The Finest ’80s Viking Film Is Practically Not possible To Stream At the moment

In our age of myriad streaming platforms, most individuals stay below a false perception that virtually each film ever made is out there in some kind or vogue. That is merely not the case. There are millions of misplaced films and quite a few movies that exist in degraded codecs sans an honest 35mm print. Within the case of the latter films, in need of a dear restoration, they’re all the time going to look dodgy. And as time goes on, the streaming variations of those movies, sometimes ripped from an previous VHS launch (which was formatted to suit a 4×3 display screen), may simply disappear (at which level you will be pressured to chase down a pirated copy).

Hrafn Gunnlaugsson’s Viking yarn “When the Raven Flies” is at the moment hanging on in such a dangerous state. Launched in 1984 and chosen to be Iceland’s entry for Finest Worldwide Function Movie (then Finest International Movie) at that yr’s Academy Awards (it didn’t make the lower), this Ninth-century-set story about an Irishman in search of revenge in opposition to the Vikings that killed his dad and mom is at the moment viewable on YouTube in an artlessly cropped 480p presentation. I doubt that is how the 77-year-old Gunnlaugsson would favor for his movie, which /Movie has deemed one of many 14 greatest Viking films ever made, to be seen, however, for no matter motive, that is all we have. And this can be a disgrace as a result of Gunnlaugsson’s movie is a singular entry within the Viking film style.

You in all probability did not know you wanted a “Yojimbo”-inspired Viking flick, however “When the Raven Flies” is a compellingly brutal companion piece to Akira Kurosawa’s traditional, in addition to Sergio Leone’s Spaghetti Western riff “A Fistful of {Dollars}.” (Gunnlaugsson’s films have been known as “Cod Westerns.”) Jakob Þór Einarsson stars as Gestur, an Irishman who’s traveled to Iceland to play two rival Viking factions in opposition to one another as a way of exacting bloody vengeance for his or her cold-blooded homicide of his dad and mom. There’s an attention-grabbing wrinkle right here in that his still-living sister, an unnamed character performed by Edda Björgvinsdóttir, was kidnapped by the Vikings as a baby and is unwilling to help him in his activity.

Additionally attention-grabbing: the weaponry. There aren’t any epic sword fights in “When the Raven Flies.” As a substitute, a lot of the fight is carried out with knives, which are sometimes flung (à la James Coburn in “The Magnificent Seven” or Tomas Millian in “The Massive Gundown”). I’m the furthest factor from a Viking historical past fanatic, however that is apparently not traditionally inaccurate for the period (although the dearth of axes, which they did use, is curious). In any occasion, Gunnlaugsson, clearly engaged on a low funds, makes essentially the most of this determination, framing the motion with eager consideration to background and foreground placement of his actors. This isn’t a elegant film by any means, however Gunnlaugsson has a eager mise-en-scène, which is one thing I am unable to say about most digital filmmakers these days.

You need to give “When the Raven Flies” a looksee on YouTube, if solely since you by no means know when that video goes to vanish. This is hoping Gunnlaugsson can in the future scrape collectively the funds to get his movie restored.