Cave of Forgotten Dreams from Nate Calloway on Vimeo.

Another video to share with you, this time the trailer to Werner Herzog‘s Cave of Forgotten Dreams. This is a 3D film shot inside Chauvet-Pont-d’Arc Cave in southern France. These are some of the oldest cave paintings known. The film seems to have good reviews on IMDB and is set to be released on March 25th, 2011 in the UK.

Source: Anthropology.net

Coming Soon: Thor!

This looks like it could be good and I truly hope it is.

Valhalla Rising

Watched "Valhalla Rising" last night. The director refers to his movie as Viking Sci-Fi in the "Making of ..." extra. The characters don't go into outer space, so much as inner space and it's a numinous but brutal film. I found it hard to comprehend at first and I had no idea where I was being led but the journey is intense.

Mads Mikkelsen, the Danish actor (King Arthur, Clash of the Titans), plays the central character, who is mute, referred to as "One Eye", but is listed as Harald in the credits.  Scottish actors fulfill the roles of the Vikings.

The one-eyed slave is kept by a pagan clan because he is a champion in fighting tournaments. After a vision[?], the enslaved warrior finds a way to escape his captors.  After an encounter with Christians seeking Jerusalem and its riches, the journey to the promised land/Valhalla/Hel begins.

The cinematography is darkly atmospheric and the director allows the uncompromising weather of the Highlands of Scotland to add to the intensity of the characters and storyline.  The beauty of the landscape however does little to counter the violence encountered in various scenes.

Valhalla Rising is definitely a film that requires more thought than it might at first appear.  I shall definitely be viewing it again.

A movie of "The Way of Wyrd"?

I have been listening to various podcasts on my commute to, and from work to make a long journey more interesting.   One of those to which I subscribe is Damh the Bard's "Druidcast".  

In January 2010, Episode 34 of "Druidcast" featured an interview with the author, Brian Bates,  and he mentioned working with New Line Cinema in an attempt to bring "The Way of Wyrd" to the cinema.   I hope, really hope, it goes ahead and is done well.

It seems there are a few movies, in various stages of production and pre-production, which might be of interest to pagans and heathens.  It's gratifying to see film producers looking to the old tales and reviving and/or retelling them for a younger generation which is more accustomed to MTV than reading books.   Even if these films should get the Hollywood treatment, it's still pleasing to see the resurrection of the old tales (in whatever form).   I can only hope many more myths are converted to film, tempting this former film fanatic back to the cinema.

Cúchulainn on the Big Screen

It would appear that the story of the Irish mythological hero, Cúchulainn, is to be made into a film.  I have seen the odd news item, here and there, announcing it as being in pre-production.  According to the film company, the movie is to be made along the lines of 300, and Beowulf, wherein the actors are real, but everything else is CGI.  The graphics seem okay on the Facebook pages.  If they get it right, it could be a cracking film, and I hope they do get it right, as I would like to see more mythology revived in the minds of the general public.

I imagine it's going to be a long, long wait before we see this film in the cinema, since it is currently in pre-production and there are no details of any sort, just synopses.