of the powerful Thorgeir marries Embla, daughter of one of the few remaining landowners in Norway, in a pagan ceremony. King Olav, a ruthless Christian, wants to remove all traces of non-Christian beliefs and captures the two of them during the ceremony. In order to free Embla, Askur must go to Iceland and convert the people there to Christianity.

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Plot Keywords:

bare chested male bondage | 10th century | christianity | pagan | king | 

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Genres:

Adventure | Drama

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Did You Know?

Trivia

Hrafn Gunnlaugsson still keeps Gudbrandur's statue of Freyr and Hallbera's image of Freyja in his house.

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Quotes

Thorgeir: Now we will see if you god is more powerful than Odin!

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Alternate Versions

There are three different versions of the film: a five-hour mini-series, the theatrical cut and Embla, the director's cut. Embla changes the order in which the scenes appear and focuses on the character of Embla. Askur's adventures in Iceland and all Icelandic characters are cut out, safe for some shots of Askur trekking the Icelandic wilderness. Several scenes featuring Embla and an entire plot line about Embla birthing Askur's son has been reinserted. Most of these scenes were included in the mini-series. The mini-series and Embla clarifies that the character of Gudbrandur likely suffers from some sort of mental disorder which he has passed on to his daughter Embla, which is the explanation for their visions, much like king Olaf. The television series also featured additional plot lines about Askur's previous life as a Viking and his descent from Egill Skallagrímsson. The mini-series also includes scenes of sacrificing real animals in pagan rituals. The first episode features the on-screen killing of a pig as a sacrifice to the god Freyr. The last episode features a real butchered calf which has been sacrificed to Odin. The theatrical cut has released on VHS, while the mini-series and Embla are available on DVD.

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Connections

References Seven Samurai (1954)

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Soundtracks

Á Sprengisandi
Written by Sigvaldi Kaldalóns
Arranged, performed and produced by Øistein Boassen

User Reviews

This film needs distribution - great education and good movie

It's been years since I watched this. I've seen both the movie version and the TV series version. I cannot believe that this hasn't been released on DVD or any other format. Hrafn Gunnlaugsson is an underrated Icelandic director who is the ONLY one that has even come CLOSE to portraying anything that resembles authentic Viking culture and lifestyle. While the story of this movie is kind of similar to Romeo and Juliet - two very young lovers very much in love but deemed unfit for each other and doomed because of high politics - it still shows you what could be close to what culture was like in 11th century Scandinavia. YOu will get the shamans, the warriors, the Christian influence on Pagan culture, the strong family ties, and of course, the ruggedness of Vikings. Throw away any movies you might have that have Vikings in it and that might star Kirk Douglas, Antonio Banderas or Tim Robbins for that matter, and plead to someone that has any influence in the TV or movie industry in Scandinavia to release this so it will get accessible to the general public.

Details

Country:

Norway Denmark Sweden Iceland

Language:

Icelandic

Release Date:

1 November 1991 (Iceland)

Also Known As:

Embla

Filming Locations:

Hvaler, Norway

Box Office

Budget:

ISK250,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Film, Filmeffekt AS

Technical Specs

Runtime:

131 min 306 min (miniseries) 87 min (director's cut)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1